Appendix II Terminology of Pu’er Tea Sensory Tasting

Appendix II

Terminology of Pu’er Tea Sensory Tasting

The sensory tasting of Pu’er tea is to evaluate and determine the qualities of the tea. So understanding sensory terminologies is key to the tasting. It takes practice and experience to describe the tea’s qualities with the terminologies. 

According to the basic processes and key factors of the sensory tasting, the sensory 

terminologies essentially include five aspects: appearance, liquid color, aroma, taste, and appearance of the brewed leaves. Here we introduce some frequently used terms when appraising Pu’er tea. 

Terms of the Appearance of Pu’er Tea

Even: The tea leaves are consistent in shape and size, indicating a well-made tea. 

Even and neat: The tea leaves are consistent in size and shape, without stalks, broad 

leaves or other contaminants.

Heavy: The tea leaves are of comparatively great weight when held in one’s hand.

Light: The tea leaves are of comparatively little weight when held in one’s hand.

Tippy: The tea leaves are tender, consisting of an abundance of buds covered with hairy tips.

Tight and slender: The tea leaves are fine and tender, well-twisted, and have a pointy shape.

Fine and tender: The tea leaves are small in size, un-toughened and tippy.

Broad: The tea leaves are big, thick but tender, heavy in weight.

Sturdy: The tea leaves are relatively broad, tender, and relatively heavy in weight.

Loose: The tea leaves are not well rolled or twisted, and in a loose shape. 

Broad and loose: The tea leaves lack tenderness; big in size but light in weight.

Short and broken: The tea leaves are irregular in shape and length, ragged and uneven.

Stalky: The tea leaves contain a great number of tea stalks.

Fishy: The tea leaves are round, straight and big in shape of a loach fish.

Enveloped: The tea leaves are not well extended, folded and overlapped.

Normal: The shape of the compressed tea is regular, unbroken, intact and even.

Heart un-enveloped: The inner tea leaves are exposed on the surface of the compressed tea.

Cover drop: The tea leaves on the surface of the compressed tea are warped and dropped.

Well-compressed: The compressed tea is of an appropriate tightness, free from cover 

drops. A well-compressed tea is good for its natural post-fermentation during storage.

Crack: Cracks can be seen on the surface of the compressed tea.

Flat and smooth: The surface of the compressed tea is flat and even, free from cover drop or exposed stalks. The opposite expression of “flat and smooth” is “broad”.

Broken piece: The surface or the edge of the compressed tea is irregular, incomplete with gaps or notches. 

Distorted: This refers to a bowl shaped Tuo tea with an irregular, badly-shaped mouth.

Hollow: This refers to a hole formed in the centre of a Tuo tea or a Cake Tea due to an 

excess of pressure during pressing.

Fishy-edge: The edge of the Cake Tea is round and smooth, like the back of a loach fish.

Knife-edge: The edge of the Cake Tea is thin and sharp, like a blunt knife.

Terms of the Taste of Pu’er Tea

Plain: The taste is simple with a slight flavor of tea, lacking character and aftertaste.

Weak: The taste is light, plain and thin, with little pungency or flavor. 

Fresh and brisk: The taste is pleasant and stimulating on the palate, not heavy or soft.

Neutral: The taste is normal with weak pungency on the palate.

Mellow: The taste is smooth and pleasant on the palate, with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Mellow and thick: The taste is sweet, rich and heavy with a lasting aftertaste.

Mellow and aged: The taste is aged, mellow and rich without any musty or stale flavor.

Heavy and thick: The taste is rich and strong with lasting pungency and a sweet 

aftertaste.

Bitter: The taste is harsh and unpleasant with an even harsher and more unpleasant 

aftertaste.

Sweet aftertaste: The sensation of a pleasant sweetness on the palate after the tea liquid is swallowed.

Astringent: The taste is stimulating, thick and dry throughout the mouth.

Grassy taste: The taste is plain with a flavor of grass.

Watery taste: The taste lacks thickness and richness and is plain and thin like water.

Terms of the Liquid Color of Pu’er Tea

Clear: The liquid is clean, transparent, and lucent without precipitate or particles. 

Bright: The liquid is clean, clear and transparent.

Brilliant: The liquid is bright and vivid.

Turbid: The liquid lacks transparency, with a large amount of suspended substances.

