Introduction
At Yang Tea we have incorporated ISO 3103 tasting as a way of analyzing almost all the teas we taste, either to study them, while refining them for competition or lastly to incorporate them into our product offering.
But my use of standard tea cupping extends beyond Yang Tea, it has also been a very important tool when studying tea from other producing areas such as Japan, China, India, Argentina or Peru among other origins.
Why is standard tea tasting so important in the tea industry? In this article I will tell you my point of view including relevant data and details about ISO 3103.
Origins of ISO 3103 standard tea tasting
The ISO 3103 standard was created as a method to evaluate tea by professionals in different places around the world, but following a procedure such that the result of the infusion is equivalent between them.
Its first publication was in 1980 by the British Standards Institute (BSI). As we know, England has been a great consumer of tea for some centuries and later promoted the production of this drink in India, so it is not surprising that they were the first to publish a tasting standard for tea. Then in 2019 it was revised and published by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Standard tasting is not a preparation method for enjoying tea, but rather a method for analyzing all its aspects.
Understanding the ISO 3103 norm
Strictly speaking, ISO 3103 Standard Tea Tasting consists of preparing a tea sample using the following procedure.
Instruments and materials:
Amount of tea: 2g (+-2%) per 100ml
Amount of water: 150ml or 310ml
Water temperature: freshly boiled (depending on the geographical area it may be less than 100°C)
Infusion time: 6 minutes
Clean, filtered water (can be filtered tap water or non-mineral bottled water)
Standard tasting vessel, white porcelain, 150ml or 310ml (see photo below). Tasting glass + Lid + Bowl.
Procedure
Preparation: We will have 1 tasting set for each tea we will taste, as in the photo above, we prepare 1 porcelain standard cup with its lid and the standard bowl, optionally we will have a spoon to taste and an individual cup on hand.
We pre-heat each set with freshly boiled hot water. Then we discard this water.
Selecting the tea: we select the tea(s) we will taste. We prepare samples of 2g for every 100ml. A classic 150ml tasting set will require 3g.
Infusion: we pour the tea into each cup of the tasting set. We add the freshly boiled water and let it brew for 6 minutes.
Pouring the infusion: holding the lid, we pour the liquor into the bowl.
Empty the infused leaves onto the back of the lid
Importance of the standard tea tasting
It is important to mention that standard tasting is not the traditional method of enjoying tea, nor is it how tea is generally brewed. It is only a method of analyzing tea, not of enjoying it.
Standard tasting in the industry
That being said, we can name an endless number of benefits. For example, in the food industry, sensory analysis is very important. Perhaps what we see most as consumers are the grading of products according to their quality or scores according to competitions.
It is well known that a large number of wines are evaluated by industry professionals who rate a production. When going to the market to buy a wine we will see that some have labels with 95, 99, etc. When we go to the market to buy a wine we will see that some have labels with 95, 99, etc. points.
Sensory analyses are also carried out to maintain quality standards within production chains or when selecting products to be marketed. This is the case of tea, coffee, liqueurs, chocolates, and many others.
For example, in our case we always taste our tea using ISO 3103 before offering it either on our website or to our wholesale clients, to ensure that they have a minimum standard, that they meet our clients' expectations and to carry out a detailed sensory analysis.
ISO 3103 in tea competitions
Iris has been selecting and baking tea for some years now to compete in 2 renowned competitions here in Taiwan: in the Lugu Farmers Association competition where she bakes Wulong Dong Ding tea and in the Heping Farmers Association competition where she selects and refines Lishan tea.
In tea competitions, judges use the ISO 3103 standard tasting to analyze the thousands of teas that enter the competition. They need a standardized method to ensure equal conditions for all competitors, plus the judges are a team of tasters and consultants so they need to have clear rules on how to analyze these teas.
This is why Iris and I first use ISO 3103 to select the teas we will send to compete. After each season we taste each production batch side by side to distinguish the qualities that could give a tea a certain prize in competitions. Imagine that here we must analyze dozens of teas of the same variety in a short period of time, so the standard tasting gives us the basis to distinguish these qualities in a clear and precise way.
As a second step, we must use ISO 3103 during the baking process (in the case of Dong Ding tea) and during refining (in the case of Lishan Wulong) to adjust the oven parameters and decide whether the selected teas will finally enter the competition.
To conclude, after the tea competition we try to save samples to taste them after receiving the results and thus continue learning!
If you want to learn more about tea competitions in Taiwan I can recommend 2 of our articles:
The quality of our tea and the ISO 3103 tea tasting method
As mentioned above, at Yang Tea Taiwan we use ISO 3103 Tasting almost daily and even more intensively during harvest periods. By subjecting the tea leaves to standard tasting conditions, we can analyze both virtues and defects in the tea. In fact, standard tasting is very important to above all analyze defects.
During each harvest season, we constantly taste the tea that is being produced in Iris' family's factory and in the factories of our producer friends. And when the harvest season ends, we taste each harvest day (or each production lot) side by side to compare, analyze and categorize them.
Tasting tea throughout the production process allows us to assess how different factors influence the tea. For example, if the day is very humid due to rain, the withering process will become more complex and affect the tea from that batch, or if the masters decide to use more time for tumbling, we will have a tea with a different profile.
Then, once the season is over or when we have several batches ready, we will compare different samples and categorize them based on the consumer's tastes or final destination for the tea. In Taiwan, there are clients who prefer lighter, more floral teas, others who prefer stronger, more oxidized teas; we will also select some batches to send to competition.
On our website we have the best batches from each season and from each region we work with. By tasting teas with ISO 3103, we have an evaluation standard that allows us to go beyond personal tastes. We evaluate the tea by its quality, identify possible defects in its processing and select the teas that combine the best aromatic attributes, balance in taste, mouthfeel and greater nutrients.
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