Can be due to overfermenting during manufacture and/or bacterial infection before firing or drying, which gives the tea an over ripe taste. Unlike wines this is not a desirable taste in tea.Full

A good combination of strength and colour.Gone off

A flat or old tea. Often denotes a high moisture content.Green

When referring to black tea liquor denotes an immature raw character. This is mostly due to under fermenting and sometimes to under withering during manufacture.Hard

A very pungent liquor, a desirable quality in tea.Harsh

A taste generally due to the leaf being under withered during manufacture resulting in a very rough taste.Heavy

A thick, strong and colour liquor with limited briskness.High-fired

Over fired or dried, but not bakey or burned.Lacking

Describes a neutral liquor with no body or pronounced characteristics.Light

Lacking strength and depth of colour.Malty

Desirable character in some Assam teas. A full, bright tea with a malty taste.Mature

Not bitter or flat.Metallic

A sharp coppery taste.Muddy

A dull, opaque liquor.Muscatel

Desirable character in Darjeeling teas. A grapey taste.Musty

A suspicion of mould.Plain

A liquor that is clean but lacking in desirable characteristics.Point

A bright, acidic and penetrating characteristic.Pungent

Astringent with a good combination of briskness, brightness and strength.Quality

Refers to cup quality and denotes a combination of the most desirable liquoring qualities.Rasping

A very coarse and harsh liquor.Raw

A bitter, unpleasant taste.Soft

The opposite of briskness. Tea lacking any live characteristics and is caused by inefficient fermentation and/or drying.Stewed

A soft liquor with undesirable taste that lacks point. Caused by faulty firing, or drying, at low temperatures and often with insufficient airflow through the oven during tea manufacture or making.Strength

Substance in cupSweaty

Disagreeable taste. Poor tea.Taint

Characteristic or taste that is foreign to tea such as oil, garlic etc. Often due to the tea being stored next to other commodities with strong characteristics of their own.Thick

Liquor with good colour and strength.Thin

An insipid light liquor that lacks desirable characteristics.Weedy

A grass or hay taste associated with teas that have been under withered during manufacture and sometimes referred to as woody