Black
A black appearance is very desirable preferably with 'bloom'.

Blackish
A satisfactory appearance for CTC type teas. Indication of careful sorting.



Bloom
An indication of good manufacture and sorting (leaf reduction has taken place before firing) a 'sheen' that has not been lost through over-handling.

Bold
Particles of leaf which are too large for the particular grade.

Chunky
A very large broken-leaf tea.

Clean
Leaf that is free from fibre, dirt and other foreign matter.

Crepy
Leaf with a crimped appearance common to larger grade broken-leaf teas such as BOP.

Curly
Leaf appearance of whole leaf grade teas such as OP as distinct from 'wiry'.

Even
Teas true to the grade, consisting of leaf of fairly even size.



Flaky
Flat open pieces of leaf too light in texture.

Grainy
Describes primary grades of well-made CTC teas such as Pekoe dust. A desirable quality.

Leafy
Where the tea tends to be of large or longish size.



Light
Tea light in weight, and of poor density. Sometimes flaky.

Make
A term used to describe tea manufacture,in tea-taster's terms a make that means a well-made tea or not true to its grade.

Mushy
Tea that has been contaminated with moisture.

Neat
A grade of tea having good, even make and size.



Nose
The smell of dry leaf.

Powdery
A very fine light leaf particle.

Stalk and Fiber
Bits of tea bush other than the leaf. Undesirable in higher superior teas.

Tip
The tea bud. A sign of fine plucking apparent in top grades of tea.



Wiry
Leaf appearance of a well-twisted, thin, long leaf.