Term Describing DRY LEAF  |  Term Describing INFUSED LEAF  |  Term Describing LIQUORS

Attractive

Well made. Uniform in colou, size and texture

Black / Blackish

Tea which has been allowed to ferment as opposed to green tea: also describes colour

Blister

Blistering of leaf caused by too rapid removal of moisture

Bloom

Sheen or luster

Bold

Pieces of leaf that are too big for a grade

Broken

Broken by rolling or passing through a cutter

Bold Broken

Broken by rolling or passing through a cutter

Brown

Describes colour

Case Hardening

Applies mainly to orthodox teas. When outside casing becomes fully fired and prevents core from losing moisture. Bold grape-nutty CTCs are also susceptible to case-hardening

Chesty

Resinous smell / taste caused by immature or inferior panels or battens.

Cheesy

Smell / taint caused by inferior glue of panels

Choppy

Chopped in a breaker mill or cutter rather than in the roller

Chunky

Brokens which are large : desirable feature when applied to tip

Clean

Crepy

Crimped appearance

Curly

Opposite to Wiry

Cut

Synonymous with Choppy

Common

Plain

Dis-coloured Leaf

(self-explanatory)

Dull

Lacking bloom DULL TIP opposed to bright

Dusty

Leaf tea containing smaller particles

Even

Consisting of pieces of roughly equal size

Fibrous

Presence of excessive fibre

Flaky

Flat, Open, Poorly made tea

Flat

Open and Flaky

Golden Tip

Denotes Colour of Tip

Grainy

Well-made Hard Leaf

Grapenutty

Leaf Balled in the process of manufacture

Grey

Colour of leaf

Gritty

Leaf which feels hard to the touch

Hairy

Thin Fibre. Similar to Whiskery

Irregular

Uneven whole leaf grades

Keep

Well-manufactured tea with good keeping properties

Knobbly

Round Knobbly Souchong grades

Large

Large for market requirements

Leafy

Tea containing larger leaves than normal coupled with `useful', denotes a size in demand

Make

Good Style

Milled

Put through cutter or mill

Mixed

Exaggerated form of unevenness

Mushy

Tea that has been packed with a high moisture content

Neat

Good leaf of even appearance

Nose

Smell of the dry Leaf

Open

Opposed to twisted or rolled

Pale Tip

(self-explanatory)

Powdery

very fine light dust, the particles of which tend to cohere

Pulverised

dusts containing milled or pulverised fibre

Ragged

rough, shaggy and uneven

Red

(self-explanatory)

Rough

Irregular and Not well made

Sandy

Containing Sand

Shelly

Shell-like Appearance

Shotty

Well-made Souchong

Silvery Tip

(self-explanatory)

Small

Small size than normal

Spongy

Flat Flaky

Stalky

Excessive Stalk

Stylish

Superior Appearance

Tippy

Generous Tip

Twist

Imparted during Rolling

Uneven

Containing Uneven pieces

Useful

Possessing good Blending qualities

Well-made

Uniform in colour, size and texture

Well-Twisted

(self-explanatory)

Whiskery

Fine Hairy Fibre (see also hairy)

Wild

End season teas having Reddish Appearance

Wiry

Stylish, Well-twisted, Thin, Long Whole leaf