The
tea taster's is a specialised function demanding
talent cultivated during years of training and
experience. The sense of taste is only one of
the many faculties a taster must cultivate.
Of the five human senses of smell, sight and
touch areas essential in tasting tea as is the
sense of taste. The term 'tea tasting' is therefore
a part-nomer for what is a comprehensive examination
of tea.
Close
Scrutiny
Before
a taster Begins his work, sample of tea are
infused or brewed. Each sample is infused in
boiling water for six minutes. The liquor or
liquid is then separated from the infused leaf.
White porcelain cups and pots are use to ensure
an authentic view of liquor colour.
 When
ready for tasting, the taster first examine
two or three ounces of dry leaf tea. Good black
tea should have a uniform black colour with
a bloom or sheen. it should contain golden tips(
the more the better) which come from the 'buds'
and not from two leafs. Brown stalk and fibre
are unwelcome as they represent the hard stem
between leaves. The taster checks the size and
evenness of the leaves. The style of the tea
is just as important; a well twisted heavy leaf
is desirable while a flaky style is not. His
sense of touch helps him verify whether the
tea is crisp and well-dried. A spongy feel indicates
that the tea contains a high percentage of moisture
and therefore will not 'Keep' well deteriorate
early.
Decisive
factor
Then tea taster's eye turn to the infused leaf
to see its colour, its uniformity and brightness.
The infused leaf gives a cross-section view
of the tea and therefore a look of sniff are
helpful.
|
Until
now the taster has not used his palate which is
of course, the most decisive factor in the examination
of tea, but before he tastes, he carefully looks
at the colour of liquor to see how bright and
golden it is.He then proceeds to taste by sipping
about a spoonful of the liquor and rolling it
in his mouth for a few second
before spitting it out. In the course of the few
second that the liquor in his mouth, the taster
registers how strong and brisk it is. Strength
is thickness while briskness (life or pungency
which spring water has but water from a lake does
not) is a property of a good tea which will 'keep'
well.
In
these same few seconds, the taster also judges
the final aspects of the liquor. Character is
the distinctive taste which depends upon the area
in which tea is grown.
Quality
is aroma which is found in abundance only during
certain seasons of the year when leaf growth is
slow. flavor or bouquet is the ultimate in tea
liquor and, being rare, is much sought after.
a Darjeeling tea with an outstanding flavor can
be worth Rs. 1600 per Kg or More.
Palate
Memory
Trained sensitive taste buds and a keen
sense of smell are essential to detect so much
in such a short time, but they are not all.An
encyclopedic palate memory is must for a successful
tea taster. No tea can be tasted and valued in
abstract. The taster must be able to compare it
with a number of teas he have tasted over years
and which are no longer available. Without experience
and a long association with a wide range of teas,
a taster can not do justice to his work.
The taster is often called upon to assist the
producer in improving quality. He must be intimately
familiar with the various process of tea manufacture.
Otherwise he cannot relate a shortcoming in the
tea with a particular fault in manufacture.
|
