The use of wine terms and allusions for tea has become more popular in the past few years. While I'm not a linguist, my guess is wine terms are increasingly adopted in tea talk because they have a higher likelihood of being understood by those uninitiated in tea but are more familiar with the wine culture (I'll refer to them as "wine-people" for the sake of brevity). Also, perhaps, wine terms lend to teas a certain charm that wine-people can relate to. Simply put, it's good marketing.
The word "terroir", for example, is brought up in conversations about teas, which like wines, are unique to the place where they were grown in. The French word terroir, after all, was coined by wine makers of old to convey a sense of origin and uniqueness of the grapes and the resulting wines. It is a concept with such universal application that it can be used for everything that grows and exists under the sun. So why not tea.
The most popular wine allusion, probably, is the claim by producers of Darjeeling teas that their products are the Champagne of Teas. I can see the intent, and again, it's marketing. Attaching one's identity with Champagne's venerated image is a good way to relate to a broad range of consumers. Beyond its marketing propaganda, however, I don't quite see any similarity between the two.
There is one wine term that I believe can not be adopted for tea, as it would create a misnomer. The word is sommelier. Tea sommelier just does not make any sense. A sommelier by itself means a "wine steward" or a person who is in charge of the wine provision and the service of it. Is a tea sommelier, then, a person who is highly knowledgeable in and serves both tea and wine? I think those who call themselves tea sommeliers in their profession should reconsider the word's meaning.
Consider the etymology of sommelier:
"Middle French. From somm(er)ier (one charged with transporting supplies), from somier (beast of burden), from somme (burden). From driving a pack animal to drafting wine lists, a sommelier has come a long way. A sommelier is to wine as a cicerone is to beer, though the latter has recently been introduced and is not widespread."
Another version says:
"French, from Middle French, court official charged with transportation of supplies, pack animal driver, from Old Provençal saumalier pack animal driver, from sauma pack animal, load of a pack animal, from Late Latin sagma packsaddle."
I think it's safe to say that a sommelier has got nothing to do with tea in the historical and etymological contexts. Are there any other misapplied wine terms used for tea, or vice versa?
[Edit] PS: In the back of my mind, while writing the post above I vaguely remembered having expressed the same opinion about the use of "sommelier" in conjunction with "tea". Searching for that comment made in the past, I found that Corax of Cha Dao had also expressed the same sentiment in his post "Flavor Hedonics: Pleasure and the Physiology of Taste" dated July 17, 2007. And my agreement to his sentiment was recorded under that post's comment section.
9 comments:
Tannic/tannins/etc. People commonly describe astringency in tea as "tannic" even though there are only trace amounts of tannins in tea, so I'm guessing this is another misapplied wine term.
Brent
Yep, tannic has become a loosely used adjective to describe that puckering astringency.
how about all the tea addicts commission you to do a title about this? I will design for you "Free of Charge!" : ) Toki
Toki - that's an enticing offer... :)
I disagree. I think it's a perfect term, esp for puer which I believe was moved vast distances along the Ancient Tea Horse Road, presumably on horses, eh? And anyone involved in the transmission of tea culture from Asia to the US and Europe might metaphorically be called a "Tea Sommelier," insofar as we are bearing or carrying something.
Breaking the grounds of a tea English.(i know easier said than done)
http://teaarts.blogspot.com/
Tenfu Tea College(天福茶學院)located in Fujian Zhangzhou, the first College devoted to the study of tea. http://www.tftc.edu.cn/ Internatianal students are welcome, (but keep in mind classes are taught in Chinese).
I am currently teaching a "Specialized English for Tea", English language tea terminology and Chinese language terminology , as well as translating methods and reasoning. The course is gear for the Chinese speaking student experienced or educated in Tea Studies as well as a grasp of Chinese and English language.
the tea movers"human" were called coolies, and much of the tea was moved by men packing tea on their backs and walking many miles(very very hard work). i see a diference between tea and wine as a beverage for food. teas are much milder than wine and are usually drank without meals or maybe some snacks are match. but anyway getting back to the tea, the tea needs to be brewed (tea brewer or tea master) and sometimes a tea server will work together with the tea drink/brewing. if the tea was to be served like wine with a meal i think a tea master would make a standard set of suggestions tea/foods and then passed on to the "tea steward". usually when i suggest tea/foods i will suggest sweeter foods with green teas(or fish), (pork)oolongs salty foods, and (steak)black teas sour foods. or times of day can also be used morning till evening green-oolong-black-puerh, also an after dinner tea can be a scented/flower tea.
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you are absolutely right. use of wine terms and allusions for tea becomes more and more popular now a days. i like your post about that interesting topic.
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