Dry tea color terminology

Oily and moist: The dry tea has a lively color and good luster.

Dull and dark: The color is dry and lacks luster.

Uniform: The leaf color is consistent.

Mixed: The leaf color and shape are inconsistent. This term also applies to the leaf bottom.

2. Tea soup color terminology

Clear: Clean, transparent, bright, and free of sediment.

Bright and colorful: Vivid, bright, and clear.

Fresh and bright: Fresh and bright. This term also applies to the leaf bottom.

Deep: The tea soup has a deep color.

Light: The tea soup is light like water.

Bright: The tea soup is clean and transparent.

Dark: Not transparent. This term also applies to the leaf bottom.

Turbid: The tea soup has a large amount of suspended matter and poor transparency.

Sediment: Substances that settle at the bottom of the bowl.

3. Aroma terminology

High aroma: The tea aroma is strong and lasting.

Pure: The tea aroma is neither too high nor too low, clean and normal.

Neutral: Low but without any odd or mixed smells.

Low: Slight but without any rough smell.

Stuffy: Stagnant and not refreshing.

Stale: Stuffy and not refreshing.

Rough: The smell of old leaves.

Grassy: With the smell of grass or green leaves.

High fire: Slightly roasted with a hint of burnt rice or caramel aroma.

Over-fired: More intense than high fire.

Aged: The smell of aged tea.

Off-flavors: Smells such as smoky, burnt, sour, rancid, or moldy caused by tea deterioration or contamination by foreign substances. Specify the type of off-flavor when using this term.

4. Taste terminology

Sweet aftertaste: Pleasant aftertaste with a slight sweetness.

Strong: The tea soup has a thick taste and strong stimulation.

Mellow and thick: Refreshing, sweet, and thick with stimulation.

Rich and mellow: Strong and refreshing with a sweet aftertaste. The stimulation is weaker than strong but stronger than mellow and thick.

Mellow and pure: Refreshing and normal with a slight sweetness.

Mellow and mild: Mellow and mild with sweetness. The stimulation is weaker than mellow and pure but stronger than mild.

Mild: Normal tea taste with weak stimulation.

Thin: Slight tea taste at first, then bland. Synonyms: light; bland.

Astringent: The tea soup feels rough and numbing in the mouth.

Rough: Coarse and sluggish.

Green and astringent: Astringent with a raw green taste.

Bitter: Bitter at first, with a more bitter aftertaste.

Cooked taste: The tea soup is not refreshing, with a steamed or stuffy taste.

High fire taste: Tea with high fire has a fire smell when tasted.

Over-fired taste: Similar to a burnt taste.

Aged taste: The taste of aged tea.

Off-tastes: Tastes such as smoky, burnt, sour, rancid, or moldy caused by tea deterioration or contamination by foreign substances. Specify the type of off-taste when using this term.

5. Leaf bottom terminology

Tender: Many buds. The leaves are small, tender, and soft.

Soft and tender: Tender and soft.

Soft: Feels like cotton when pressed, and lies flat after pressing.

Uniform: Consistent in terms of tenderness, size, thickness, completeness, or color.

Mixed: Inconsistent in terms of tenderness, size, thickness, completeness, or color.

Tender and uniform: The buds and leaves are uniform, tender, and soft.

Plump and thick: The buds are plump, the leaves are thick, and the veins are not exposed.

Open: The leaves are spread out and soft. Synonym: spread.

Spread out: Old leaves are spread out.

Rough and old: The leaves are rough and the veins are exposed.

Wrinkled: The leaves are old and wrinkled.

Thin and weak: The buds are small and the leaves are thin and weak.

Thin and hard: The leaves are old, thin, and hard.

Broken: Many broken and fragmented leaves.

Bright and fresh: Vivid and bright.

Dark and mixed: The leaf color is dark and inconsistent in tenderness.

Hard and mixed: The leaves are rough, hard, with many stems, and the color is mixed.

Burnt spots: Local black or yellow burn marks on the edges, surface, or back of the leaves.