bao, 薄 -
thin, flimsy, weak. Used to describe tea that is lacking in cha qi. See also bo.
bing; 饼 - cake. Something shaped like a cake. 茶饼;
cha bing - tea cake. This is a cake of tea that has been pressed by hand or
machine into a compact form. Easy for transporting and storage. The
more tightly pressed it is, the slower the tea will age. They can range
in size from 100 gms to several kilograms.
cang wei; 仓味. The flavour of tea that has been
stored (poorly). Also often used to refer to the aroma of 'Wet Stored' tea.
cha chang; 茶场 - Tea field or plantation
cha di; 茶底
- literally tea end or bottom. More commonly
ye di.
cha guan; 茶馆(儿)
- Tea house
cha hu; 茶壶 - Tea pot. Tea pots are made of porcelain, pottery and glass. Yixing
pots are suitable for cooked puer, perhaps less so for raw Puer, since, as they are pourous, the pots absorb flavours and chemicals from the tea. If one is serious about using Yixing pots for sheng Puer, one needs to be ready to get at least two pots - one for older and one for younger tea. And these should not be used for brewing other teas, and vice-versa. Yixing teapots will typically soften the flavours of sheng Puer.
cha hua; 茶花
- Camelia flower
cha ju; 茶具 - Literally tea-tools. The paraphernalia for making tea gong-fu style
cha men (zi); 茶闷(子)
- Another term for Gaiwan. 闷;men
- to cover tightly.
cha
nong; 茶农 - A tea farmer or cultivator.
cha pan (zi); 茶盘(子)
- Tea tray. The tray with a drainage system - normally a simple pipe-
that is used when making tea. Usually made from bamboo, wood or stone.
cha qi; 茶气 - Tea nature. The inherent qualities in tea. That
which makes it tea. Sometimes rather unsatisfactorily interpreted as
'tea energy'; translating qi as energy suggests (particularly for
westerners) perhaps a rather too narrow idea of qi but it is an interesting term to consider since many westerners use the
term. However, ideas and experiences of cha qi vary considerably; the taste of tea, the appearance of the leaves
(particularly after steeping i.e. the life in the tea), any physical or
psychological experiences one may have as a result of drinking tea are all
aspects of cha qi. One cannot satisfactorily dissociate one from the other
just as one cannot isolate sunshine from wind, which are both manifestations
of weather, Tian Qi. If it did not have cha qi it wouldn't be tea, it would be something else. From a western point
of view, cha qi is due, in some good part, to the presence of caffeine, theine, etc.
cha qi; 茶旗 - theophylline. A natural
bronchiodilator, only present in very small quantities in tea.
cha qi; 茶器 - a tea set (of tools)
cha shi; 茶室*
- Literally tea room. A tea shop. Also sometimes a brothel. Japanese friends
who were so acquainted have told me that in China Town in Bangkok up until a
few years ago there were a handful of such establishments, where one
ostensibly went to drink tea, but could avail oneself of further diversions.
Apparently, the tea was not up to scratch.
cha shi dian; 茶食店 - Tea shop. A place to drink tea and eat snacks.
cha shi; 茶市 - Tea market. Also 茶场 cha chang.
cha shu; 茶树 - Tea tree
cha su; 茶素 - Theine
cha tong; 茶筒 - Tea cady or storage jar.
cha wan; 茶碗 - Tea bowl. This is typically a small
handle-less bowl made from porcelain or glass. Generally glazed, but sometimes,as with Jian Shui pottery, it is burnished.
Unlike Yixing and burnished pottery, glazed ware will not absorb flavours, etc. from the tea, so when sampling new tea, or drinking tea of unknown origin, it is good to use glazed ware. If unglazed ware is used, one should have a cha wan dedicated to each kind of tea; sheng, shou, etc.
cha wei; 茶味
- Tea flavour
cha wen hua; 茶文化 - Tea culture.
cha ya; 茶芽.
Tea tip/s. 芽 - ya literally means tooth, So the new shoots of tea leaves. These are
generally the most prized, followed by other less exquisit formations such
as yi ya yi ye,一牙一叶 and yi ya liang ye, 一牙两叶,
etc.
cha ye; 茶叶 -Tea leaf.
cha ye guan; 茶叶罐.-
Tea caddy or storage container.
cha ye hua; 茶叶花 - Tea leaf flower or simply Tea flower; Camelia.
cha yi; 茶仪 - Tea ceremony. Not generally used to refer to the daily habit of tea making and drinking. Most habitual tea drinkers would be unlikely to use this term in reference to their tea-making activities. Not common parlance in Yunnan tea making circles.
cha yuan; 茶园 - Tea garden. Commonly used to refer to
a tea plantation.