Dull: The liquid lacks brightness but is free from suspended substances.

Yellowish green: The liquid is green inclining to yellow. It is the liquid color of raw Pu’er tea.

Tender yellow: The liquid is golden with a touch of white. It is the liquid color of raw 

Pu’er tea.

Light yellow: The liquid is light in color, yellow but not dull. It is the liquid color of raw 

Pu’er tea.

Bright yellow: The liquid is yellow, bright and lustrous. It is the liquid color of raw Pu’er tea.

Greenish yellow: The liquid is yellow inclining to green. It is the liquid color of raw Pu’er tea.

Deep yellow: The liquid is deep in color, yellow and lackluster. It is the liquid color of 

raw Pu’er tea.

Orange yellow: The liquid is yellow with a touch of red. It is the liquid color of raw Pu’er tea.

Orange red: The liquid is red with a slight yellow. It is the liquid color of raw Pu’er tea.

Deep red: The liquid is red and deep. It is the liquid color of ripe Pu’er tea.

Auburnish red: The liquid is red inclining to auburn. It is the liquid color of ripe Pu’er tea.

Chestnut red: The liquid is red inclining to deep brown. It is the liquid color of ripe Pu’er tea.

Reddish auburn: The liquid is auburn inclining to red. It is the liquid color of ripe Pu’er tea.

Red and turbid: The liquid is red, opaque, with a large amount of suspended substances. It is the liquid color of ripe Pu’er tea.

Red and heavy: The liquid is deep and thick, red in color, indicating a heavy body. It is the liquid color of ripe Pu’er tea.

Terms of the Aroma of Pu’er Tea

Fragrant aroma: The aroma is sweet, pleasant, elegant and lasting.

Fresh aroma: This denotes the aroma of tender tea leaves and buds with abundant hairs.

Strong aroma: The aroma is rich, powerful and lasting.

Gentle floral aroma: The aroma is delicate and elegant with a trace of flower.

Aged aroma: The aroma is pure but not musty. This is the typical aroma of Pu’er tea. 

Sweet and pure aroma: The aroma is clean, pleasant and low with a touch of sweetness.

Floral and fruity aroma: The aroma is like fresh flowers and ripe fruits.

Terms of the Brewed Leaves of Pu’er Tea

Extended: The brewed leaves are naturally stretched, outspread and unfolded.

Shrunken: The brewed leaves are folded and twisted, not well-extended.

Even: The brewed leaves are of fairly even tenderness, size, thickness, integrity and color.

Mixed: The brewed leaves are of different color, shape, size, or with stalks, broad leaves or other contaminants. 

Tender: The brewed leaves are soft, delicate and un-toughened.

Fine and tender: The brewed leaves consist of an abundance of buds or are small in size, delicate, soft and un-toughened.

Tender and even: The brewed leaves are soft, delicate, un-toughened and of fairly even size, thickness and color.

Yellowish green: The brewed leaves are green inclining to yellow. It is the color of brewed raw Pu’er tea leaves.

Greenish yellow: The brewed leaves are yellow inclining to green. It is the color of brewed raw Pu’er tea leaves.

Auburnish red: The brewed leaves are red inclining to auburn. It is the color of brewed ripe Pu’er tea leaves.

Reddish auburn: The brewed leaves are auburn inclining to red. It is the color of brewed ripe Pu’er tea leaves.

Mottled green: The brewed ripe Pu’er tea leaves are generally reddish auburn but with some green leaves which are not fermented to the same degree or blended evenly.

After grasping the terms we should pay further attention to the following three points: 

Firstly, the latter word is the core of the term, so when we say the liquid color is “greenish yellow”, it indicates the dominant hue is yellow, and this inclines to green. Secondly, we should bear in mind that there is a difference of degree in the terms. Such as when we describe a tea’s mellow taste, if there’s a rich and viscous sense on the palate we can further add “thick” after “mellow” to describe the taste as “mellow and thick” instead of simply saying “mellow”. If we sense an aged but not stale flavor in the mouth we can add “aged” after “mellow” to describe the taste as “mellow and aged”. Thirdly, to express our sensory tasting more specifically we can use adverbs to suggest a degree of the given term, such as “slightly sweet”, “especially heavy”, or “relatively bright”.