You love tea, but do you know how to talk tea?
Much like coffee, beer, and wine, tea has its own unique language. People have been drinking tea for over 2000 years, and in that time, the drink has branched out all over the world and taken on new forms with thousands of different ingredients. During that time, we’ve come up with many unique words and phrases to best describe what we’re drinking.
Even before steeping, the look of a blend can influence its flavor. Blends with long and twiggy leaves like Kukicha can have an earthier flavor profile. Whereas smaller, rolled up leaves such as those found in Pinhead Gunpowder may lend to a nuttier, smokey cup.
The color of the tea leaves are also an indicator of the flavor profile you’ll experience. For instance, black tea leaves often provide bold, robust flavor, meaning they are strong and rich, with a deeper mouthfeel. Green tea leaves can indicate softer and earthy flavors. White teas are usually the opposite, sporting a lighter, watery tea with a more subdued flavor.
Ingredients like fruits, flowers, herbs, spices, nuts, and grasses can also affect the distinct flavor of a blend. A single added ingredient can change the flavor profile of almost any blend from one side of the spectrum to another, so it’s important to keep some of these industry terms in mind as you browse for your next tea.
If a tea flavor is described as:
- Floral - it means the aroma and taste are sweet and reminiscent of flowers. Flower petals are commonly used as ingredients in various tea blends. Rose Petals can be found in Chamomile Bilberry Bliss and cornflower petals are used in Earl Grey and Angel's Dream.
- Fruity - it means the aroma and taste are sweet with notes of fruit. Orange peel, lemon peel, and dried fruits like apple, mango, pineapple, raspberry, gojiberry, and starfruit are all commonly used as tea ingredients to give their flavors to different blends. Casablanca is one of our favorite fruity teas.
- Spicy - it means that the tea contains spices. Common spices used as tea ingredients include clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, and ginger. Masala Chai is famous for its spices.
- Smokey - it means that the tea has a bold, smooth, woody, almost campfire-like flavor profile. This usually comes from the tea leaves being smoke-dried in the drying process. Lapsang Souchong is well known for its smokey flavor.
- Grassy - it means that the tea tastes leafy with light, twiggy notes. Many pure green teas like Gyokuro, Dragonwell Longjing, Organic , and Ceremonial Grade Matcha are often described as grassy.
With these new tea-terms at your disposal, and the guidance of tea tenders here at The Whistling Kettle, you are ready to talk tea like a pro! Go put the kettle on!
What new flavor will you try?