cha zhi; 茶质 - Theine, caffeine
cha zhuan; 茶砖 - Tea brick 砖 has石shi
as a radical which means stone or something to do with stone, so a brick shape of material from the ground,
but the wider meaning of brick is a brick of any material.
chen wei; 陈味 - Aged, mellow. An expression which in Chinese can be used
to refer to the flavour of aged alcohol or tea.
chen dian; 沉淀 - sediment. i.e. small particles that are sometimes found in tea soup when
tea has been made. In good quality tea there is very little, if any
sediment. One can often see the very small hairs that grow on Sinensis
assamica leaves floating in the tea soup having become detached
from the leaf, but these do not appear as sediment or make the soup turbid .
chun;春 - spring.
chun cha; 春茶 - spring tea. Normally divided into periods; 头春; tou
chun,二春; er chun, etc.
chun; 纯 - pure. not
pin
pei
da piao;
大票 - large ticket. The
bigger loose label or ticket which is found inside a tea cake wrapper
da shu; 大树 - 大,da -big,old. 树, shu- tree. Big/old tree. A term used to refer to trees that could be anything from say 30 odd years to 70 yrs old. Many different places have their own approach, so there appears to be no fixed definition of what qualifies as da shu. See Gu shu.
da ye; 大叶 - literally big leaf. The Chinese term for the broad leaf varietal Camelia
Sinensis Assamica.
dan ya ; 单牙 - Single tip. Considered to be the best formation, followed by dan ya, dan
ye 单牙单叶; one tip,one leaf and dan ya, er ye 单牙二叶; one tip,two leaves. etc.
Dian Hong; 滇红. 滇 - Dian is an old name for Yunnan. So
Yunnan Black Tea.
dou cha; 斗茶 -
tea fight. A competition of tasting different teas to establish which
is the best.
fa jiao; 发酵 - Fermented. Puer tea is a made by a process of fermentation , rather than one of
oxidation. See hou fa jiao - post-fermented
fang fa; 方法 - method 泡茶方法 pao cha fang fa - tea brewing method.
fang mian; 方面 - Front face or aspect. Refers to the front face of a cake or bing of tea.
gan; 干 - dry.
gaiwan; 盖碗 - literally lid-bowl. A steeping bowl with a lid. They generally come in two
sizes. The most common is 140cl/4oz. The lid is used to clear off any extraneous
materials that may float to the surface on initial steepings. These (1 or 2) are not drunk. The lid
is then used to partially strain the tea by holding it a little to one side
as one pours the tea off through a fine strainer into a Gong Dao Bei (共道杯)
or decanting jug.
gao; 膏 - Glue, paste, oil, gum. 茶膏 tea oil. Somewhat prized because of it's scarcity, cha gao can be found on
the market in small quantites. When steeped, a very small piece will
create a delicate pinky brown colour. The taste is also
delicate, to the extent that it's often barely discernable.
gong fu; 功夫 - The skill or art of tea making. The same two characters are used to refer to other fileds of skill development. Most commonly to the field of self defence.
gu; 古 - old, ancient. 古树;gu
shu. Generally considered to be a tree over 100 years old.
gu hua cha; 谷花茶 - Autumn tea.
guan mu; 灌木 - Literally means bush or shrub. 灌 - guan, to irrigate. This style of cultivation is relatively new, having only
started in the early to mid 20th Century. Tea bushes are cultivated in rows. Guan mu cha is the tea from cultivated bushes.
hai ba; 海拔 - 海;hai-sea, 拔;ba
- to protrude, extend from. Together it means 'above sea level'. Altitude.
hong; 红 - red. In China, what is often called black tea in the English speaking
world, is called red. Cooked Puer is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a
black tea.
hong; 烘 - Oven. Hong qing; 烘青. Oven dried. Oven dried tea is generally felt to be inferior to sun-dried.
However, most tea producers have one; often wood fired, which is used to dry
leaves if time or weather does not permit sun or air drying.
hui gan; 回甜 - Hui 回-
return, come back, reply. 甜, gan-sweet.
Together - sweet return, sweet aftertaste. Used generally to refer to
the aftertaste of tea, be it sweet or not.
hun he; 混合 - A mix or blend. Perhaps with some derogatory connotation. Used by those
to refer to pin pei cha. i.e tea that is not pure; not tea from one single place, season and/or type of
tree. e.g. old tree tea leaves from two or more places , or tea from the same
place but not only from old or ancient trees or bushes, or from different
seasons.
hun zhuo; 浑浊 - Muddy, turbid. Good tea will produce a
bright clear soup. If tea is at all turbid one best not drink it.
hou fa jiao; 后发酵 - Post-fermented. 后hou
- behind, after. 发; fa
- has many meanings; to develop, expand, bring into existences, start; rise or
expand when fermented. 酵 jiao - fermented. Together 发酵 also means to ferment.
hou long; 喉咙 - The throat. Often used in describing the experience of tea drinking.
