Derbyshire tea merchant trains tea tasters
Most of us take our regular cuppa for granted. We
enjoy the brew with little awareness of the work that
goes on behind the scenes to bring us the humble cup
of tea, which is much loved in Britain. But how is
tea selected for sale to the British consumer? There
are many aspects to the tea trade and tea tasting is
an important part of ensuring the quality of tea
brought to you, so that you can enjoy the best.
Where do you go if you want to learn the fine art of
tea tasting? It’s not the sort of course you see
advertised at your local college after all. When tea
magazine wanted some advice for their lay tea tasters
who review teas for the magazine, they turned to
Northern Tea Merchants in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
David and James Pogson welcomed the tasters to their
tea tasting room and showed them how tea tasting is
done in the trade. This process enables merchants to
select teas that match their requirements for quality
of leaf and taste. It’s as serious a business as wine
tasting! tea magazine’s tea tasters didn’t sample
anything like the vast quantity of teas that
professional tasters might but were delighted to learn
some of the principles involved and to get to grips
with tea terminology.
Each issue of tea magazine, published quarterly,
features a different tea that our tea tasters have
reviewed for readers. This gives you the chance to
discover new teas, find out what an ordinary tea
drinker like yourself thinks of them and, perhaps,
give you the motivation to try one you’ve never had
before. The Summer Issue of tea focusses on Russian
Caravan teas.