High fired – This describes liquor from tea which has had prolonged exposure to fire.
Irregular – When the whole grade is not even in size, the batch is called irregular. It indicates improper sorting.
Leafy – A grade that consists of larger leaves is called leafy.
Light – This describes liquor that is lacking in depth of colour, but may have desirable flavour.
Mixed – This describes infused leaf with varying colour, which is indicative of insufficient rolling and withering, coarse plucking, etc.
Plain – This refers to poor quality tea produced during the monsoons. Plain tea is a result of soft withering, excessive heating, or excessive moisture in the leaf during withering.
Pungent – A desirable characteristic of the liquor. It manifests as extreme briskness and has an astringent effect on the palate.
Quality – The most desirable characteristic of tea liquor, indicating correct and efficient manufacture.

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Fibrous – It denotes the presence of fibre in some grades, particularly in fanning and dusts. This is due to coarse plucking or application of heavy pressure during rolling.
 Flakey – In orthodox manufacture, tea that is not properly twisted is termed ‘flakey’. Flakiness develops from insufficient withering or rolling.
Flavour – One of the most desirable characteristics of liquor, largely indicated by a pleasing aroma of the made tea.
Fruity – This is descriptive of a defective taste in liquor developed through excessive fermentation and subsequent bacterial infection.
Green – This a defective colour in infused leaf. This defect may be caused by coarse plucking, insufficient fermentation, as also poor and inadequate rolling and insufficient withering.
Grey – Grey coloured leaf is highly undesirable. Grayness develops due to faulty sorting and breaking procedures.

Continuation…..

The Taster’s Infusion.
The taster’s infusion is made of 6 grams of tea. The tea is placed in a mug fitted with a lid. Boiling water is poured onto the leaves, the lid is replaced and the infusion is allowed to stand for five minutes. The tea is then decanted into a handle-less cup of somewhat bigger capacity than the mug. The infused leaf is shaken from the mug on to the inverted lid, which is placed on top of the mug.For tasters, “infused” leaf refers to the wet leaf left over after the liquor is drained out; “infusion” refers to the liquor.

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Autumnal – Tea manufactured during autumn is known as autumnal tea. The leaf obtained after final firing in that period is reddish in colour, but with varying degrees of flavour and aroma, for which customer prefers it.
Bakey – This is an undesirable characteristic developed due to high temperatures during drying.

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Traditionally, many types of make-up, lotions, creams and beauty preparations have used chemical antioxidants, or vitamins A, C and E as preservatives for their products. Now, with research indicating that green tea has even more antioxidant properties than these powerful vitamins, there is a surge in products capitalising on its natural benefits.You don’t need to rush to the chemist to stock up on goodies. Concentrated green tea extract is simple to make at home and is a flexible addition to both your daily beauty routine and your medicine cabinet.

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SNOWMAN COOKIES
Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 41 min
Makes: 22 servings, 2 cookies each

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As the clean, clear mist crosses the silent vast Himalayan range there is heard a gentle rustling. It is the beautiful colorfully-dressed women moving slowly through invisible paths across the rolling hills of the Darjeeling tea gardens, skillfully plucking by hand the finest of the delicate leaves from the bushes and dropping them into the soft, green piles forming inside their baskets. Majestic, snow-capped mountains surround them, forming a stunning backdrop. It is a scene as rare and special as the beverage that is the product of their work. The air is filled with the delightful songs of birds of every hue. There is no doubt the quality of the tea produced here is affected by the magic of its fairy tale surroundings. Darjeeling tea is born in the foothills of the Himalayas, in the shadow of the third highest mountain in the world; Mt.Kanchenjunga.

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It is the taster who describes and values tea. His description of the liquor is based on taste. In its widest sense, which includes aroma, taste is a very complex property that has so far not been assessed chemically. A taster may deal with several hundred-tea samples in a day. In making his evaluation, he brings his knowledge and experience of the outturn of a particular estate to bear upon his conclusions.

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