A pleasant feeling in the throat is a key factor in evaluating the quality
of tea; 喉咙舒服/喉咙不舒服 - a comfortable or
uncomfortable feeling in the throat.
ji qi rou (de); 机器揉(的)
- Machine rolled.
Some machine rolled tea has a very pleasing appearance and most tea gardens,
however small, will have a machine,
which is generally electric, but sometimes hand operated. However, the best
tea is still hand rolled.
jian; 碱. - alkali. Normally used when discussing the pH of water which is a critical aspect of tea making.
jian; 尖 - Tip. Often in reference to a new leaf that has yet to open but will also be heard when describing tea tasting experiences - 舌尖; she jian - the tip of the tongue.
kou gan; 口感 - Literally mouth-feeling. Taste, flavour.
Ku; 苦 - Bitter.
ku se; 苦涩 - Bitter and astringent. The nature of new raw Puer is to be a little astringent
and bitter, followed by a sweet aftertaste. However, a bitterness with no
sweet aftertaste is not typical of Puer and an astringency which is not
comfortable would not be considered good tea.
Ku Cha; 苦茶 - Bitter Tea. The tea from a variety of tea tree (Camelia Sinensis
Assamica var.Kucha) found in an area around Mensong(Jinghong).
l
lu cha; 绿茶 - Green tea. Tea that has not been roasted or fermented.
mao cha; 毛茶 -
Raw tea. tea that has been dry fried in a tea wok & then rolled & dried.
men; 闷 - to
cover tightly. Also means to let tea steep for a longer period of time to
bring out the flavour.
neifei; 内飞 - 内 -nei inside/inner, 飞 -
fly. This refers to the inner label which is embedded a little into the
front of pressed tea cakes, bricks, etc..
nong xiang; 浓香. 浓 nong - dense, thick, concentrated. Together it means strongly or
densely fragrant.
Pang
xie jiao; 旁鞋脚. Latin; (Viscum articulatum Burm.f.)
Literally Crabs legs. A parasitic plant that grows on trees in sub-tropical
regions. When it grows on the tea tree it absorbs flavour from the
tree and makes a sweet, refreshing drink, hot or cool. Very limited
availability. Puer cakes can be found that have Pangxiejiao mixed into the
cake. Normally around 10-15%. It is also part of the Chinese medicine
pharmacopoeia – said to have a diuretic effect and is used to clear heat.
pao; 泡.
To soak or steep. 泡茶.
To steep or brew tea.
pin pei; 拼配. A blend or mix. pin pei Puer comes in many forms; tea from a particular place, but comprising of old tea tree leaves mixed with tea bush leaves or, old tree tea from different areas or seasons mixed together, or finally, a combination of all of the above.
pin zhi; 品质 - Character or quality.
ping; 评比- To criticise,review. To appraise. In tea drinking, to appraise tea.
ping wen; 平稳. Smooth, steady, even. Used to refer to the taste of tea. Puer should be smooth and steady without any sudden changes in the flavour as steepings progress. A sudden change or loss of flavour is an indicator of poor quality. Good Puer can be steeped 20 to 30 times and maintain it's flavour.
Pu er; 普洱.
Also Puerh, Pu'er etc. Puer is the modern pinyin spelling. The place name of the Old City of Puer through which
pack horses transported the tea from Southern Yunnan. The names were
recently changed; Puer is now Ning Er and nearby Simao has the adopted name
of Puer. Locally, in spoken Chinese at least, Ning Er is still Puer.
Puer Tea; 普洱茶.
That 'Puer Tea' was given this name suggests that historically this kind of
tea - post fermented Camelia sinensis assamica must have come from the south
and west of Puer for there to have been any sense in transporting it through
that city. The majority of good Puer tea still comes from the Xishuangbanna region. Puer County itself was not an historically important tea producing
region.
The Yunnan Provincial Government has stipulated that for tea to qualify as Pu er it must be;
i) of the Broad Leaf variety (Sinensis Assamica)
ii) grown in the Lancang (Mekong) River Basin region
iii) sun dried.
This third point
is important as there is much tea grown in the Lancang area that is not sun
dried.
There are also increasing amounts of Small Leaf Variety
(Xiao Ye Zhong /小叶种) being grown in the Lancang area.
