Tea tasting is the process in which a trained taster determines the quality of a particular

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

. Due to climatic conditions, topography, manufacturing process, and different cultivars of the '' Camellia sinensis'' plant (tea), the final product may have vastly differing flavours and appearance. A trained tester can detect these differences and ascertain the tea's quality prior to sale or possible blending.

Objectives

The taster's objectives depend on the tea's intended purpose. The qualities desired for a tea for blending with other teas can be quite different from those desired for a tea ready for drinking.

Techniques

The

ISO 3103 ISO 3103 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (commonly referred to as ISO), specifying a standardized method for brewing tea, possibly sampled by the standardized methods described in ISO 1839. It was orig ...

standard describes a standardised method for brewing teas to make meaningful sensory comparisons. It is not a particularly useful standard for many teas, however, requiring a six-minute brewing time and boiling water, neither of which are recommended for green teas (usually brewed at < 90 °C and for under 3 minutes). Tasters would instead usually taste teas which have been brewed according to the producer's recommendations. A

taster uses a large spoon and noisily slurps the liquid into his/her mouth. This ensures that both the tea and plenty of oxygen pass over the taste receptors of the tongue, for an even taste profile. The liquid is then usually expelled into a

spittoon A spittoon (or spitoon) is a receptacle made for spitting into, especially by users of chewing and dipping tobacco. It is also known as a cuspidor (which is the Portuguese word for "spitter" or "spittoon", from the verb "cuspir" meaning "to s ...

before the taster moves to the next sample. A 'cupping set' is used for tasting tea and is always white in colour to allow examination of both liquor and the leaf. The set consists of a small cup with a lid, in which the tea leaves are placed along with the water to brew, and a small, rounded tasting cup. The tea's flavour characteristics and leaf colour, size and shape are graded using a specific language created by the tea industry. Generally speaking, once a tea's quality has been assessed, each tea company places a value on it based on market trends, availability and demand. Professional tea-taster George F

Objectives

Techniques

See also

References

Further reading