Tea tasting facts for kids

The United States Food and Drug Administration tested tea until 1996.

Tea tasting is when experts check the quality of different teas. These experts are called tea tasters. They can tell how good a tea is just by tasting it! Many things make tea taste different. These include the weather where it grew, the land, and how it was made. Even the type of tea plant, called Camellia sinensis, changes the flavor. A good taster can spot these differences. This helps them know the tea's quality before it is sold. It also helps before it is mixed with other teas, a process called blending.

Why Taste Tea?

Tea tasters have different goals for their work. What they look for depends on how the tea will be used.

Tasting for Blending

Sometimes, tea is tasted to see if it will mix well with other teas. This is called blending. A taster might look for a tea that adds a certain flavor. It might be a strong taste or a light one. The goal is to create a new, balanced tea mix.

Tasting for Drinking

Other times, tea is tasted to be sold on its own. This tea is meant for people to drink as is. For these teas, tasters look for a perfect flavor. They want it to be enjoyable by itself. The qualities needed for these teas are often very different.

How Tea Tasters Work

Tea tasters use special methods to check tea. They want to make sure they get a fair taste. This helps them compare different teas accurately.

The Tasting Process

A tea taster uses a large spoon. They slurp the tea loudly into their mouth. This might sound funny! But it helps the tea mix with lots of air. This way, the tea touches all the taste buds on the tongue. It gives the taster a full idea of the flavor. After tasting, the liquid is usually spit out into a special bowl. This is called a spittoon. Then, the taster moves on to the next tea sample.

Special Tools for Tasting

Tea tasters use a special set of tools. It is called a 'cupping set'. This set is always white. The white color helps the taster see the tea's color clearly. It also helps them look at the tea leaves. The set has a small cup with a lid. The tea leaves and hot water go into this cup to brew. There is also a small, round tasting cup.

Grading Tea Quality

Tasters look at many things when grading tea. They check the tea's flavor. They also look at the color of the brewed tea. The size and shape of the dry tea leaves are important too. They use a special language to describe these things. This language was made by the tea industry. After checking the quality, tea companies decide how much the tea is worth. They consider things like market trends and how much tea is available.

Professional tea-taster George F. Mitchell in 1927