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The words you will meet on our tea pages and on tea packs, explained plainly. 86 terms, from how leaf is made to how a cup feels.
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Also called Aging (US spelling)
Keeping a tea for years so its taste changes. Sheng pu-erh is the classic tea for ageing, slowly turning from bright and bitter to deeper and smoother; storage conditions matter as much as time.
Also called Crude tea (荒茶)
The Japanese counterpart of maocha: crude green tea, still mixed with stems and dust, before it is sorted, refined and blended for sale.
Also called Grip
The dry, puckering feel on your gums and tongue, like over-stewed tea or unripe fruit. A little gives a tea grip; too much usually means it brewed too long or too hot.
Also called Autumn flush
The last picking before the bushes slow down for winter, around October and November. Mellow, woody and coppery, like a quieter second flush.
Also called Red tea, hong cha (红茶)
Fully oxidised tea with a dark leaf and a red-brown cup. In China it is called red tea (hong cha) after the colour of the liquor.
A mix of teas from different estates or countries, built to taste the same year after year. English Breakfast and Russian Caravan are blends; our pages mostly cover the single-origin teas behind them.
Also called Mouthfeel
How heavy the tea feels in the mouth, from light and watery to full and syrupy. Assam is full-bodied, first flush Darjeeling light-bodied.
Clear and lively, in colour or in taste. A bright liquor is clean and glowing; a bright flavour is fresh, the opposite of dull or flat.
Lively and refreshing, with a clean bite. Tasters use it for a good black tea that wakes the palate rather than flattening it.
Also called BOP, GBOP, BOPF
Orthodox leaf that has been broken into smaller pieces: BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe), GBOP (Golden BOP) and BOPF (BOP Fannings). They brew quicker and stronger than whole leaf.
Also called Tea plant
The tea plant, an evergreen shrub of the camellia family. White, green, oolong, black and pu-erh all come from it; the difference is in the processing.
Also called Large-leaf, Assam type
The large-leaf tea plant of Assam and Yunnan. It likes heat and can grow into a tree; it gives strong, malty black tea and pu-erh.
Also called Small-leaf, China type
The small-leaf Chinese tea plant. It copes with cold, grows as a shrub and dominates China, Japan, Taiwan and the Darjeeling hills.
Also called Turkish double teapot
The Turkish double teapot: water boils in the bottom pot while a strong brew sits on top, and each glass is mixed to taste with hot water.
Words used to sell matcha: 'ceremonial' for whisking and drinking straight, 'culinary' for lattes and baking. They are marketing terms, not official Japanese grades, so judge by colour, smell and origin.
Also called Tan bei (炭焙)
Slow roasting over banked charcoal, sometimes in several rounds spread over weeks or months, with rests between. It is the traditional finish for Wuyi rock teas such as Da Hong Pao.
Also called Matcha whisk
The bamboo whisk used to whip matcha into a smooth, frothy bowl. It goes with the chawan (tea bowl) and chashaku (bamboo scoop).
Also called Clone
Bushes grown from cuttings of one chosen mother plant, so every plant is identical, as opposed to bushes raised from seed. Many Darjeeling and Assam estates name their clones.
The red-gold colour of a good black tea liquor, and of well-oxidised leaf. Tasters also call it 'bright copper'.
Also called Crush-tear-curl
Short for crush, tear, curl (some say cut, tear, curl). Machines chop withered leaf into small hard granules that brew strong and fast, which is why most tea bags and much Assam and Kenyan tea are made this way.
Also called Varietal (loosely)
A named, selected variety of the tea plant grown for particular traits, like Yabukita or Tieguanyin. Like grape varieties in wine, cultivars shape flavour.
Also called Hei cha (黑茶), post-fermented tea
Chinese teas that go through microbial fermentation, often pressed and aged. Pu-erh is the best-known.
Also called Firing
The final heating that takes the leaf down to a few percent moisture so it keeps on the shelf. In black tea it is often called firing.
Also called Garden, single-estate
A single tea farm with its own factory, also called a garden. A single-estate tea has not been blended with others, so it shows that place and season more clearly.
The smallest particles left after sorting, fannings slightly bigger than dust. They give colour and strength in seconds, which is why they fill most tea bags. Not a mark of bad tea, just fast tea.
In tea, a word with two meanings. Strictly it is change driven by microbes, as in pu-erh and other dark teas. On many labels it is used loosely for oxidation, which is the leaf's own enzymes at work.
Also called Aftertaste
What the tea leaves behind after you swallow: how long it lingers and how it changes. A long, sweet finish is a good sign.
Also called Spring flush
The first spring picking after winter rest, usually March to April in Darjeeling. Light, floral and green-edged, it is the most delicate cup of the year.
Also called F in grade codes
In grade names (FOP, GFOP), 'flowery' means a larger share of young tips in the leaf. It describes the leaf, not a floral taste.
Also called Harvest
A new burst of growth on the bush, and the harvest taken from it. In Darjeeling the year is divided into flushes, each with its own character.
