What is tea?

In colloquial English, the tea has a broad variety of definitions and uses. It may refer to a beverage that is made by steeping the processed leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis in hot water, it may refer to those leaves in their dry form, it can describe almost any beverage made in a similar fashion from botanical ingredients, or for a mixture of dry botanical ingredients. In addition, tea may refer to the ceremonial service of hot beverages, sometimes accompanied by a light meal.

Tea grades D - dust

This is just what it sounds like - the tiny particles of broken tea leaves. Processed tea becomes increasingly brittle as moisture is lost in the process, and one of the results is a collection of these tiny pieces. Dust has value as an ingredient in tea bags, because the very small particles have enormous surface area relative to their weight. This means they infuse very rapidly and yield a strong, darkly coloured liquor. Unfortunately the same mathematics of surface area and rapid infusion mean that the less pleasant flavours present in tea also appear in the cup.

FNGS - fannings

These are incrementally larger pieces of dust, which share the same
performance qualities in tea bags, and yield similarly poor cups of tea. BOP - broken orange pekoe (pronounced “peck-o”) These are considerably larger pieces of the broken leaves, and can be very good if the original leaf was of high quality. These broken pieces are slower to infuse than dust or fannings but faster than larger grades. Many fine teas are available as BOP and they can be exceptional.

OP - orange pekoe

These are whole-leaf teas, which may or may not result from the plucking of the second leaf, as opposed to the strict two leaves and a bud qualifier. Much slower to infuse than the broken grades, they may be excellent, provided that the other quality factors are present. In short, a tea that tastes good as a BOP will be even better in its OP form.

FOP - flowery orange pekoe

This term indicates the presence of the flower leaf, or first open leaf. This is generally a positive attribute, although, once again other quality factors must be present.

G - golden

This term may appear before one of the broken or leaf grades and refers to the presence of yellowish pieces of the leaf bud in sufficient quantity to be easily seen by the naked eye. A GBOP is a golden broken orange pekoe tea, comprised of relatively large broken pieces of the whole leaves and substantial amount of the golden tips of the leaf bud. This is a good indicator of quality, but hardly a guarantee.

T - tippy

This indicates a substantial presence of the whole leaf bud, which may be greenish, black, silver, or golden depending on the origin of the tea, processing methodology, relative maturity of the leaf bud, and a few other factors. Many fine teas are presented as TGFOP, which from our perspective is the highest grade to have any objective reality. Other letters may precede these but they are generally the result of some marketer's high-flown flights of fancy. Now, for the bad news. After digesting this alphabet soup, be prepared to disregard all of it with an oolong or green tea, and many black teas from certain origins. Ultimately, the quality of any tea can only be judged in the cup.

Types of tea

Assam - Strong, gives a rich full cup.

Ceylon - Smooth, but full of flavour, slightly delicate. Often blended with tea from India for popular blends.

Darjeeling - Called the champagne of tea; light and delicate.

Earl Grey - Traditionally Earl Grey is a blend of black China and Darjeeling teas which have been treated with the citrus oil of bergamot. It is this oil which gives the blend its characteristic “scented” aroma and flavour. Earl Grey is one of the most popular of the speciality teas and makes an ideal afternoon tea. Twinings have long enjoyed popularity with this delicate blend.

English Breakfast (Twinings) - Originally a blend of China and Congou popular in the United States. Over the years it has become a blend of teas from India, Sri Lanka and Kenyan tea - producing a full bodied brew.

Flavoured teas - There are many flavoured teas on the market.
These are simply teas to which have been added fruit, spices or herbs. You may come across teas to which mango, apple, lemon, blackcurrant or even jasmine flowers have been added. Tea can also be treated with natural fruit juices or essential oils. Four red fruits tea flavoured with cherry, dried raspberry, dried redcurrant and strawberry, and Blackcurrant tea with blackcurrant flavouring are both available from Twinings.

