| Agony of the leaves |
An expression describing the relaxation of curled leaves during steeping. |
| Anhui |
A major black tea producing region of China. |
| Aroma |
The characteristic fragrance of brewed tea, imparted by its essential oils. |
| Assam |
A type of tea grown in the state of Assam, India, known for its strong, deep red brewed color. |
| Astringent |
A term describing the dry taste in the mouth left by teas high in unoxidized polyphenols. |
| Autumnal |
A term describing tea harvested late in the growing season. |
| Bakey |
A term describing overfired teas |
| Bergamot |
The essential oil of the bergamot orange, which is mixed with black tea to give Earl Grey tea its characteristic flavor. |
| Billy |
An Australian term describing a tin pot used for boiling tea over an open fire. |
| Biscuity |
A term describing tea that has been well fired, often associated with Assam teas. |
| Black tea |
Green tea leaves that have been oxidized, or fermented, imparting a characteristic reddish brew. The most common type of tea worldwide. |
| Blend |
A combination of different types of teas for flavor consistency from season to season. |
| Bloom |
A term describing the sheen of the tea leaf. |
| Body |
A term describing the sense of fullness that the brewed tea imparts. |
| Bold |
A term describing large leaf cut tea. |
| Brassy |
A term describing an unpleasant acidic taste, associated with improper withering of the tea leaves. |
| Break |
An auction term describing a tea lot for sale, usually at least 18 chests. |
| Brick tea |
Tea leaves that have been steamed and compressed into bricks; the bricks are then shaved and brewed with butter and salt and served as a soup. |
| Bright |
A term describing a light-colored leaf or its resulting bright red brew. |
| Brisk |
A term describing a tea that is very astringent; also a Lipton trademark. |
| Broken |
A term describing tea leaves that have been processed through a cutter, reducing leaf size. |
| Caffeine |
A stimulating compound found in tea. |
| Cambric tea |
A weak tea infusion with large proportions of milk and sugar. |
| Catechins |
A class of polyphenol found in high concentrations in green tea, and lower and varied concentrations in black teas. |
| Ceylon |
Teas from Sri Lanka. |
| Cha |
Romanized spelling of the Chinese and Japanese characters for tea. |
| 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. |
| Chest |
A traditional container for shipping tea from the plantation typically made of wood with an aluminum lining. |
| Chesty |
A term describing tea that has taken on the undesirable smell or taste of the wooden chest in which it was shipped. |
| Chunmee |
A grade of curled Chinese tea. |
| Congou |
A general term for Chinese black tea, derived from gongfu, defined below. |
| Coppery |
A term describing a reddish infusion, associated with black teas of high quality. |
| CTC |
An acronym for Crush, Tear, and Curl, a manufacturing process to create tea leaves that impart a stronger infusion. |
| Darjeeling |
Tea grown in the Darjeeling region of India, near the Himalayas. Darjeeling teas are usually highly astringent. |
| Dhool |
A term describing the coppery, fermenting tea leaf. |
| Dust |
The smallest grade of tea, often used in tea bags because it creates a quick infusion. |
| Earl Grey |
Black tea scented with bergamot, defined above. |
| Fannings |
Leaf particles that have been sifted out of high quality teas. |
| Fermentation |
The process of oxidizing green tea leaves to make black and oolong teas. |
| Fibrous |
A term describing teas that contain a high percentage of fannings. |
| Firing |
The process of rapidly heating the tea leaves, with hot air or in a wok, to stop fermentation and dry the leaves for a finished product. |
| Flat |
A term describing teas that lack astringency. |
| Flowery |
A grading term that indicates leaves with light-colored tips. |
| Flush |
The freshly-picked tea leaves, including the bud and the top two leaves of the tea plant. |
| Formosa |
Tea produced in Taiwan; primarily Oolong teas |
| Full |
A term describing a strong, vibrant tea infusion. |
| Genmaicha |
Green tea with toasted rice. |
| Golden |
A term describing the orange-colored tips on high quality tea leaves. |
| Gong fu |
A Chinese term meaning performed with care; describes a style of brewing that involves many repeated short infusions in a small pot. |
| Grainy |
A term describing high quality CTC teas. |
