Guides
How it is made, what it means
Fifteen explainers from ODM Tea on process, grading and the tea rituals of the destination markets covered here. Six are step-by-step process guides — how white, oolong, black, jasmine and gunpowder tea are made, and how an export order runs from enquiry to loading. The rest define the six Chinese tea types, the grading systems, ISO 3103 cupping, the Fujian harvest calendar, the trade names used in the Moroccan and West African market, how to vet a supplier, payment terms, and the atay and attaya rituals that decide what Morocco and Senegal buy.
- The six types of Chinese teaAll six types of Chinese tea come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis.Explainer
- How white tea is madeWhite tea has the shortest process of any Chinese tea: pluck, wither, dry.4 steps
- How oolong tea is madeOolong is the most processed of the unroasted-to-roasted spectrum and the one with the most decisions.6 steps
- How black tea is madeBlack tea is fully oxidised.5 steps
- How jasmine tea is scentedJasmine tea is not flavoured; it is scented.6 steps
- How gunpowder tea is rolledGunpowder is a green tea whose leaf is rolled into a tight pellet rather than a twist.5 steps
- What is attaya?Attaya is the tea ritual of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, the Gambia and Niger.Explainer
- What is atay?Atay is Moroccan mint tea — gunpowder green tea brewed with fresh spearmint and sugar and poured from height into small glasses to aerate the liquor.Explainer
- Moroccan and West African tea trade namesTrade names such as El Bellar, Sinia, Dahmiss, Flecha, Sultan and Achoura are selling designations used by exporters, importers and brand owners in the Moroccan and West African green tea trade.Explainer
- Tea grading systems explainedThere is no single tea grading system.Explainer
- What is tea cupping?Tea cupping is the sensory evaluation of a lot under fixed conditions so that one cup can be compared with another.Explainer
- When each tea is made: the Fujian harvest calendarTea is booked against a calendar, not a catalogue.Explainer
- Twelve questions that separate a tea supplier from a tea traderMost disputes in the Chinese tea trade start before the contract, in what was never asked.Explainer
- How a tea export order works, from enquiry to paymentA tea export order runs through twelve steps: enquiry and buyer check, samples, quotation, contract, deposit and production, pre-shipment sample and laboratory report, pre-export supervision and inspection at origin, loading and declaration, bill of lading and certificates, balance against documents, foreign-exchange receipt and rebate, arrival and claims.12 steps
- Payment terms in the tea tradePayment terms in the tea trade are a short list.Explainer
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