Green Tea & Lemon - Blend of green tea, natural lemon flavouring and dried lemon available from Twinings.

Gunpowder Green - The leaf is rolled into tiny balls. It is pale in
colour with a sharp, distinctive taste. Used in North Africa to make mint tea. (The Koran forbids fermented drinks.)

Herb and fruit teas - A wide variety of “teas” are made from dried herbs or fruit. These are often sold for their health-giving properties and make a refreshing drink either on their own or sweetened with sugar or honey.

Irish Breakfast Tea - Ablend of teas traditionally flavoured by the
Irish for its pungent amber brew also available from Twinings.

Japan - Japanese tea is always green. Sencha is one of the
highest quality; the leaves look like dark green needles and the brew is fresh and green.

Jasmine - Green tea mixed with jasmine flowers; very pale and delicate.

Keemun - Black tea from Keemun in the Huangshan mountains south of the Yangste; scented and delicate in flavour.

Kenya - Rich colour and strength, good value, and often used in blends.

Lapsang Souchong - A large leaf from Fukien province, which is smoked to give it a tarry taste so strong it must be stored away from other teas.

Oolong - Lightly fermented with a flowery flavour. Organic Tea

Using Black teas as a base and various biological teas.

Rose Congou - Leaf mixed with red rose petals; very aromatic.

Russian Caravan - Black tea from Georgia and Azerbaijan with a distinctive, robust flavour.

South African Blends - Most locally blended branded teas contain
a great deal of tea grown in South Africa. The original cultivar of this local tea, however, came by various routes over the years, mostly from the Assam area in India. Hybrids from the original cultivar have subsequently been developed - mainly at the Tea Research Station in Malawi. It will be difficult to purchase a pure estate tea in the Republic as the bulk of the stock is sold to the blenders. However, estate tea can be purchased in the Tzaneen area.

Tea blending

Some teas possess unique characteristics that make them ideal for consumption in their pure state. Others offer an excellent balance of colour, brightness and weight that yields a complex cup and interesting or unique liquor. In the tea-trade they are referred to as self-drinkers. There are a number of teas that possess positive
characteristics but come up short overall. These teas lend themselves to blending. Creating a blend in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts is the first goal in blending tea. The second more successful objective is to create a tea with a particular
flavour profile that can endure through frequent substitution of one component for another. Most medium-to-large tea concerns will blend to establish a flavour profile, and then work with a wide variety of different teas to maintain that flavour. Aconsistent cup of tea is maintained from season to season and year-to-year.

A tea purveyor might blend teas from China, India, Ceylon, and Kenya, from a large selection of gardens and co-operatives to produce a distinctive flavour. Here the art of blending becomes a science.

Botanical ingredients and flavourings - Tea has a long tradition of being blended with other botanical ingredients. Ginger, onions, salt, jasmine flowers, rose petals, and lychee nuts have all found their way into tea blends and some have become recognised standards that are appreciated by tea lovers around the world. In addition to botanical additives, there are a great many flavourings that have been applied to tea. These range from natural extracts of ruits and berries to vast array of nature identical, natural and artificial, and wholly synthetic flavours. The majority of these are in liquid form and are aerosolised and sprayed onto tea leaves. The flavoured leaves are then tumbled to homogenise the flavouring and then left to rest for a period of time.

Proper traditional steeping

The most commonly cited obstacles to serving really wonderful tea brewed from loose leaves are that it is complicated or too time consuming. The brewing of tea requires hot water, tea and a vessel to fuse the two elements. Truly great tea cannot be hurried. Brewing the perfect cup can be quite simple if you follow a few simple rules.

