Tea tasting

Tea tasting requires similar skills to wine tasting – sight, smell, taste and touch.

First of all, have a look at the dry leaf. How does it feel? An old tea leaf is likely to crumble in your fingers and have a dull appearance. A new tea leaf should be less likely to crumble and have a shiny, fresh look to it.

Next, place a teaspoon of leaves into a white cup and fill with hot water. How does the tea smell? Also have a look at the colour – all teas will be a different colour depending on the leaves. Look at the infused leaves – how is the colour and is the colour of the leaves even?

Next comes the tasting part. This will only become more apparent with practice. Sip one mouthful of tea into your mouth and swill it around your mouth. Breathe in and out a few times whilst the tea is in your mouth and taste the characteristics of the tea. With experience, you should be able to notice similarities and differences in colour, taste and smell.