Chinese tea glossary

24 terms of Chinese tea culture — from gaiwan and gongfu cha to cha qi and hui gan: clear definitions with practical notes.

Gaiwan — A gaiwan (蓋碗, gàiwǎn) is a Chinese lidded cup with a saucer, used for brewing tea in short infusions. The universal tool of the tea ceremony: it suits almost any tea, from green to pu-erh.
Gongfu cha — Gongfu cha (工夫茶) is the southern Chinese tradition of brewing tea: plenty of leaf, small vessels, short infusions. "Gongfu" means skill achieved through time and effort.
Hui gan — Hui gan (回甘, huígān) — "returning sweetness": an aftertaste in which, after a sip of tea, a growing sweetness emerges in the throat and at the root of the tongue. One of the main markers of quality tea.
Cha qi — Cha qi (茶氣) — "tea energy": the body's response to tea — warmth, relaxation, clarity, or mild euphoria. A concept from the Daoist tradition, especially significant for pu-erhs from old trees.
Sheng pu-erh — Sheng pu-erh (生普洱) is "raw" pu-erh from Yunnan: tea that, after kill-green and sun-drying, is pressed and left to mature naturally. Over the years its taste shifts from sharp and grassy to deep and sweet.
Shu pu-erh — Shu pu-erh (熟普洱) is "ripe" pu-erh: Yunnan tea that has undergone accelerated wo dui fermentation. A dark, thick liquor tasting of earth, nut, and dry wood — smooth and warming.
Gu shu — Gu shu (古樹, gǔshù) — "old trees": tea from tea trees a hundred years old or more, growing in Yunnan. Prized for its deep taste, long aftertaste, and pronounced cha qi.
Yixing clay — Yixing clay (宜興, zisha) is a porous clay from Yixing county in Jiangsu province, used for centuries to make gongfu cha teapots. The pot "breathes," accumulates tea oils, and refines the taste over time.
Mingqian — Mingqian (明前, míngqián) is tea picked before the Qingming festival (early April). The earliest spring harvest of green tea: tender buds, a soft sweet taste, and the highest price.
GABA (GABA tea) — GABA is gamma-aminobutyric acid, an inhibitory neurotransmitter of the nervous system. GABA tea — usually a Taiwanese oolong — is processed without oxygen, so GABA accumulates in the leaf; its effect is gentle and calming.
Terroir — Terroir (山場, shanchang) is the totality of a tea's place of origin: soil, altitude, climate, surroundings. The same bush in different mountains yields different tea — hence the cult of specific villages and cliffs.
Yancha — Yancha (岩茶, yánchá) — "rock tea": heavily roasted oolongs from the cliffs of the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian. Recognized by minerality and a long aftertaste — the "rock rhyme" yan yun. Great names: Da Hong Pao, Rou Gui, Shui Xian.
Dancong — Dancong (單樅, dāncōng) — "single bush": oolongs from Mount Fenghuang in Guangdong, where tea from individual old trees is processed and sold separately. Famed for aromas that mimic flowers and fruit.
Wo dui — Wo dui (渥堆, wòduī) — "wet piling": a technology of accelerated tea fermentation in which moistened leaf is heaped into piles where microorganisms do the work. This is how shu pu-erh and some heicha, such as Liu Bao, are made.
Pressed tea (bing cha) — Bing cha (餅茶, bǐngchá) — "tea cake": a pressed disc of tea, the classic form of pu-erh. Pressing compacts the leaf for storage and transport and sets a distinctive, slow course of maturation.
Mao cha — Mao cha (毛茶, máochá) — "rough tea": sun-dried loose leaf, a semi-finished product later pressed into pu-erh or sorted into finished tea. The stage at which buyers judge the quality of the raw material.
Wuxing — Wuxing (五行, wǔxíng) is the Chinese system of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, water. It describes the world through cycles of generation and control; on this site the five elements serve as a map of the six classes of tea.
Cha dao — Cha dao (茶道, chádào) — "the way of tea": an attitude toward tea as a practice of attention and self-knowledge rather than merely a drink. It embraces brewing mastery, aesthetics, and inner work.
Flash steeping (gongfu brewing) — Flash steeping (工夫泡法) is a brewing method in which tea is covered with water for seconds and the liquor immediately poured off, the cycle repeated many times. Each infusion reveals a new facet of the same leaf.
Gongdaobei (cha hai) — The gongdaobei (公道杯) — "fairness pitcher," also called cha hai — is the vessel into which the liquor is poured from the teapot or gaiwan before serving. It evens out the tea's strength for everyone at the table.
Sha qing — Sha qing (殺青, shāqīng) — "kill-green": heating fresh tea leaf to halt the work of oxidation enzymes. The key stage in producing green tea, and also oolongs and pu-erh.
Tea oxidation — Oxidation (氧化) is the enzymatic reaction of tea-leaf polyphenols with oxygen, darkening the leaf and deepening the taste. Degree of oxidation is the main axis of tea classification: from green (minimal) to red (maximal).
Camellia sinensis (the tea plant) — Camellia sinensis (茶樹) is the evergreen plant of the tea family whose leaves make all true tea: green, white, oolong, red, and pu-erh. The differences between teas come from processing, not from different plants.
Gaoshan (high-mountain tea) — Gaoshan cha (高山茶) — "high-mountain tea": Taiwanese oolongs from plantations above a thousand meters. Coolness and mists slow the leaf's growth, yielding a thick, creamy, sweet taste.