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How do professional tea tasters evaluate a tea brew?
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tea
Rows of tea (Camellia sinensis) growing in Japan, with Mount Fuji in the background.
Professional tea tasters evaluate tea through a systematic sensory process, focusing on both the dry leaf and the resulting liquor. They do not consume the tea during this evaluation, instead expectorating it after assessment.1
The evaluation process involves several key steps:
- Visual Inspection: Tasters observe the appearance of both the dry leaf and the infused leaf.1
- Aroma and Liquor Assessment: They assess the aroma of the vapor and the color of the liquor. They also check for "creaming," which is the formation of solids when the tea cools.1
- Tasting Technique: The liquor is taken into the mouth with a sucking noise and swirled around the tongue. The taster brings the liquid into contact with the palate, cheeks, and gums, then draws it to the back of the mouth to reach the olfactory nerve in the nose.1
Through this method, the liquor is simultaneously felt, tasted, and smelled. Tasters utilize a specialized glossary of terms to categorize their findings, ensuring a consistent standard for grading tea within the trade.12