taster

Erh, love thy tea?

:"P

Danny

let me be more specific: in order to become an individiual who drinks tea whilst being paid, what nature of certification process would one have to go through? would one study with a very old long-bearded chinese man somewhere in the backcountry of Yunnan, or go to a tea drinking university and get a masters degree in tea tasting? (or plant biology). The ideal answer to this post would include specifics; "Yes, you need to go to school" would not be as good as practical information (a website or phone number). I am not so much curious about the process as interested in starting down this road, albeit one can not yet see.

IIRC, this was discussed earlier so you should be able to google this group to see what's involved.

I can't recall the specifics at this time.

In India...

CAREER QUERIES HOTLINE Pervin Malhotra, Tribune's career expert answers all your career queries.

Q How does one become a tea taster? Could you please tell me about the courses I should take up and the essential qualities needed to succeed?

Sanjeev Agarwalr

A: Most of the tea tasters in the tea industry are trained on the job and do not require specific qualifications though most tea companies employ graduates. A Tea Tasters Academy has been set up in Conoor in the Nilgiris for training new entrants into this field.

As a tea taster, your senses must be highly sensitised to discern the flavour and aroma of different teas in order to grade and evaluate them. It is based on his judgement that different blends of tea are classified and released in the market.

As a Tea taster it would also help to acquire marketing and managerial skills.

You can apply for the job of a tea taster in any of the leading tea companies or tea gardens.

Danny

While I agree that it would be wonderful > to become an individiual who drinks tea whilst being paid have you seen an actual tea taster before? The process doesn't mean you get to sit and drink tea all day, from what I've seen a professional taster simply slurps, tastes, and spits in rapid succession for long hours. I don't think I could do that, you wouldn't really be able to enjoy all the tea. Still, I look forward to hearing anyone who has some professional insight on the matter.

But wait - it gets worse. From what I've heard, in India at least, the tea the tasters taste is brewed not for the *best* flavor but for the *most*. That is to say, from the standpoint of a normal tea drinker, it's way overbrewed: bitter and tannic, but containing in the cup everything the leaves have to offer.

/Lew

I was given a course by a tea taster who has been 30 years in the business and basically as I understood it these guys are very useful at the tea auctions as the factories send the samples to these tea tasters who can tthrough experience detect certain characteristics about the different teas and asses their value for the auction. Second tea tasters have to make certain blends of teas for companies tatste the same so it realy needs a trained tongue to mix three to four types of tea together to make a blend tatste the same year in and out .Mainly for big companies tetley twinnings etc. A tea taster not only helps blend teas but are sent teas by merchants for analasys and opinions. They can in some cases taste more than a thousand teas a day and as pointed out they may not enjoy it but that is their job. To enjoy a tea one has to sit down or be relaxed and appreciate what they drink. I am tasting five teas on average a day and the more I tatste these teas the more trained my tongue becomes its very interesting,

In my early apprenticeship to tea I was assigned a crusty old taster as my "master". He was a fomidable gent, smoked a reeking tobacco pipe and had a steely eye over his half glasses. After slurping a 100 or so samples through the afternoon I dared a question. "Er, what tea do you drink in the evening?" The crusty old taster exploded "Tea be damned, I drink cocoa!"

Nigel at Teacraft

COCOA , ah so thats the secret to improving the sensitivity of the taste buds ( kidding).... I am suprised that after all the smoking the taste buds actually worked !!

The more surprising, I met along the way a perfumery "nose" who also smoked a pipe, and at work too - in those olden (did I hear Golden?) days when that was permissable - he told me he had adjusted to it so well that he couldn't formulate perfumes without it - but he did have to stay with the same brand of tobacco. Human senses are curiously complex organs.

Nigel at Teacraft