CTC Black Tea Quality Rating System
Tea tasting is a crucial job that ensures the quality of tea; a tea taster is always a key part of a company. Essentially, the success of a tea company largely depends on its tea taster. When a tea taster conducts a tea tasting for a tea auction or a tea factory, they inspect all aspects of the tea to determine its quality and value. Here are some samples of tea tasting on black tea and export tea, which will help you refine your tea tasting skills.
Different tea tasters employ various formulas, and tea blending by these experts is a unique and complex process. We have tried two different methods that are convenient for your CTC Black Tea tasting.
In the packing unit to regularly monitor drier mouth quality and grade teas a marking system in the following manner called product quality rating system (PQRS) and tea grade tasting index has to be adopted for use.
Method 1
Tea appearance
The appearance of black tea is a type of tea produced using the CTC method. The appearance of black tea refers to the color, dryness, Texture, finish, flavor, and tea leaves. This appearance depends on the quality of the tea. A tea taster first examines the appearance of the tea in the sample. The grade of tea depends on the appearance of the tea leaves below. Additionally, if you are a tea taster, you will assign the appearance mark to the tea in the same manner.
| Rating Points | INDEX | Description |
| 5 | A+ | Excellent, Blackish, Good Bloom, Well Curled Grainy clean, and even. |
| 4 | A | Excellent, Blackish, Good Bloom, Well Curled Grainy, clean, and even. |
| 3 | B | Acceptable, Black-brown, with some fiber. |
| 2 | C | Good, Blackish brown, fairly grainy, fairly clean, and even. |
| 1 | D | Poor, Brown, Open, fibrous, and uneven. |
Tea Liquor
Tea liqueur has a different emphasis on black tea. So tasting the tea liquor is very important. The image of tea quality is reflected in the tea liquor. It is severe for both tea buyers and sellers. Liquor quality is determined by its golden brightness, clarity, and overall appearance. So there is no pair to test the liquor in the tea, you take the liquor in your mouth from the tea testing cup slowly and loudly. Below are the ratings for tea liqueurs.
| Rating Points | INDEX | Description |
| 5 | 5 | Commendably goo, Sweet. |
| 4 | 4 | Commendably good, Sweet. |
| 3 | 3 | Very good, colory, strong, bright, brisk, and valuable. |
| 2 | 2 | Fair coloury and strength. |
| 1 | 1 | Bare minimum/Plain. |
| 0 | 0 | Are Faulty/Dull |
Tea Infusion
Infusion is significant for black tea. A tea taster continuously checks the infusion to check the quality of the tea. After the tea is placed in hot water, everything else, including the tea grains, swells. All information, including the strength of tea, mild, and dilute tea, depends on it. To check the tea infusion, take a sniff from the tea-tasting cup, break the tea granules, and follow the instructions below to rate the tea infusion.
| Rating Points | INDEX | Description |
| 4 | aa | Green, insufficient fermentation. |
| 3 | a | Copper-colored infused leaf is bright when growing conditions are very favorable. |
| 2 | b | Green, infufficient fermentation. |
| 1 | c | Dull, due to poor leaf, too much recycling (RC), and faults in manufacture. |
Method 2
The taster evaluates the dry leaf, the infused leaf, and the liquor.
Dry Leaf Characteristics
Dry leaf characteristics are handy features for determining the overall quality of tea. This
Assessment is carried out by observing the tea spread on a piece of white paper. During,
For assessment, the following points are taken into consideration:
- The uniformity of the grade, the size, and form of the leaf
- Colour of the leaf,
- Make and style the leaf,
- Nose
- Feel
| Leaf Rating | Comments | Description |
| A | Excellent | Blackish brown, exceptionally well made, good size, even and relatively clean, possessing a fair bloom. |
| B | Good | Attractive grades being black, well made, grainy, good size, even, and clean with bloom. |
| B- | Fairly Good | Attractive grades being black, well-made, grainy, good size, even, and clean with bloom. |
| C+ | Fair | Slightly brownish, of a fair make, but quite even with only a little fibre. |
| C | Average | Blackish-brown, fair complexion, good size, quite even, and fairly clean. |
| C- | Below Average | Rather brown, slightly flaky, and uneven with some fiber. |
| D | Poor | Quite brown and flaky and uneven, with a fair amount of fiber. |
Characteristics of Infused Leaf
Colour, together with appearance and nos,e requires careful attention during the examination of
The infused leaf. The infused leaf may show the following variations:
(1) Coppery Bright
(2) Bright
(3) Greenish
(4) Mixed dull
(5) Dark
Liquor Characteristics
During tasting, the following liquor characteristics are assessed for individual samples:
(1) Colour of the liquor (depth, brightness)
(2) Quality (good, coarse)
(3) Strength (strong, weak)
(4) Briskness (pungent, soft)
(5) Flavour (fine, poor)
(6) Manufacturing faults
(7) Taints
(8) Creaming down (very creamy colour, creamy, not creaming down)
d. Milk Test
Usually, tea is tasted without milk, but adding a teaspoon of milk to the liquor can be
helpful in deciding the degree of brightness of the liquor. It is useful as a visual aid for the
blenders, but it can camouflage the character of the tea from the actual tasting point of view.
| Leaf Rating | Comments | Description |
| 5 | Very best | Perfect colour, strength, and body with brightness, briskness, and fair character. |
| 4+ | Best | Very good colour, strength, and body with brightness, briskness, and fair character. |
| 4 | Best | Very good colour, good strength, and body with brightness and some briskness. |
| 4- | Best | Coloury, good strength, body, and brightness. |
| 3+ | Good | Coloury, good strength with some body and fair brightness. |
| 3 | Good | Good colour and strength with a little body and some brightness. |
| 3- | Good | Good colour and strength with only a little brightness. |
| 2+ | Medium | Fair colour and some strength. |
| 2 | Medium | Some colour with only a little strength. |
| 2- | Below Average | Plain, only a little colour, quite dull and plain. |
| 1 | Poor | Faulty. Unacceptable. |
Tea testers always use their grading formula to test the quality of CTC black tea.
We provide information here based on reports from professional tea tasters. We believe that following these tea test graphs will be beneficial to all parties involved in the tea industry, enabling them to determine the quality of tea. It is hoped that the tea industry will adapt to the changing times to remain competitive in the global market.
Besides, you know that a tea taster always uses different techniques to check the quality of tea. Here, you will find many ideas to help determine the quality of tea by tasting it. And may the quality of tea be good with your skill and hard work.
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