It is important to differentiate Korean tea by establishing the Koreans' differentiated evaluation of tea to overcome the crisis of increasing pressure of foreign tea and to strengthen the international competitiveness of Korean tea.
It is natural fo...
It is important to differentiate Korean tea by establishing the Koreans' differentiated evaluation of tea to overcome the crisis of increasing pressure of foreign tea and to strengthen the international competitiveness of Korean tea.
It is natural for Korean's preferred teas to be highly evaluated when we evaluate Korean tea. Since Korean tea consumers value the taste and the balance of taste, flavor and color, the standard score and the ballot for sensory test are designed to focus on them. When teas are evaluated, diversity should be considered because the lose of diversity causes the decrease of competitiveness. Terms of descriptive sensory test is excluded and only the items for evaluate is sorted out and presented to obtain diversity. However in the future we have to develope the new ballot which is based on descriptive sensory test for more accurate sensory test. Since green tea, half fermented tea, and fermented tea have their own uniqueness, the score is differentiated to reflect the uniqueness while the items for sensory test is equalized.
The sequence of each items in ballot for test is stated in accordance with testing order. In the case of evaluating color earlier than flavor, change the place of flavor and color in ballot. Also, evaluating appearance later than quality should be considered, since Korean consumers value quality than appearance. Testing scale of each item is marked in five grades-very good, good, average, bad, very bad- or in seven grades-excellent, very good, good, average, bad, very bad, terrible. The score difference between grades is 1 point or 2 points according to the importance of testing items.
The soaking time of tea in hot water for sensory test are needed within three to four minutes, for the best reflection of Koreans' preference of mild tea.
Further studies of differentiation of score according to the purpose of test, diversification of items of ballot and testing scale, discrimination of testing equipment, and standardization of testing order and instruction are required to improve the precision and reliability of sensory test for Korean tea.