茶 glossary

Source: Babelcarp: a Chinese Tea Lexicon


B

• BaDa, 巴达 - short for BaDaShan, a mountain in northern Menghai county where maocha for puerh is harvested
• BanNa, 版纳 - short for Xishuangbanna, Southern Yunnan region famous for puerh, name deriving from the Dai word Sipsongpanna, literally Twelve Thousand Rice Fields
• BangPen, 帮盆  - a Bulangshan region reputed to produce gushu tea
• BangWei, 邦崴 - short for BangWeiShan, or a village on the same mountain
• BaoTang, 宝塘 - a small puerh growing area and village in MengSongShan
• BuLang, 布朗 - short for BuLangShan, a famous Menghai County mountain where valued maocha for puerh of typical "bulang" taste is harvested

C

• ChaDao, 茶道 - the Way of Tea, in the sense of a human discipline
• ChaPan, 茶盘 - tea tray, typically made of bamboo
• ChaQi, 茶气 - in Chinese medicine and Taoism, the vital energy in tea

D

• DaYe, 大叶 - big leaf, a name applied both to puerh from large-leaf bushes and to a Yunnan lu cha
• DouJi, 斗记 - a puerh company in Xishuangbanna

F

• FuCha, 茯茶 - (or FuZhuan, Fu brick) a Hunan or Sichuan compressed heicha brick named after a fungus used in Chinese medicine that grows on roots of conifers (茯砖 or 茯磚) - the tea is inoculated with this fungus during HouFaJiao, literally Post-Fermentation, the process of “ripening” or “cooking” by which dried maocha is converted into puerh or heicha 

G

• GeDeng, 革登 - short for GeDengShan, a famous Mengla tea mountain
• GuaFengZhai, 刮风寨 - literally Blowing Wind Stockade, a village and puerh growing area high on Yiwu mountain, the ancient tree leaves of which belong nowadays to the most valued
• GuShu, 古树 - Ancient Tree (GuShu together with LaoShu, 老树, Old Tree leaves, are more valued than plantation leaves)

H

• HeiCha, 黑茶 - literally Black Tea (In the strict sense gaining allegiance in the technical literature, any tea manufactured by the houfajiao method, including shu Pu'er and many teas from Hunan, Sichuan, Guangxi and other places, but not including sheng Pu'er. (In a looser sense, any aged and/or microbially fermented tea, including sheng Pu'er plus included under the strict sense).
• HeKai, 贺开 - an old puerh growing region in southeastern Menghai county
• HuiGan, 回甘 - pleasant aftertaste, literally Returning Sweet or, much less commonly, a less specific label for virtually any effect after the liquor has been swallowed, literally Returning Feeling

J

• JingMai, 景迈 - short for JingMaiShain, a Lancang County mountain range on whose slopes leaves for puerh are harvested

K

• KuWei, 苦味 - bitterness

L

• LanCang, 澜沧 -  Mekong River, or a region in Simao prefecture
• LaoBanZhang, 老班章 - the part of Banzhang where old tea trees grow on abandoned plantations, belongs to the most valued maocha
• LaoManE, 老曼峨 - a tea-growing area of Bulangshan with old trees reputed to yield very bitter leaves, perhaps adjacent to Lao Banzhang
• LaoShu, 老树 - Old Tree leaves
• LiuAn, 六安 - or luan, luanheicha, a post-fermented tea with at least a 600 year history, it was evidently made originally in Lu'An Prefecture but is now mainly produced in Qimen County (note that the production technique has likely changed considerably over the centuries)
• LiuBao, LiuBaoCha, 六堡茶 - highly oxidized and often aged, basket-compressed heicha 
• LuCha, 绿茶 - non-oxidized tea, literally Green Tea

M

• MaHei, 麻黑 - short for MaHeiZhai, a puerh producing village in Yiwu reputed to have wild-growing trees
• ManNuo, 曼糯 -  a Qing Dai puerh tea area in Bulangshan
• MaoCha, 毛茶 - in the context of puerh the sun- and/or heat-dried leaves of the Da Ye tea tree prior to compression
• MengKu, 勐库 - a famous tea mountain
• MengLa, 勐腊 - literally Tea District in the Dai language, the county in Xishuangbanna east of the Lancang that protrudes into Laos, containing some of the famous puerh tea mountains: Youle Shan, Manzhuan Shan, Mangzhi Shan, Yibang Shan, Gedeng Shan

N

• NanNuo, 南糯 - shor for NanNuoShan, a mountain near Gelanghe with ancient tea trees, literally Bamboo Shoot Paste Mountain in the language of the Hani people, who have lived there for ~1100 years (The Bu Lang people cultivated tea trees there even earlier)
• NeiFei, 内飞 - small inner label or ticket embedded in a bing cha (tea cake)

P

• PuErCha,  普洱茶

Q

• QiaoMu 乔木 - Arbor or Tall Tree, as opposed to a cultivated tree that gets pruned

S

• ShengCha, 生茶
• ShuCha, 熟茶

W

• WoDui, 渥堆 - the process of "cooking" MaoCha to produce ShuCha by keeping a pile of tea warm and moist for weeks, literally Moisten Pile; also the less violent process of Qiangzhi Wo Dui Fajiao in the manufacture of some oolong, hongcha, and huangcha

X

• XiShi, 西施 - a Biao Zhun Yixing design whose lid's curve is continuous with that of the body, literally the name of a famous royal concubine
• Xishuangbanna - Southern Yunnan region famous for puerh, name deriving from the Dai word Sipsongpanna, literally Twelve Thousand Rice Fields

Y

• YiBang, 倚邦 - short for YiBangShan, a famous tea mountain in Mengla County
• YiWu, 易武 - a town and a famous mountain in Xishuangbanna
• YiXing, 宜兴 - a Jiangsu county where local clay is crafted into special unglazed teapots
• YongDe, 永德 - a county in Lincang prefecture near the border of Burma/Myanmar
• YouLe, 游乐  - old name for Jino, short for YouLeShan (One of the mountains in Xishuangbanna, also known as Six Famous Tea Mountains, that are a canonical growing area for Pu'er).

Z

• ZhuanCha, 砖茶 - rectangular compressed tea brick
• ZiSha - the most general term for clay used in Yixing teapots, literally Purple Sand, 紫沙, including DuanNi, HeiNi, HongNi, LuNi, and ZiNi