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TEA TERMS: The Natural Language Of Tea
Tasters
TERMS DESCRIBING DRY TEA LEAF
- Attractive:
- Well-made, uniform in color and size.
- Black:
- Describing color of dry-leaf, a desirable
characteristic for Orthodox teas.
- Bloom:
- A live, rather than dull-looking tea. Bloom is often
lost by over-handling/curing, during sorting.
- Bold:
- Pieces of leaf that are too big for a grade.
- Brown:
- Undesirable leaf color both for Orthodox and CTC (cut,
tear and curl).
- Chesty:
- Taint caused by unseasoned tea chest panels.
- Chunky:
- Usually applied to large-sized tip. Desirable.
- Clean:
- Free of stalk/fibre.
- Cut:
- Orthodox leaf cut in the breaker rather than in the
roller.
- Even:
- Grade consisting of roughly equal-sized pieces.
- Flaky:
- A flat, open leaf as opposed to a well-twisted leaf.
Usually the result of poor withering/rolling.
- Golden Tip:
- Highly desirable feature in Orthodox teas. Obtained by
good withering and rolling.
- Grainy:
- Well-made hard leaf.
- Grey:
- Most undesirable color of dry-leaf caused by faulty
handling, over sorting.
- Gritty:
- CTC leaf that feels hard to the touch.
- Large:
- Describing size of a grade, implying it is too large
for market requirements.
- Make:
- A tea having “make” has been carefully
manufactured.
- Milled:
- Tea leaf put through a cutter and ground.
- Mixed:
- Denotes presence of other grades in a particular
grade. Undesirable.
- Neat:
- Well-made teas of even appearance.
- Ragged:
- Rough and uneven leaf.
- Reddish:
- Usually end-of-season leaf color. Clonal CTC teas,
however, can also be reddish.
- Shotty:
- Well-made and rolled, particularity of Orthodox BPS.
- Small:
- A grade of lesser size than is normal for it.
- Stalky:
- Indicating undue presence of stalk. The result of
coarse plucking.
- Stylish:
- Neat and of superior leaf appearance.
- Twist:
- Well-rolled, particular reference to whole leaf.
- Uneven:
- A grade composed of uneven pieces of leaf.
- Well-made:
- Uniform in color, size and texture.
- Whiskery:
- Hairy fibre, usually heavily discounted by buyers.
Prepared by and property of:
"The Tea Man"
May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent
of: "The Tea Man"
Copyright © February 1996
TeaTalk
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