The Taste of Tea

The taste of tea is universal. Enjoyed by countries worldwide, there are regional preferences, but a sip of freshly brewed tea is a sip of freshly brewed tea, no matter where you are. Even the vocabulary used to describe tea is musical. Similar to wine, tea is described by its flavor, including sweet, flowery, fruity, aromatic or round. There are words to describe its liquor like milky, brilliant and crystalline, and then there are the magnificent colors like amber, golden brown, black, white and green.

Each region of the world enjoys their tea a little differently. For example, in areas of the world where sugar is rare, such as remote regions of central Asia, some of the locals flavor their tea with salt or yak butter. While this mixture creates a savory blend, in other parts of the world, the tastes run towards a sweeter blend. For example, Chinese teas are primarily green or semi-fermented which are naturally lighter and sweeter blends of tea.

Western tastes embrace the stronger flavored black tea blends. These blends compliment both sweet and salty food selections. The English discovered that most black tea blends also stand up well to a drop of milk, and this preference soon became dominant throughout the region.

France drinks its tea like it drinks its wine, enjoying everything from rare white teas to the strongest of black teas. The French understand that like wine their tea should compliment the plate of food that they are enjoying, and a result of this finely developed palette, they enjoy a different tea for almost each moment of the day.

Learning to taste a good tea is like developing an appreciation for good wine. A finely tuned palette happens gradually, and begins by tasting thoughtfully. In time you can develop the knowledge of where a tea was grown, which harvest it came from, how long it was fermented, etc., and until then just sit back and enjoy the learning process.