The Cooking Inn : Tea Terminology C PageSelect a name from the list to go to it's site
C.T.C :
Cut, Tear and Curl describes a machine which literally cuts, tears and curls the withered leaf, breaking the leaf veins. This releases the juices or enzymes of the leaf and completes the second stage of manufacture. Today, CTC tea, or Unorthodox tea is applied to all types of manufacture other than Orthodox. It is used in the second stage of manufacture where the tea leaves are broken into particles before fermentation and drying.
Cachar :
The most common variety of India tea, produced in Cachar district of Assam.
Caddy:
The name given to a tin or jar of tea, which takes its name from the Chinese or Malayan word 'catty'- a term used to describe the weight of one pound of tea. In the past tea caddies were equipped with a lock and key.
Today, the tea trade's international botanical name for the tea plant.
Caravan Tea:
Tea taken by camel from China to Russia in the past.
Ceylon:
Blends of teas grown on the island of Sri Lanka, which take their name from the colonial name for the island. The traditional name of Sri Lanka was readopted by the island when it became a Sovereign Republic in the Commonwealth in 1972.
Cha:
The word for tea derived from the Chinese and Indian languages.
Chanoyu:
Japanese tea ceremony or party.
Character :
An attractive taste, specific to growth origin describing teas grown at high altitude.
Chest :
Original tea package, normally made of wood and lined with metal foil. Originally tea chests were lined with lead.
Chesty :
Tea tainted by inferior or unseasoned packing materials.
Ching Wo :
Black China tea from Fujien province.
Chop:
From the Indian chapna meaning to stamp a number, mark or brand. Each break of chop of tea is marked.
Chunky :
A very large broken-leaf tea.
Chunmee :
Green China tea, said to resemble the shape of human eyebrows.
Clean :
Leaf that is free from fibre, dirt and all extraneous matter.
Cloning:
Cuttings taken from old tea bushes to produce new tea bushes. Today most tea bushes are grown from clones or cuttings taken from older bushes.
Coarse:
A tea producing a harsh undesirable liquor with taste to match.
Collection:
Once a plucker has filled a basket or sack with tea leaf, it is taken to a collection point where it is checked and weighed before being taken to the factory for making.
Coloury:
Indicates useful depth of colour and strength.
Common:
A very plain light and thin liquor with no distinct flavour.
Congou:
A general term used to describe all black China teas regardless of the area in which they are grown and made.
Coppery:
Bright leaf that indicates a well manufactured or make of tea.
Country Greens:
A term originally used to describe China green teas, other than Hoochows or Pingsueys.
Crepy :
Leaf with a crimped appearance common to larger grade broken-leaf teas such as BOP.
Cream :
A natural precipitate obtained as the liquor cools down.
Curly :
Leaf appearance of whole leaf grade teas such as OP, as distinct from 'wiry'.
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