Tea Vocabulary, Grading, Translations, etc.

I’ve been thinking it would be nice to have a big thread that includes information about tea vocabulary, tea grading, etc. — and a place to ask questions about what these words mean. It would help me to have something a little more detailed than the standard “tea glossary” I’ve found online.

Plus, I don’t always know the various terms for specific teas, like Bai Hao/Oriental Beauty and others. And I just found an Oriental Beauty called “Eastern Beauty,” which… Well done for not using “Oriental” to describe your tea, but I wouldn’t know how to google and find such a tea. Is that a common name for it?

Thought this would be a good place to ask and answer various vocabulary questions.

9 Replies

I will start: What does “nonpareil” signify when it comes to tea? It’s a grade, right? So what does it mean? It’s somewhere between Premium and Supreme or Superfine, right? And is superfine the same thing as competition grade?

ashmanra said

Since nonpareil means “without equal”, I think it means the highest grade, and that seems to be how Teavivre uses it. It goes Premium, then Superfine, then Nonpareil. I actually like their Premium Dragon Pearls more than Superfine, though, so it is all about personal taste!

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gschuschke said

great thread! thanks for starting it!

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sherubtse said

Although Yunomi has a terrible website, they have a great glossary:

https://yunomi.us/glossary/

Best wishes,
sherubtse

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yyz said

http://pu-erh.net/cheatsheet.php
A bit of puerh translation

http://www.basilurtea.com/faq/
Basdilurs sights often have good description of Ceylon classes
http://www.jiangtea.com/This site often has good information on tea types
As does this http://www.viconyteas.com/speciality-tea.html

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The Harney Guide to Tea is a great book to pick up, you can get it really cheap usually. I bought it and it was great for learning basics.

http://www.amazon.com/Harney-Sons-Guide-Tea/dp/1594201382/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426869172&sr=1-1&keywords=harney+guide+to+tea

ashmanra said

I second it! I got a copy a few years ago and learned a lot!

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djmor select said

The tea enthusiasts handbook by the Heiss’ is a great book, goes through each of the 6 styles of tea (white, yellow, green, black, pu-erh, oolong) and recommends steeping times, styles, flavor/aroma notes. You can also find a “flavor wheel” of tea online. (https://teahousekuanyin.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/the-tea-flavor-wheel-a-curious-proposition/)

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Anlina said

I found this guide on Romanization of tea terms really useful, though I would love to see an expanded version of it. http://www.worldoftea.org/romanization-tea-terms/

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