Terms for Appearance and Spent Leaves: Tight, Downy, Plump, Soft, Lively, Carbonized

Dry leaf and spent leaves are the two evaluation factors judged with your eyes and fingers. Their vocabulary is far more concrete than that of aroma and taste, because you can see and touch them. Learn this set of terms, and you'll read product photos and evaluation descriptions with much more confidence.

Appearance Terms

Tight and Firm (Jinjie, 緊結)

What it is: Leaves rolled tightly and firmly, with a sense of weight, not loose.

What it indicates: Thorough rolling and fairly tender raw material. Yunnan large-leaf leaves are big, so their strips are usually plumper than small-leaf varieties; "tight and firm" is relative to similar raw material.

Opposite: Coarse and loose (粗鬆), leaves loosely rolled, mostly from mature raw material or light rolling.

Example: A spring loose tea whose leaves are each firmly rolled, and that feels heavier in your hand than the same volume of coarse, mature tea: that's tight and firm.

Plump and Sturdy (Feizhuang, 肥壯)

What it is: Large, full, weighty leaf strips; a typical trait of Yunnan large-leaf varieties.

Example: A large-leaf shaiqing maocha with thick, long strips and plump buds can be described as having "plump, sturdy strips."

Downy (Xianhao, 顯毫)

What it is: Clearly visible white down. Raw tea's buds carry silvery white down; after fermentation, ripe tea's buds turn golden, described as "golden tips revealed" (金毫顯露).

What it indicates: A high proportion of buds and tender raw material. For the higher grades of loose ripe tea, the national standard's appearance descriptions also emphasize buds and down.

Example: A gongting-grade loose ripe tea full of tiny golden buds shows "golden tips revealed."

Even and Uniform (勻整、勻齊)

What it is: Consistent size, length, and thickness, with few fine bits.

The difference between 勻整 and 勻齊: The two are close in meaning and often interchanged. Strictly, 勻整 (even) leans toward the overall evenness of dry leaf, while 勻齊 (uniform) is often used for spent leaves, meaning consistent leaf size and maturity.

Opposite: Uneven or mixed (欠勻、花雜), with varied sizes and a mix of tender and mature.

Regular Shape, Appropriate Compression (端正、鬆緊適度)

What it is: Standard terms for compressed tea appearance. Regular means the shape is neat and the edges intact; appropriate compression means pressed neither loosely nor too tightly.

Example: A 357 g Seven Sons cake that's neatly round, even in thickness, with edges that don't shed crumbs, and that pries apart without much effort yet doesn't fall to pieces: that's regular in shape and appropriately compressed.

Lustrous (油潤、烏潤)

What it is: The dry leaf has a natural sheen, looking moist rather than withered.

Opposite: Dull and withered (枯暗、乾枯), lacking luster, mostly from mature raw material or overly dry storage.

Spent Leaf Terms

Plump and Tender (Feinen, 肥嫩)

What it is: Spent leaves with thick, tender buds and leaves, full of leaf flesh.

What it indicates: Very tender raw material rich in substance.

Example: Brewed spent leaves with plump buds and thick, soft leaves that feel fleshy when pinched: that's plump and tender.

Soft (Rouruan, 柔軟)

What it is: Spent leaves that feel soft to the touch, neither stiff nor brittle.

Opposite: Coarse and stiff (粗硬), from old, fibrous leaves; stiff and brittle (硬脆), possibly from drying temperatures that were too high or carbonized ripe tea.

Lively (Huoxing, 活性)

What it is: A term tea lovers use often, meaning spent leaves that are soft, springy, and vivid in color, as if the leaves still had life. Press with a finger and they spring back; rub them and they don't easily turn to mush.

What it indicates: Good raw material and processing that didn't damage the leaves.

Example: An ancient-tree spring tea brewed ten times whose spent leaves are still vivid yellow-green and spring back when pinched; tea lovers would say "the spent leaves are very lively."

Red Stems and Red Leaves (紅梗紅葉)

What it is: Reddish-brown stems or leaves in raw tea's spent leaves.

What it indicates: The fresh leaves sat too long or were crushed before pan-firing, or the pan-firing temperature was too low, so components in the leaf oxidized first. A little is common; a high proportion affects the taste.

Scorch Marks, Scorched Edges (焦斑、焦邊)

What it is: Black scorched spots on the leaves or blackened leaf edges.

What it indicates: Pan-firing that was too hot or unevenly tossed; it may taste smoky or burnt.

Carbonized (Tanhua, 碳化)

What it is: Ripe tea spent leaves that are black, stiff, and lack springiness, even crumbling to powder when rubbed.

What it indicates: Over-fermentation during wodui, which broke down the leaf fibers too far. Carbonized ripe tea has a dull liquor and a thin taste, and may taste burnt.

How it differs from heavy fermentation: Heavily fermented ripe tea has dark spent leaves that are still soft and springy; carbonized leaves are stiff, brittle, and have no spring.

A Comparison Table

For complete methods of reading dry leaf and spent leaves, read Evaluating the Dry Leaf and Reading the Spent Leaves.

FAQ

What does tight and firm mean? Leaves rolled tightly and firmly, indicating thorough rolling and fairly tender raw material.

What does downy mean? Clearly visible white down: silvery buds in raw tea, golden buds in ripe tea, indicating a high proportion of buds.

What does it mean when spent leaves are lively? They're soft, springy, and vivid in color and spring back when pressed, indicating good raw material and processing that didn't damage the leaves.

What is carbonization? Ripe tea spent leaves that are black, stiff, brittle, and without spring, mostly from over-fermentation during wodui.

What do plump and tender and uniform mean? Plump and tender means thick, tender buds and leaves; uniform means consistent leaf size and maturity.