Brewing tea is a weighty exercise - Know the liquid capacity of your preferred teapot. The general rule is to use two grammes of tea leaves for each cup of water. Because tea leaves vary widely in size,
shape and weight, use a scale to measure.
Boiling is not always best - Why is boiling not always best? Tea is produced in three distinct styles: black, oolong and green. Each of these styles has different water temperature guidelines for steeping. For black teas, water should absolutely be brought to a rolling boil before it is poured. For oolong teas, the water temperature should be slightly cooler depending on the degree of oxidation in the particular
oolong. Green teas require cooler water still - achieved by carrying the water to the tea instead of the tea to the water.
Know what's in the water - A cup of tea is a tiny bit of tea and a whole lot of water. Knowing what’s in the water used is critical to producing a great-tasting cup. Many Chinese still insist that spring water makes the best cup. No strong aromas or tastes can be present if you want to clearly taste the tea. Mineral components in water like calcium can contribute to or distract from the tea’s flavour. The amount of oxygen in the water can also be a factor in the final cup. Always fill your kettle with freshly drawn water. Avoid distilled water. The bottom line: Water should be fresh, clean and odourless.
Time is of the essence - It is almost impossible to give steeping times for tea down to the second, because extraction is invariably a matter of taste, and taste is always subjective. Steeping times vary according to the tea’s colour, style and grade. Here are some general parameters in relation to leaf size: full, large-leafed teas like high-grade oolongs can take additional time, because they have less surface area in contact with the water and extraction is slower;
smaller-leaf teas like Hao Ya Keemun will take less; and the CTC teas used in tea bags are designed for maximum surface area exposure and require very little time to create a dark cup of tea. For black teas steeping times are between three to five minutes; for oolong teas steeping times are four to seven minutes. Other important steeping guidelines include herbal teas at five to seven minutes; delicate white teas at around two minutes; and First Flush Darjeeling teas at two to five minutes. Take the time to learn about how you like your tea, and then take time to steep it and to drink it.

How to taste tea

The cupping of tea is one of the most important tools used to establish the character and relative value of tea. Cupping tea requires a few basic tools: a kettle, a measuring teaspoon or scale cups and spoons. The cups should be simple, preferably without a handle, so that you can tell by touch when the liquid is cool enough to taste, and to prevent any shadows from being cast into the cup. The cups should also be white to achieve the truest possible colour. You should have access to a sink or spittoon, so that you can spit the
tea out easily and quickly after tasting it.

All taste sensations are registered on the tongue and through the sense of smell. So, swallowing is not only unnecessary but also, when tasting a number of teas, may actually become unpleasant. Budding aficionados should begin sampling six teas per cupping session; any more can become confusing. It is also wise to compare teas that are fairly similar.

The key to cupping is to be well-organised. Line up six cups next to the sink, making sure they are well rinsed. Line up the samples to be tasted behind each cup. Make a card for each sample. Measure a level teaspoon of each sample tea into the bottom of each cup. The sample should be weighed rather than measured, since the leaves
may vary in volume and render the measurements unequal. Tasting will require a little more than a quart of water. Since water makes up 99% of the beverage, it is crucial to use water free of any flavour or odour taints. If you do use tap water, be sure that it is aerated. Bring the water to a full boil, and then pour it over the leaves. This rule doesn’t apply to tasting green teas. For proper comparison, each cup should be brewed with water of the same temperature. After pouring the boiling water, let the tea steep for a fixed time - generally five minutes. Watching the tealeaves unfurl in the hotwater is referred to as watching “the agony of the leaves”. After witnessing this graceful unfurling, lift the wet or infused leaves up from the bottom of the cup. Examine the leaves both visually and aromatically and record impressions as precisely as possible. The colour should be bright and even. Dull, uneven, or mixed colour indicates a poor brew. The aroma will vary greatly from “biscuit” to “black currant”, depending on the tea being sampled.

Ready to taste the actual liquor, bring a tablespoon of liquid to your mouth and slurp it with a loud noise. This rudeness ensures that you have created enough force to spray the tea over your entire tongue and into the back of your mouth. Different parts of the tongue will bring different taste sensations. The back of the tongue senses bitterness while the tip senses specific flavour characteristics.
Swish the tea around in your mouth to give you a sense of its astringency. Finally, spit out the tea.