I have a small confession to make.
Sometimes I have absolutely no idea what I am supposed to be tasting.
A tea description might promise orchid, honey, toasted nuts, stone fruit, and something wonderfully mysterious called a “long mineral finish.”
I take a sip.
I taste tea.
And then I start wondering if everyone else is experiencing something I am not.
Tea culture has become remarkably good at describing tea. We have tasting wheels, elaborate notes, and entire conversations dedicated to identifying the smallest details in a cup.
There is something wonderful about that. Learning how to notice flavour can make tea more interesting.
But I think we sometimes take it too seriously.
I have had teas where I could immediately understand the description. I have also had teas where someone told me I should be tasting flowers and I spent the next five minutes searching desperately for a flower that simply was not there.
Perhaps the problem is that we have started treating tasting notes like an examination.
There is a right answer.
There is a wrong answer.
And if you cannot find the notes everyone else is talking about, you start wondering whether you understand tea at all.
But tea is not a test.
Maybe you taste honey.
Maybe you taste nothing particularly identifiable.
Maybe you simply think it is delicious.
That should count for something.
I sometimes envy the freedom of people who drink tea without worrying about describing it. They take a sip, decide whether they like it, and continue with their day. No tasting wheel required.
There is a strange relief in that.
Because tea does not need to behave like wine.
It does not need a vocabulary of impressive words before we are allowed to appreciate it. Sometimes a tea is floral. Sometimes it is earthy. Sometimes it is simply the tea we wanted that afternoon.
And honestly, I think that is enough.
The more I drink tea, the less interested I become in proving that I can identify every flavour.
I would rather know whether I want another cup.
Perhaps that is a better measure of appreciation anyway.
Not whether we can describe the tea perfectly.
But whether we enjoyed drinking it.
— Maria Tan
On tea, culture, and everyday rituals.
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