Introduction to the Taiwan Specialty Tea Flavor Wheel

The flavor wheel serves as an indexing tool that uses visual graphics and standardized vocabulary to help tasters easily associate and describe the flavors they experience, rather than trying to imagine them from scratch. With the help of the flavor wheel, consumers can clearly understand the differences in flavor between different tea varieties, growing regions, and even quality grades. This reduces the communication gap between producers and consumers regarding product flavor, and greatly supports the marketing and promotion of tea.

The Taiwan Specialty Tea Flavor Wheel was developed by a working group of 25 researchers from the Tea Research and Extension Station (TRES) who specialize in tea processing and sensory evaluation. Representative tea samples were selected from quality tea competitions held across Taiwan, covering a range of quality levels from award-winning to eliminated entries. To date, a total of 495 samples have been evaluated. The research methodology employed descriptive analysis, with consensus reached through group meetings, and the finalized vocabulary was then used to construct the flavor wheel.

TRES officially released the Taiwan Tea Flavor Wheels for the six major tea categories on January 20 and July 21, 2020, covering specialty teas from all regions of Taiwan. The release immediately sparked enthusiastic discussion within the tea industry, with tea farmers and merchants eager to use the flavor wheel as a marketing tool for Taiwanese tea.

Beyond the domestic market, the international market is a key focus for the future development of Taiwanese tea. Due to the wide variety of Taiwan specialty teas and their complex production processes, most international consumers are only familiar with "Taiwan Oolong Tea." To strengthen international consumers' awareness and memory of Taiwan's diverse specialty teas, it is essential to use language that resonates with their everyday lives — connecting their taste memories to the shared characteristics of Taiwan specialty teas — in order to overcome the long-standing challenges of marketing Taiwanese tea internationally.

Going forward, TRES will use the English and Japanese versions of the Taiwan Specialty Tea Flavor Wheel as a bridge to bring Taiwan's specialty teas to the world, increasing their visibility in international markets. The goal is to integrate Taiwan specialty teas into the daily lives of consumers both at home and abroad, cultivating loyal customers and steadily enhancing the international competitiveness of Taiwanese tea.