Abstract
For hundreds of years, Taiwan has been famous for its various specialty teas. The sensory features of these teas have been well specialized and standardized through sensory evaluations performed by tea experts in yearly competitions throughout history. However, the question arises of whether young Taiwanese consumers, whose dietary behaviors have become Westernized, agree with the conventional sensory standards and association/postprandial concepts in the traditional tea market of Taiwan. To study young Taiwanese consumers’ ideas towards traditional specialty teas, this research recruited 109 respondents, younger than the age of 30, to taste seven Taiwanese specialty tea infusions of various degrees of fermentation, and their opinions were gathered by questionnaires composed of check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions and hedonic scales. Through statistical analyses, we found that several tea sensory attributes which were emphasized in experts’ descriptive sensory evaluations were not appreciated by the young Taiwanese people. Instead, tea aroma and late sweetness/palatable/smooth/refreshing mouthfeels were the most important sensory attributes contributing to their tea preference. Overall, there would generally be no problem in serving young Taiwanese consumers lightly-fermented oolong teas that generate the highest digestive and lowest heartburn postprandial perceptions.
Highlights
Based on processing methods and sensory qualities, teas (Camellia sinensis) can be divided into six types: green, yellow, dark, oolong, white, and black teas
The conventional sensory evaluation of Tea Research and Extension Station (TRES) is usually performed by a few tea experts whose level of attainment demands strict and long-term training
CATA respondents are presented with a pre-determined list of terms but only have to tick those which they think applicable to the test samples, and no intensity consideration is required [17,18]
Summary
Based on processing methods and sensory qualities, teas (Camellia sinensis) can be divided into six types: green, yellow, dark, oolong, white, and black teas. Another kind of classification based on degrees of fermentation is more widely available in the global market and academic research and consists of unfermented green tea, semi-fermented oolong tea, and fully-fermented black tea [1], which account for 20%, 2%, and 78% of the total world tea production, respectively [2]. Taiwan has long been superior and famous for its semi-fermented oolong teas. Since the 1860s, various oolong teas were exported from.
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