Presumably, when drinking tea, fellow tea enthusiasts often hear terms like "layered sensation," "astringency," and "tea-water separation" that sound very "high-end." So what do they actually mean? Today, we’ve compiled the most comprehensive list of 25 professional tea tasting terms ever—a must-have for tea lovers at home or while traveling.

Neutral Terms

Tea Nature

Specifically refers to the刺激 of the tea liquor's taste after entering the mouth. Includes aroma type and bitterness/astringency, often described as "strong" or "weak."

Tea Texture

Refers to the fullness of the liquor's texture in the mouth after entering. Includes smoothness, sweetness, sweetness return, depth, and brew resistance, often described as "thick/thin" or "heavy/light."

Aroma

Produced during the processing of fresh leaves, mainly generated by free catechins in the tea leaves. Perceived clearly in the mouth: palate, tongue surface, under the tongue, cheeks, and throat.

Bitterness, Astringency

Bitterness is a taste, astringency is a sensation. Bitterness comes from theophylline in tea components; astringency is the收敛 of tender tissues in the mouth.

Convergence (Astringency)

The tightening sensation on the tongue and around the mouth after tasting tea, mostly a manifestation of astringency.

Water Taste

The tea liquor tastes very weak; when drinking, one tastes the sweetness of water rather than the tea itself, called water taste. It's normal for water taste to appear in the final stages of drinking tea.

Positive Terms

Sweetness Return (Hui Gan)

Refers to the process where bitterness transforms in the mouth to produce sweetness.

Saliva Production (Sheng Jin)

Refers to the continuous welling up of saliva in the cheeks, tongue surface, under the tongue.

Layered Sensation

"Layer" refers to overlapping phenomena, "order" refers to sequence. The feeling of transformation of aroma and taste in the mouth.

Throat Sensation (Hou Yun)

The feeling the tea liquor brings to the throat after drinking, such as sweetness, moistness, dryness.

Fullness

Refers to the substantial feeling in the mouth brought by the rich substance of the tea liquor.

Fruity Acidity

When tasting the tea liquor, it carries a fresh taste, like fresh sour fruit.

Aged Aroma (Chen Yun)

The charm produced through aging over time, often felt in older teas with some years.

Restrained Aroma

The aroma is not overt; its fragrance is in the water, present if attentive, absent if not.

Melts in the Mouth (Enters and Transforms)

The tea liquor enters the mouth and naturally goes down the throat without conscious swallowing. Especially with aged good tea, people say "melts in the mouth, as if drank yet not drank"—this is the highest praise for the liquor character of Pu-erh tea.

Refreshing Clarity

After the tea liquor of a tea stored excellently over years enters the throat, the mouth feels refreshingly clear, teeth have a distinct sensation.

Spring Under the Tongue (She Di Ming Quan)

The highest level of saliva production, emphasis on the "ming" (singing/bubbling) character, meaning continuous.

Medicinal Aroma

A common characteristic of aged old tea; rich medicinal aroma is often a way to praise the aroma of old tea.

Negative Terms

Sourness

Occurs when not dried after rolling, or when moisture content is too high during compression.

Greenness

Caused by insufficient kill-green temperature or time; severe cases have a "green fishy smell."

Throat Tightness (Locked Throat)

After drinking tea, the throat becomes overly dry, with difficulty swallowing, tightness, itching, and discomfort; one may feel slightly uneasy and irritable.

Tea-Water Separation

The tea liquor enters the throat, but what remains in the mouth is not tea flavor but the taste/feeling of water.

Special Terms

Smoky Flavor

Smoky odor produced during tea processing. Not necessarily a bad smell; judgment of good or bad depends on the tea. In most cases, tea should not have a smoky flavor. A small portion, like Wuyi Zhengshan Xiaozhong, Hunan Weishan Maojian, etc., have smoking processes forming corresponding qualities.

Tea Energy (Qi)

Produced when organic germanium and polysaccharides in tea combine and dissolve in water. Tea energy容易 appears in old tea, often manifested as burping, body warmth, heat, slight sweating.

Tea Liquor Character (Shui Xing)

Refers to the different sensations the tea liquor brings to the mouth, such as滑,化,活,砂,厚,薄,利 seven aspects, mostly used to judge the quality of Pu-erh tea. Among them,滑(smooth),化(melting),活(lively),砂(sandy),厚(thick) are positive characteristics of Pu-erh, while薄(thin) and利(harsh) are negative features that can affect the tasting experience. Mostly used when tasting Pu-erh tea.