 |
|
|
Glossary
|
A - D |
E - H |
I - P |
Q - Z
|
Afternoon Tea
The name given to the British meal taken mid-afternoon, comprising finger sandwiches, scones cakes and pastries accompanied by tea. The 7th Duchess of Bedford is reputed to have given birth to afternoon tea, early in the 19th century, when she decided to take tea to stave off the pangs of hunger she suffered between lunch and dinner.
Amoy
Fulien oolong teas marketed at Amoy.
Anhwei, Anhui
One of the provinces in China where tea is grown.
Aroma
Smell or scent denoting 'inherent character' usually in tea grown at high altitudes.
Assam
A region in northeastern India, known for its robust, high quality teas characterised by their smooth round, malty flavour.
Auction
Sale of tea in an auction room on a stipulated date at a specific time. Tea auctions are held in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Kenya and Malawi- these auctions only sell teas from their particular areas. The London Tea Auction, which was held every Monday morning (barring public or bank holidays) in the City of London until it's close in 1998 was the only true international tea auction, where teas from all over the world were sold.
Autumnal
Teas harvested in autumn and touched with cool weather. The term is normally applied to teas from India and Formosa.
Baggy
An unpleasant taste, normally resulting from the tea being carried or wrapped in unlined hessian bags.
Bakey
An over-fired tea with the result that too much moisture has been driven off the leaf while drying.
Ball tea
China tea compressed in a ball to protect it against atmospheric changes.
Basket-fired
Japan tea that has been cured in baskets by firing or drying.
Billy tea
Tea made by Australian bushmen in billy cans.
Biscuity
A pleasant aroma often found in well-fired Assam.
Bitter
An unpleasant taste associated with raw teas.
Bitter tea
Tea brewing method used in Cashmere. Tea is boiled in a tinned copper vessel, red potash, aniseed and salt are added before it is served from a brass or copper, tinlined teapot.
Black
A black appearance is desirable preferably with 'bloom'.
Black tea
Tea that has been fired or dried after the fermentation or oxidisation period of manufacture.
Blackish
A satisfactory appearance for CTC type teas. Denotes careful sorting.
Blend
Tea taster who decides on the proportions of each different tea required to produce the flavour of a given blend.
Bloom
A sign of good manufacture and sorting (where reduction of leaf has taken place before firing) a 'sheen' that has not been lost through over-handling or over-sorting.
Body
A liquor having both fullness and strength as opposed to being thin.
Bohea
Tea from the Wu-i Hills in Fukien, China. Originally was applied to black China tea and to tea from Indonesia. In the 18th century Bohea (Bo-hee) was the name given to the tea drink.
Bold
Particles of leaf which are too large for the particular grade.
Brassy
Unpleasant metallic quality similar to brass. Usually associated with unwithered tea.
Break
An amount of tea, comprising a given number of chests or sacks of tea.
Brick tea
Common grades of China and Japan tea mixed with stalk and dust and moulded into bricks under high pressure. Originally, these bricks were used by Asian travellers as a convenient way of carrying the tea they needed to drink and the bricks were also used to barter for other goods.
Bright
Denotes a lively fresh tea with good keeping quality.
Bright
A lively bright appearance, which usually indicates that the tea will produce a bright liquor.
Brisk
The most 'live' characteristic. Results from good manufacture.
Broker
A tea taster who negotiates the selling of tea from producers, or the buying of tea for packers and dealers, for a brokerage fee from the party on whose behalf the broker is working.
Burned
Taint caused by extreme over drying during manufacture.
Butter tea
Boiled tea mixed with salt and soda, then strained into an urn containing butter and dried ground cereal (often barley) and churned. Butter tea is served in a basin and often a lump of butter is added when serving. It was served in Tibet and then in India.
Cachar
The most common variety of India tea, produced in Cachar district of Assam.
Caddy
The name given to a tin or jar of tea, which takes its name from the Chinese or Malayan word 'catty'- a term used to describe the weight of one pound of tea. In the past tea caddies were equipped with a lock and key.
Camellia sinensis
Today, the tea trade's international botanical name for the tea plant.
Caravan tea
Tea taken by camel from China to Russia in the past.
Ceylon
Blends of teas grown on the island of Sri Lanka, which take their name from the colonial name for the island. The traditional name of Sri Lanka was readopted by the island when it became a Sovereign Republic in the Commonwealth in 1972.
Cha
The word for tea derived from the Chinese and Indian languages.
Chai
Indian term for tea, often short for masala chai, or spiced tea, which is made from strong black tea combined with milk, sugar, and spices.
Chanoyu
Japanese tea ceremony or party.
Character
An attractive taste, specific to growth origin describing teas grown at high altitude.
Chest
Original tea package, normally made of wood and lined with metal foil. Originally tea chests were lined with lead.
Chesty
Tea tainted by inferior or unseasoned packing materials.
Ching Wo
Black China tea from Fujien province.
Chop
From the Indian chapna meaning to stamp a number, mark or brand. Each break of chop of tea is marked.
Chunky
A very large broken-leaf tea.
Chunmee
Green China tea, said to resemble the shape of human eyebrows.
Clean
Leaf that is free from fibber, dirt and all extraneous matter.
Cloning
Cuttings taken from old tea bushes to produce new tea bushes. Today most tea bushes are grown from clones or cuttings taken from older bushes.
Coarse
A tea producing a harsh undesirable liquor with taste to match.
Collection
Once a plucker has filled a basket or sack with tea leaf, it is taken to a collection point where it is checked and weighed before being taken to the factory for making.
Coloury
Indicates useful depth of color and strength.
Common
A very plain light and thin liquor with no distinct flavor.
Congou
A general term used to describe all black China teas regardless of the area in which they are grown and made.
Coppery
Bright leaf that indicates a well manufactured or make of tea.
Country Greens
A term originally used to describe China green teas, other than Hoochows or Pingsueys.
Cream
A natural precipitate obtained as the liquor cools down.
Crepy
Leaf with a crimped appearance common to larger grade broken-leaf teas such as BOP.
Curly
Leaf appearance of whole leaf grade teas such as OP, as distinct from 'wiry'.
Darjeeling
A tea growing area in North India on the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains. Teas grown here take their name from the area and are said to be the 'Champagne'of Indian teas. Grown at altitudes up to 7,000ft above sea level ( more than 1,291m) Darjeeling tea is known as a high-grown tea and is light in colouring with a delicate, muscatel flavour and aroma. The original tea planted in this area was grown from seeds and plants imported from China.
Dark
A dark or dull color that usually indicates poorer leaf quality.
Darrang
Tea growing district in Assam, North India.
Dehru Dun
A tea growing area in the Uttar Pradesh State, North-west India. Some 30 estates (most of them under 50 hectares) produce green and orthodox black leaf tea.
Dibrugarh
One of the seven tea growing districts in Assam. Dickoya Tea growing district on the central massif in Sri Lanka. Teas from this area are known as high grown teas and have a full astringent flavour.
Dimbula
Tea growing district just above Dickoya, which gives its name to a blend of Ceylon teas from this area and is also used in Ceylon blends. Dimbula teas are black and characterised by their full-bodied flavour.
Dooars
A tea growing region of North India just below the Himalaya Mountains which produce full-bodied coloury teas that are ideal for blending purposes.
Dry
Indicates slight over-firing or drying during manufacture.
Dull
Lacks brightness and usually denotes poor tea. Can be due to faulty making (manufacture) and firing or a high moisture content.
|
|
|
