Bitter
An unpleasant taste in raw teas.

Body
A liquor with fullness and strength.

Bright
A lively fresh tea.

Brisk
The best 'live' characteristic from good manufacture.

Character
An attractive taste, specific to the origin of the tea. Indicative of high grown tea.

Coloury
Denotes depth of colour and strength.

Earthy
Normally caused by damp storage of tea but can also describe a taste that is sometimes 'climatically inherent' in teas from certain regions.

Flat
Not fresh, usually due to age.



Flavour
A very desirable extension of character caused by growth at high altitudes.

Fruity
An over-ripe taste. Can be due to overfermenting during manufacture and/or bacterial contamination before firing or drying,

Full
A desirable combination of colour and strength.

Green
Refers to an immature 'raw' character in black tea. Mostly due to under fermenting and under withering during the time of manufacture.

Hard
A very pungent liquor, a good quality in tea.

Heavy
A thick, coloured and strong liquor with limited briskness.

High-Fired
Over fired or dried, but not burned.

Light
Lacking strength and or depth in colour.

Malty
A highly desirable character in some teas.

Point
A bright, acidic and penetrative characteristic.

Pungent
Astringent with a combination of briskness, brightness and strength.

Quality
Refers to a combination of the most desirable liquoring qualities.

Taint
Taste or smell that contains a foreign element such as oil, Tea picks up taint easily if stored close to commodities with strong odours.

Thick
Liquor with depth in colour and strength.

Woody
A grassy taste associated with teas that have been under withered.