Also called Lidded bowl (盖碗)
A lidded bowl on a saucer, the workhorse of gongfu brewing. You steep in it, then pour through a gap under the lid; it suits almost any tea.
Also called GI, PGI
A legal protection that ties a product's name to its place, like Champagne. Darjeeling was India's first GI product in 2004 and has had EU protection since 2011.
Also called Gong fu cha (功夫茶)
Chinese style of brewing with lots of leaf in a small pot or gaiwan and many short steeps, often 20 to 60 seconds each. You follow the tea as it changes from cup to cup.
Tea heated soon after picking so it barely oxidises, keeping a green colour and fresh, vegetal taste.
Also called Old tree (古树)
'Old tree': pu-erh leaf from tea trees decades or centuries old. It is prized and often overclaimed, so ask for proof before paying the premium.
Tea grown at altitude, in Sri Lanka above about 1,200 m. Cooler air slows growth, giving a lighter, brighter and more fragrant cup.
Also called Returning sweetness (回甘)
Chinese for 'returning sweetness': a sweet feeling that rises in the throat a little after swallowing, often after an initial bitterness. Much loved in sheng pu-erh and good oolong.
Also called Kabusecha, kabuse sencha
Japanese for 'covered'. Kabusecha is sencha shaded for a shorter spell than gyokuro, around a week or two, so it sits between the two in sweetness and colour.
Also called Fixing, fixation, sha qing (杀青)
A quick blast of heat, in a hot pan, drum or steam, that stops the leaf's enzymes and so freezes oxidation where the maker wants it. It is the step that keeps green tea green and sets the level in an oolong.
Also called Japanese side-handle teapot
A small Japanese teapot, often with a side handle and a fine built-in strainer, made for green teas such as sencha and gyokuro.
Also called Theanine
An amino acid found almost only in tea. It gives a sweet, brothy taste and is linked to tea's calm alertness; shading keeps more of it in the leaf.
Also called Ratio
How much tea you use for how much water, in grams per 100 ml. It matters more than the exact minutes: gongfu uses a lot of leaf briefly, Western a little leaf for longer.
Also called Bug-bitten
Small green leafhoppers feeding on young shoots make the plant release honeyed, fruity aroma compounds. Oriental Beauty depends on it, and it plays a part in the muscatel of Darjeeling second flush.
Also called Infusion, cup
The tasters' word for brewed tea in the cup. 'A bright coppery liquor' simply means the tea looks clear and copper-coloured.
A warm, bready sweetness like malted barley or malt loaf. It is the signature of Assam and many strong breakfast teas.
Also called Rough tea (毛茶)
Chinese for 'rough tea': the finished but unsorted leaf straight from processing. For pu-erh, sun-dried maocha is the raw material that is later pressed into cakes or piled into shou.
Also called Pre-Qingming
'Before Qingming': Chinese green tea picked before the Qingming festival in early April. These first tiny buds are scarce and priced accordingly, especially for Longjing.
Also called Rains tea
Leaf picked during the summer rains, when bushes grow fast. It brews stronger and plainer and mostly goes into blends.
Also called Muscat
A musky, grape-like fruitiness reminiscent of muscat grapes and wine, prized in Darjeeling second flush and echoed in Oriental Beauty. It is linked to insect bites on the summer leaf.
Also called Wulong, blue-green tea
Partly oxidised tea that sits between green and black, from light and floral to dark and roasted. Its character comes from tossing, oxidation and roasting.
Also called OP
A leaf-size grade for whole-leaf black tea, not a flavour and nothing to do with oranges. 'Pekoe' probably comes from a Chinese word for the white down on young buds; where 'orange' comes from is still argued over.
Also called Orthodox manufacture
Tea made the traditional way, withered, rolled, oxidised and dried, so the leaf stays whole or in large pieces. On a pack it is the opposite of CTC, and it is what you want for loose-leaf drinking.
Also called Fermentation (loosely)
The browning that happens when the leaf's own enzymes meet air after bruising, like a cut apple turning brown. Little or none gives green and white tea, some gives oolong, and full oxidation gives black tea. Older books often call it fermentation, but no microbes are involved.
Also called Chao qing (炒青)
Kill-green done in a hot wok or a rotating drum, the usual Chinese way. It gives a toasty, nutty edge; for Longjing the leaf is pressed flat against the pan by hand.
Also called Picking
Picking the young shoots from the bush. How fine the pick is, a bud alone, a bud and two leaves, or bigger mature leaves, shapes the tea long before any factory step.
Also called Compressed tea, cake (bing)
Steaming loose tea to soften it and pressing it into a cake, brick or nest. Pu-erh is the best-known pressed tea; pressing makes it easier to store and to age.
Also called Washing the tea, awakening
A very quick first pour, tipped away straight off. It wakes up rolled or pressed leaf, and is common for oolong and pu-erh.
