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How to Judge A Good Quality Tea

Become a connoisseur...

Judging Quality

There are a number of aspects to judging the quality of a tea:

• Appearance
• Aroma
• Colour of cup
• Infusion
• Taste
• The full experience

Appearance

Consistent size and colour of leaf - Take a handful of tea leaves and look to see if there are a multitude of colours and sizes of leaves.

• Quality teas have a consistent colour and generally the same size leaves.
• Poor quality teas usually are a combination of colours and sizes where the quality tea is blended with low-quality tea to get the price down

Density - the heavier a handful of leaves is, the better.

Aroma

Smell - put your nose right above a handful of leaves and breath slowly but deeply. The quality teas usually have a very nice, fresh aroma, and are not stale or odorless.

Colour of the Cup

After pouring boiling water onto the tea leaves and letting it sit for 3 - 5 minutes, observe the colour of the tea in a white cup.

• Quality teas have a vibrant, glowing colour where the stronger teas have a deep colour compared to the lighter teas.
• Poor quality teas tend to have a dead colour.

Infusions - Appearance

Have a look at the leaves that have just been brewed.

• Quality tea leaves will open up beautifully and become quite large. Also the colour should be consistent and vibrant.
• Low quality tea tends to not open up and remain small, especially if it is just tea dust or tea refuge.

Final Act - Taste

To taste the tea properly, suck the tea in from the cup and try to make as much noise as possible - this squirts the tea to all parts of your tongue's taste buds, allowing the full flavour to be tasted.

Taste is a subjective thing, hence what is quality to your taste buds may not be to someone else. Simply buy the tea you enjoy the most!

* Generally, people who drink a lot of tea tend to like a nice strong cup. The stronger teas tend to come from lower elevation (about 1000 feet) tea estates.

Tea For Life

You are now a connoisseur... enjoy a life-time of quality tea!

Tip: Each time you drink a cup of quality tea, make it a point to stop and enjoy the full flavour, aroma and warmth - this act will bring you peace and tranquility, to say nothing about the other health benefits...