FOR THE RECORD -- 30:

DID YOU KNOW YOUR CUP OF TEA HAS SO MANY DESCRIPTIONS?

P S SUNDAR

                   ‘Fruity Tea’ may mean a sweet fruit fragrance in tea to you but for a professional tea taster, it means ‘Unpleasant Over-ripe taste’ – and the tea may either be rejected or shunted for a lower price in the market.

This and many other terms describing the liquor of tea around the world by professionals have been listed in ‘Global Tea Digest 2016’, (GTD) the latest edition from the house of Global Tea Brokers, tea tasters and auctioneers.

“The terminologies used to describe dry leaf, infused leaf and liquor are as fascinating as the tea beverage and so, we have listed them in GTD”, Rajesh Gupta, GTD compiler and publisher told me.

New tea is also not all that welcome as the liquor has not had sufficient time to mellow.

‘Nose tea’ means the liquor is fragrant  and ‘malty’ is desirable character. ‘Biscutty’ also means pleasant character in the liquor.   But ‘Bouquet’ refers to superlative flavour !

‘Burn’ is fully fired but ‘Burnt’ means the tea was subject to extreme high temperature and so, loses its high value. In between is ‘dry tea’ where the liquor is ‘slightly high-fired’!  ‘Fully fired’ means slightly over-fired!

‘Muscatel’ refers to the desirable character especially in Darjeeling tea – grapy taste reminiscent in vineyards. 

Green tea must be pale but other teas looking pale means lack of colour!

Pungent is not always unwelcome because it is an ideal combination of briskness, brightness, strength and flavour.

Self-drinking liquor is palatable in itself not requiring blending.

And, when you are tired, you can drink tea to refresh but a tired’ liquor means flat tea, not welcome!

photo:
Global Tea Digest 2016 release  --  (left to right):  Mohamed Iqbal (Chairman, Nilgiris Planters' Association), Rakesh Kumar Jagenia IFS (TANTEA GM), Rakesh Gupta (Diector, Global Tea Brokers -- GTB), Rajesh Gupta (MD, GTB and publisher, GTD), H P Gupa (GTB Chairman) and Dr Rajeev Srivastava IFS (TANTEA MD)

(response can also be sent to :pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)