| Green |
Unfermented, dried tea, traditionally found primarily in China and Japan, but becoming increasing popular in the West due to purported health benefits. |
| Gunpowder |
Green tea that has been rolled into pellets, which unfurl in hot water to brew. |
| Gyokuro |
A Japanese term meaning pearl dew, referring to green tea produced from shaded plants. |
| Hard |
A term describing pungent tea, often positively associated with Assam teas. |
| Harsh |
A term describing bitter teas. |
| Heavy |
A term describing a full, deep-colored infusion without astringency. |
| Hyson |
A Chinese term meaning flourishing spring associated with green teas, and a brand of tea popular in the eighteenth century. |
| Iced Tea |
Tea brewed and served chilled |
| Jasmine |
Black Pouchong tea scented with jasmine flowers. |
| Keemun |
Black tea from central China, typically hand-rolled and fired. |
| Lapsang souchong |
A Chinese black tea that is fired over a pinewood fire for a characteristically smoky aroma and flavor. |
| Light |
A term describing tea that produces a weak infusion. |
| Malty |
A term describing slightly over-fired tea, sometimes desirable. |
| Metallic |
A term describing the dry taste of some teas. |
| Muddy |
A term describing a dull, brownish infusion |
| Nose |
A synonym for aroma, defined above. |
| Oolong |
A lightly fermented style of tea, typically using larger leaf grades. |
| Orange pekoe |
A grade of large, whole leaf tea; does not describe flavor. |
| Orthodox |
A processing method that imitates the larger leaf styles of hand-produced teas. |
| Pan-fired |
A term describing that has been fired in a wok. |
| Pekoe |
A grade of small, whole leaf tea, from the Chinese term baihao, which refers to the white hairs of the new buds on the tea plant. |
| Plain |
A term describing a dull, sour infusion. |
| Plucking |
The process of harvesting the tea by cutting the flush from the growing tea plant. |
| Polyphenols |
Astringent compounds found in tea. |
| Pu erh |
A type of black tea that has been microbiologically fermented, associated with the Yunnan province of China. |
| Pungent |
A term describing highly astringent tea. |
| Raw |
A term describing bitter tea. |
| Rolling |
The process of crushing the leaves to activate certain enzymes and initiate fermentation; also results in the curled appearance of the final tea leaf. |
| Self-drinking |
A term describing full-bodied tea that does not need to be blended. |
| Smoky |
A term describing teas fired over an open fire, resulting in exposure to wood smoke. |
| Soft |
A term describing under fermented tea. |
| Souchong |
Large leaf teas harvested from the third and fourth leaf of the tea plant. |
| Stalk |
A term describing teas that contain pieces of stalk from poor plucking. |
| Tannin |
A misleading term referring to tea polyphenols, which are different than the tannic acid polyphenols associated with other plants such as grapes. |
| Tarry |
Another term describing smoky teas, defined above. |
| Tat |
A wire mesh or burlap apparatus used to lay the leaves out for withering and fermentation |
| Theaflavins |
Orange-red potyphenols unique to fermented black teas, and a compound formed from catechins. |
| Theanine |
An amino acid unique to tea. |
| Theine |
A synonym for caffeine. |
| Ti kuan yin |
Meaning iron goddess of mercy, an especially dark and fragrant type of Oolong tea. |
| Tippy |
A term describing high quality teas differentiated by the white or golden tips of the leaves. |
| Tisane |
Herbal tea, that is teas produced from the leaves of plants other than the tea plant. |
| Tuocha |
A type of brick tea using pu erh tea pressed into a bowl-shaped brick. |
| Twist |
See Rolling. |
| Two and a bud |
A term describing the part of the tea plant that is typically harvested, that is, the top two leaves and the bud. See also Flush. |
| White |
A type of very light green tea; the term refers to the white hairs on the picked tea bud. |
| Winey |
A term describing aged, mellow teas, as with some Keemun teas. |
| Withering |
The process of allowing the fresh leaves to dry after plucking, before fermentation. |
| Woody |
A term describing an unpleasant hay taste in black tea. |
| Yixing |
Pronounced ee-hsing, a region in China known for its purple clay, and the unglazed teapots produced from it. |
| Yunnan |
Spicy tea grown in the Yunnan province, in the southwest of China. |
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