Tea tasting opens the door to our senses. With hundreds of tea varieties, discovering your favorites will take you on a journey where the complexities of flavour, aroma and color seem endless. The more tea you taste, the more you will learn to appreciate the nuances between tea types.

Getting Started

• A good way to start tea tasting is to line up your favorite teas in different categories and start comparing
• As you begin your tasting adventure, note how the flavours may differ depending upon origin, soil type, style of tea and steeping time. Like wine, differences in taste can be attributed to location, climate and how the tea is processed
• Try focusing first on the basic differences between blacks, oolongs, greens and white teas
• As you become more familiar, challenge yourself by tasting more similar teas. Soon you will come to understand what key elements you desire in a tea
• Remember to always have fun and that tasting remains subjective.

A Tasting Guide – The Elements of Leaf, Aroma, Liquor and Flavour

Traditional tea tasting focuses on the appearance of the leaf, the aroma both before and after steeping, the color of the resulting infusion or liquor and the tea’s taste or flavour:

• Leaf: Examining the leaf is telling. Is it twisted, rolled or a natural, flat leaf? This and whether it’s broken or whole will affect the taste and body
• Aroma: Smell the leaves before steeping. Do they smell grassy, smokey or sweet? Once infused, inhale the aroma deeply and enjoy the bouquet. Does the smell appeal to you and whet your taste buds for sipping? Is it citrusy, flowery, toasty or fruity? A tea’s nose can reveal not only quality but subtle flavours that the mouth might overlook
• Liquor: The color of infused tea or liquor can vary in color. Look at the consistency of its color, and appearance of the liquid in a white cup. Depth of color will denote proper brewing time
• Taste: After slightly cooling, slurp your tea to make sure the full flavour spreads out all over your tongue. Does the tea make a strong impression? Assess whether it has a full, medium or light or round body. Is it smooth? Does the flavour leave a lasting and memorable finish or dissipate after swallowing? Note elements of its flavour traits – is it malty or vegetal? How the tea feels in your mouth is important too. High quality tea exhibits briskness. Instead of flat tasting, briskness refers to the astringent or dry tasting affect tea has on tongue. This astringency is an important aspect to tea, giving it a refreshing feeling.

Tasting Terms

An entire language exists for describing a tea’s characteristics. We list below some of the more commonly used terms:

• Astringency: A lively and mouth drying affect on the tongue. Not bitter, but a clean and refreshing quality
• Balance: Various characteristics of the tea, including body, flavour and finish all come together to perfect the cup
• Biscuity: A freshly-baked bread smell present in some black tea like Assam
• Body: The tactile aspect of tea’s weight and feeling in the mouth. Teas range from full to light bodied
• Bright: A bright liquor color or a lively, clear flavour
• Brisk: The mouth-puckering and lively bite found in high quality tea versus dullness
• Character: A tea’s signature attributes depending upon origin whether its country or region
• Citrusy: A citrus fruit flavour like an orange or lemon
• Complex: A tea with depth and subtle flavour or aroma combinations
• Finish: The lasting taste on your tongue after swallowing the tea
• Fruity: A flavour characteristic of fruit, whether it be apple, peaches or Muscat
• Flat: Dull tea lacking freshness
• Flowery: A floral nose or flavour associated with high grade teas
• Malty: A sweet, malt flavour
• Muscat: Often used to describe high quality Darjeelings – the aromas and flavours of the Muscat grape
• Pungent: Astringent with balanced elements of briskness, brightness and strength
• Self-drinking: Refers to tea with complex flavour profile that does not need additional flavouring such as milk or sugar
• Smooth: Round bodied, fine drinking teas
• Strength: Refers to the intensity of flavour, color and aroma
• Smoky: A smoky wood aroma or flavour
• Toasty: A toasted biscuit like aroma
• Vegetal: A characteristic of green teas that might include grassy, herby or marine flavours.

Food Pairing

Like wine, tea pairs well with food. As you learn to appreciate the characteristics of different teas you can also being to explore pairing them with food. With each tea in Mighty Leaf’s lineup we provide you with recommended food pairings under the sub-menu in the upper left hand corner under the “Use” category.

Food pairing is not a science and individuals will have subjective opinions. The key to food pairing is to break down the flavour profile of a particular tea and match that to complementary food flavours. For example, pair up a rich Yunnan tea with chocolate or a roasted Hojicha with spicy and nutty foods. You will find that tea is versatile and any given type can be paired with a variety of foods, ranging from spicy to sweet. If you let your palate be your guide, you will discover the perfect balance of tea and food pairings.