Professional Tea Tasting Methodology

The Professional Setup

Professional tea tasting uses standardized equipment: a 3-gram leaf sample, 150ml of 95-100°C water (for most teas), a 5-6 minute steep (notably longer than enjoyment brewing), and identical white porcelain cups for visual comparison. Multiple teas are tasted side-by-side in the same session, working from lightest to most robust (green/white → oolong → black → pu-erh). Each tea is evaluated through dry leaf inspection, wet leaf inspection, liquor appearance, aroma at three stages, taste, and aftertaste. Notes are written in real time.

• The 3g/150ml/5-6 min standard intentionally over-extracts to reveal both strengths and faults clearly
• Tasting flights of 4-8 teas at once train your palate faster than tasting one at a time
• Spit cups are used in formal tastings to avoid caffeine overload (yes, tea is spit-out at professional cuppings)

Visual Evaluation

Start with the dry leaf: uniformity, color, size, evidence of broken or dusty bits, visible defects (yellow leaves, stems, dust). Quality leaf is uniform in size, with visible whole leaves and intact tips/buds. Then the wet (steeped) leaf: how it unfurls (a sign of leaf integrity), color (vivid vs dull), softness (a supple leaf is fresh, brittle is stale), uniformity. Then the liquor: color (a vivid clear color indicates quality; cloudy indicates damaged leaf or over-processing), depth, and 'brightness' (light reflectiveness - a marker of freshness).

• Use a white spoon or background to evaluate liquor color accurately
• Wet leaves should look 'alive' - supple, complete, vibrant
• Cloudy liquor usually indicates broken leaf, dust, or over-extraction

Aroma: Three Stages

Tea aromatics are evaluated at three distinct moments. (1) Dry leaf aroma: smell the dry tea, sometimes after warming the leaves in the cup. Should be alive, complex, and characteristic of the type. (2) Lid fragrance (gai xiang in Chinese): immediately after pouring, smell the underside of the gaiwan lid where steam condensed. This reveals top notes and most volatile aromatics. (3) Cup-bottom fragrance (bei xiang): after drinking, smell the empty cup. This reveals the deeper, more persistent aromatics - and a lingering sweet aroma here is a hallmark of quality oolong and black tea.

• The cup-bottom aroma (杯底香) is the most underrated tasting moment - always smell the empty cup
• Quality teas show different aromas at each of the three stages - single-note tea is usually inferior
• Note specific descriptors: not just 'floral' but 'jasmine vs gardenia vs orchid'

Taste and Mouthfeel

Taste evaluation covers: sweetness, bitterness, astringency, umami (savory), saltiness (rare in tea but present in some seaweed-like Japanese greens), and sourness. Mouthfeel evaluates: body (thin, medium, full), texture (smooth, silky, oily, gritty), and finish (how long flavors persist after swallowing). Quality tea is rarely just one note - it shows progression as the liquor moves through the mouth and after swallowing. Pay attention to the hui gan (sweet return) - a sweetness that develops in the back of the throat after swallowing, especially valued in pu-erh and oolong.

• Slurp aggressively - air aerates the tea in your mouth and amplifies flavor
• Hold the tea on your tongue for 5-10 seconds before swallowing - most flavor develops over time
• Hui gan (sweet return) is the marker of quality across many tea types

Building a Vocabulary

Naming what you taste accelerates learning. Use specific descriptors: not 'fruity' but 'apricot vs peach vs plum'; not 'earthy' but 'wet wood vs autumn leaves vs mushroom vs petrichor.' Tea-specific terms include: yan yun (Wuyi rock minerality), shan yun (mountain energy of high-altitude oolongs), cha qi (the 'energy' of tea - a real perceived effect), hui gan (sweet return), gan yu (sweetness in the throat). Develop your vocabulary by reading tasting notes from reputable vendors, talking with other tea drinkers, and naming everything you smell and taste in daily life.

• Keep a tasting journal - note specific flavors and revisit teas to see if you taste the same things
• Smell everything in daily life and try to name it - improving general smell vocabulary directly improves tea tasting
• Compare tasting notes with other drinkers - disagreement is informative, not wrong

Related Teas

• Gyokuro

  Green Tea

• Darjeeling

  Black Tea

• Da Hong Pao

  Oolong Tea

• Longjing

  Green Tea

• Silver Needle

  White Tea