October/November 2014 85 Michele Magdalena Tasting 101: Ready, Set, Slurp! Five people on a tasting tour sit around a table in the heart of Napa Valley, setting down their drinks and choosing their words carefully: “Raspberry jam.” “Bright.” “Bold.” “Nutty.” They could be describing a vintage cabernet franc or an earthy roussane, but they aren’t. The topic is tea—a beverage often likened to the complexities of wine, and sometimes labeled in similar terms by master tea tasters. James Labe, a Bay Area resident and commonly recognized as America’s first tea sommelier, believes that those who “respond best to the intricacies of tea are people who enjoy wine.” And to be sure, the two drinks share a number of traits: Their tastes and flavors depend on subtle variations in soil, topography, shade and time of harvest; they are often judged on their tannin levels; and it takes an expert many years of sampling countless sips to develop the super senses of sight, taste and smell needed to identify each nuance of a particular blend. Hidden Peak Teahouse At venerable Twinings of London, founded in 1706, tasters go through five years of training to reach a point where they can detect the tiniest differences between teas, even among those that are produced on the same piece of land. And, in addition to using words from the vineyard to explain what they’re tasting, tea experts have also created their own original vocabulary. They say “cabbage water” when describing the flavor of some green teas; they call tea that has sat too long in paper bags “papery;” an Assam tea might be “malty” like malted milk and if a tea is “thick,” it feels heavy in the mouth and that’s a good thing. So, when did the art of tasting tea evolve into a full-blown profession requiring years of slurping and certification? That would be when consumers’ tea-drinking habits became more sophisticated and they began demanding a uniform taste with every cup. Expert blenders and tasters were then called upon to create standard flavor profiles that didn’t vary from place to place and season to season. Today, it’s not uncommon for a tea to be sampled five times before it lands on the market—which means people can drink their favorite brewed beverage from among hundreds and expect it to taste the same all year long. With so much riding on their eyes, noses and taste buds—on any given day, more than 158 million Americans are drinking tea—professional tasters take their jobs very seriously. Elaborate, meticulous “cupping” procedures are certainly evidence of that. During a cupping (tasting), the tea-making process is rigidly precise, with each variety of tea and every drop of water measured to exact amounts, placed in special ceramic, lidded cups and steeped for the same number of minutes—to the second. Consistency in method is the most important part of cupping, say the experts, because teas change flavor when you brew them differently. The leaves are closely inspected before and after each tasting, in both their dry and soggy states. And, tasters use spoons to quickly slurp up the liquid and spray it across their entire palates. Then, after experiencing that full burst of flavor, they spit out the tea and write their notes. Twinings’ tasters have their own personally engraved spoons, each resting in a special spoon holder in the tasting room. Naturally, tea-lovers at home don’t need such extravagant props to con- duct their own cuppings. Even the most basic tasting is a great way to help you understand the characteristics of different blends. And it’s fun, too. Just get a group together and follow some simple guidelines. 1 While wine and tea have certain things in common, the biggest difference is that wine can age for decades before you drink it, but if tea isn’t used within a year, it loses its flavor and any beneficial qualities. Best to hold your cupping before that happens. 2 Start small. Try a few cups of the same type of tea in the first session; for example, three or four types of black teas. As your palate becomes more discerning, add more cups and types. 3Line up small plates and place tea leaves for each sample on a plate. Begin with lesser intensity teas (with black teas, these are the ones that have larger leaves) and work up to more intense varieties. 4 Individual tea tasting sets include a brewing cup with lid and a small bowl for tasting. A general rule is to use 2 to 3 grams of tea leaves for every 6 to 8 ounces of water (3 grams is about 1 teaspoon). Weigh leaves from your first sample and put an equal amount in each brewing cup or teapot. 5 Use fresh, filtered water that has just been boiled, and pour an equal amount into each brewing cup; cover with lid. (You can also use regular cups and cover with a saucer.) 6 Start steeping, but watch the clock. For black teas, try 3 to 5 minutes; longer than that will result in a bitter taste. Strain the infused leaves and pour the brew into your tasting bowls. 7 Let the tea cool a bit and get ready to indulge. But first, inhale the bouquet. Then dip your spoon into the liquid and slurp it sharply up! It’s the only way to truly taste, because slurping allows the tea to run over your tongue and reach every part of your palate. Roll it around to assess the flavor. And then, you can spit it out like a professional, or drink it up. Do it all over again with your next sample. n
South Bay Accent - Oct/Nov 2014
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