Also called Baking, tan bei (炭焙) when done over charcoal
Extra heat applied to a finished tea, usually an oolong, to deepen colour and add toasty, caramel or stone-fruit notes. It is separate from oxidation: a lightly oxidised oolong can still be heavily roasted.
Also called Yan yun (岩韵)
The mineral, lingering character drinkers find in Wuyi rock teas, as if the stone came through in the cup. A poetic term rather than a measurable one.
Also called Yancha (岩茶)
Oolong from the rocky Wuyi Mountains of Fujian, prized for a mineral depth drinkers call 'rock rhyme'. Da Hong Pao is the best known.
Also called Rolling and shaping
Pressing and twisting the softened leaf, by hand or machine. It breaks the cell walls so the juices meet the air, and gives the finished leaf its shape: wiry twists, balls or flat spears.
Also called Summer flush
The early summer picking, roughly May to June. Fuller, rounder and more coppery than first flush, and in Darjeeling the season of the famous muscatel note.
Also called Covering, ooishita (覆下)
Covering tea bushes for the last weeks before harvest. With less sun the leaf keeps more L-theanine and chlorophyll, so the tea tastes sweeter and more savoury and looks deeper green. Gyokuro and tencha are shaded about three weeks.
Also called Raw pu-erh, sheng cha (生茶)
'Raw' pu-erh from Yunnan: sun-dried maocha pressed into cakes and left to age naturally. Young, it can be bitter and bright; with years it grows deeper and smoother.
A shallow, handle-less Japanese pot with a lid, made for tiny amounts of water at low temperature. Ideal for gyokuro.
Also called Ripe pu-erh, shu (熟茶)
'Ripe' pu-erh, made by wet piling so it reaches a dark, earthy, mellow taste in weeks rather than decades.
Also called Pine smoking
Drying or finishing tea over a wood fire so it takes on the smoke. Lapsang Souchong is the famous one, traditionally dried over pine wood in the Wuyi hills.
Old name for the larger, lower leaves on the shoot, further down than pekoe. It survives in Lapsang Souchong, which was traditionally made from these bigger leaves.
Also called Mushi
The Japanese way of stopping oxidation: fresh leaf is steamed for well under a minute. It keeps the colour a vivid green and gives the brothy, marine character of sencha, gyokuro and matcha.
Also called Infusion
Letting leaf sit in hot water, and also one round of doing it. Good leaf can be steeped several times, each cup a little different.
Where most estate tea is sold, lot by lot, to blenders and buyers who taste it first. Colombo, Kolkata and Mombasa are among the big ones.
Shaded leaf that is steamed and dried flat without rolling, then stripped of stems and veins. Tencha is what gets stone-ground into matcha.
A word borrowed from wine for everything about a place that shows up in the cup: soil, altitude, rainfall, mist and slope. It is why the same plant tastes different in Uva and Nuwara Eliya.
Also called Indian whole-leaf grades
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, with 'Finest' and 'Special Finest' added on top. These Indian whole-leaf grades describe leaf size and tips, not taste; a '1' at the end marks a higher selection. They are a guide, not a guarantee.
Also called Tips, golden tips
Rich in tips, the downy buds that turn golden or silvery after processing. A tippy tea suggests careful plucking and usually a sweeter, softer cup.
Also called Herbal tea, infusion
Any infusion not made from the tea plant, such as rooibos, mint or chamomile. Often sold as herbal tea, and usually caffeine-free.
Also called Shaking, yao qing (摇青)
Shaking oolong leaf in bamboo trays, then letting it rest, several times over. The leaf edges bruise and redden while the centre stays green, which is where much of an oolong's aroma is born.
Also called Fine plucking
The classic fine pluck: the unopened bud at the tip of a shoot plus the two leaves below it. It is the standard for good black and green tea, and you will see it on most of our process notes.
Also called Savouriness
The savoury, brothy taste you also find in dashi, seaweed and mushrooms. In tea it comes mainly from amino acids such as L-theanine and is strongest in shaded Japanese greens.
Also called Green, grassy
Notes of green vegetables, cut grass, peas or spinach. Typical of green tea, and pleasant when fresh, but a sign of under-processing in black tea.
The everyday mug or teapot method: a little leaf, plenty of water and one long steep of a few minutes. Simple and forgiving.
Also called Wo dui (渥堆)
The step that makes shou pu-erh: maocha is dampened and heaped so microbes ferment it over several weeks, imitating years of slow ageing. Yunnan's state factories took it up in 1973.
Minimally handled tea, mostly just withered and dried, often from downy buds. Delicate, sweet and gentle.
Also called Wither
Letting freshly picked leaf rest and lose water, on racks, in troughs with moving air, or in the sun. The leaf turns soft and pliable enough to roll without snapping, and the first aromas begin to form.
Also called Huang cha (黄茶)
A rare Chinese style made like green tea but with an extra gentle 'smothering' step that softens and slightly yellows the leaf.
Also called Core area (正岩)
The 'true rock' core area of the Wuyi Mountains scenic zone. Rock tea from inside it sells for far more than tea grown just outside.