How to evaluate tea quality

As you expand your tea palate, one of the most useful things you can do is to record your impressions when you taste a tea. For one, you will develop your ability to describe the kinds of tea you drink. While becoming more precise and selective, you also will be in a better position to choose other teas you will want to try next. Another benefit is the ability to notice how a tea changes over time. With your journal in hand, you can taste how age has affected a tea in your cabinet, or evaluate the freshness of a vendor’s tea.

A tea journal doesn’t need to be lengthy, but should include info on these aspects of the tea:

• Dry leaf color, shape, and aroma
• Wet leaf appearance and aroma: Depending on the kind of tea, you may want to note any color changes in the leaf and shape of the leaf after it unfurls or unrolls
• Liquor (liquid): Record the taste, color, smell/aroma, texture, and finish. According to most medical descriptions, the tongue detects 4 basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Beyond those, you detect aroma/smell. Texture includes the brothiness of the tea, where it falls on a scale from watery to chicken soup to a creamy coating in the mouth. Finish refers to aftertaste and how long the taste/aroma lingers in your mouth. You may also want to record the bitterness and/or astringency of the tea. Bitterness and astringency can give you an indication of tea quality, or guide you in improving your steeping parameters.

Don’t get discouraged if you initially find it difficult to distinguish aromas. There are a range of vegetables, fruits, and flowers to choose from, so it may be helpful to close your eyes and imagine yourself wandering through a grocer’s produce section, spice selection, or a flower shop and see what associations form. Other flavors include chocolate, smoke, wood, earth, and nuts. Find the associations that are strongest for you that serve as a useful guide to finding other teas you appreciate.

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Walker Tea Review- a tea blog with tea reviews and tea tastings. Operated by Jason Walker.

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