Qing Ming Cha; 清明茶.said
to be tea that is picked three days either side of the springtime festival - Qing Ming Jie 清明节-
Grave Sweeping Festival which falls on April 4th and 5th.
qiao; 乔.Literally,
tall. Used to refer to older trees, but without any clear indication of age.
qing; 青. Green
or blue
qing bing; 青饼. Green
cake. Used sometimes to refer to a young/unaged, raw puer tea cake.
rou; 柔.
Soft, delicate
rou; 揉. To
roll or kneed. Much tea is till generally hand-rolled though rolling
machines are common.
ru kou; 入口. (To) enter the mouth. The experience when tea first enters the mouth. The initial impression.
run; 润 - soft, delicate
run hua; 润滑 - smooth
se; 涩.
Astringent.
sha; 杀.
Literally to kill. So 杀青 translates as killing green. The process of pan 'frying' fresh tea arrests the action of plant enzymes that will have begun after picking.
shai; 晒.
To dry in the sun. shai
qing; 晒青. Sun dried. This is a critical aspect of Puer Tea processing. Oven
dried tea is considered inferior to sun-dried. The Provincial
Government has ruled that Puer tea must be sun-dried. A lot of tea from
Yunnan is not sun-dried - particularly Summer Tea (Yu Shui Cha/雨水茶).
she mian; 舌面. 舌, she
- tongue,面, mian
- face, surface of something. So the blade of the tongue, or dorsal aspect.
she jian; 舌尖.
The tip of the tongue.
sheng; 生.
Raw, uncooked, un-processed.
shou; 熟.
Cooked, ripe, familiar, See also shu.
shou gong; 手工.
Literally hand-work. Hand made.
shu;
树.
Tree.
tan qing;
摊青.
The process of laying freshly picked leaves out to allow the moisture content to diminish before frying
tai di; 台地.
Literally mesa or plateau.台地茶 tai di cha refers to tea bushes that have been planted and are still young.
They are also the broad leaf varietal and have generally been grown from the
seeds of old trees. They are not inherently bad, but the use of chemicals in
their cultivation is pervasive.
ti tou; 剔透 - bright and limpid.
tian xiang; 甜香. 甜, tian- sweet.香, xiang
tong; 筒 - Literally a barrel or barrel shaped object. A tong in Yunnan Tea Culture is a bundle of 7 tea cakes wrapped in bamboo fibre, making a total of 2,499 gm (each cake being 357gm). Apparently calculated in order to remain under a specific legislated weight of 2.5 kg. There were originally said to be 8 cakes in a tong. The 8th being paid as a levy.
tong feng; 通风.air-flow. Puer should be stored somewhere where there is a flow of air. Even if it is quite humid, the airflow will guard against tea developing mould.
wei diao;萎凋. Literally to wilt. A process more typically used in relation to the production of black tea, but often used interchangably with tan qing.
wo;
渥 - Wet. Wo dui - 渥堆, Literally wet -pile The process of 'pile fermentation which is used to make 'aged'
Puer tea.
xiang; 香 - Fragrance/fragrant
xiang nong;
香浓 - aromatic
xiang tian; 香浓 - Fragrant and sweet. Both literal and figurative.
xiang qi; 香气 - Fragrance. Puer can be quite fragrant, but highly perfumed tea is genereally suspect, because it is not natural for ancient tea tree Puer to be that fragrant, in the way say of Oolong tea.
xiao ye; 小叶 - literally small leaf. i.e. small leaf varietal; camelia sinensis sinensis. As opposed to 'big leaf/daye zhong' sinensis assamica, or 'zhongxiaoye'.
ya;
牙-Tooth. Used to describe a single tip or newly formed leaf that has not yet opened. See Dan Ya
ye; 叶 - Leaf. cha ye 茶叶 - tea leaf.
ye di; 叶底
- The tea dregs. By looking at the tea dregs one can get a clearer picture of
the original leaves; what kind of tree they were from etc.
ye sheng; 野生.
Wild, feral. Whilst there is still a comparatively large number of truly wild
tea trees in Yunnan, most tea does not come from them, coming rather from
Yu Shui Cha; 雨水茶. Literally Rain water tea. Summer Tea. Less prized than Spring Tea or Autumn
Tea. The flavour is usually less fulsome than Spring tea. Also,
it is often oven-dried (hong qing; 烘青)
as it is harvested in the rainy season.
yuan liao; 原料. Raw
Material. The original ingredients of a cake, brick. etc.
zao; 燥 - Dry
Zhang; 樟 - Camphor. 樟树, Camphor tree.
zhang wei; 樟味 - Camphor flavour. This is sometimes present in old tea tree Puer. Due, it is said, to the presence of Camphor Laurels in tea gardens where they were planted as a form of natural pest control.
zi juan; 紫娟.
Purple Beauty. A purple leaved variety of Sinensis assamica which has been produced in Yunnan.
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