The tea tasting
journal
What to log, how to describe flavor, and why keeping notes makes every cup better.
Four reasons to start logging
You will forget what worked
That Taiwanese oolong you brewed perfectly last month. What temperature did you use? How long did you steep it? Without a log, you are starting from scratch every time. With one, you can recreate your best cup exactly.
You find patterns in what you like
Over 20 or 30 logged sessions, patterns become clear. Maybe every tea you rated 5 stars has floral or stone fruit notes. Maybe you consistently rate grassy greens lower. The log reveals your palate without you having to think about it.
You build a palate faster
Writing flavor notes forces you to pay attention. Even basic notes make you a more attentive drinker. Attention builds a palate. After six months of logging, you will notice things in tea that were invisible to you before.
You track vendors and sources
Which vendor had the best Darjeeling? Did that tea from last spring taste better or worse than this year’s? A journal with vendor and purchase date turns into a buying guide over time.
Ten things to log
You do not need to fill in every field every time. Even five fields per session builds up into something useful.
Tea name and origin
The most basic entry. Name, producer, and where it is from. A Darjeeling First Flush from different estates tastes very different. Origin matters.
Vendor and purchase date
Tea is freshest in the first 6 to 12 months after production. Logging when you bought it tells you how old the tea is when you drink it.
Dry leaf appearance
Color, size, shape, texture, and dry aroma. This tells you a lot before the water goes in. Dark green and flat? Probably Longjing. Tight brown pellets? Gunpowder.
Water temperature
The most important brewing variable. Log it every session. If a green tea tasted bitter, check the temperature. That is almost always the cause.
Steep time
How long you steeped it. This and temperature together explain 90 percent of flavor outcomes.
Infusion number
First steep, second, third. The character changes with each infusion. Logging infusion number helps you find which steep you like best for each tea.
Liquor color
What the brewed tea looks like in the cup. Pale yellow, golden amber, deep brown, rusty orange. Color gives context before you taste.
Aroma when wet
The smell of the wet leaves and the brewed liquor. Often different from the dry aroma. This is where the real character shows.
Flavor notes
First sip, mid-palate, and finish. What hits you first? What lingers? Even basic notes (floral up front, slightly bitter finish) help enormously when you return to the same tea.
Overall rating
A simple 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 rating. Keeps you honest. Over time, patterns in your ratings reveal what you actually like.
Eight flavor families
You do not need to write a novel for each session. Pick a category, then get more specific as you get more practice.
Floral
Jasmine, rose, orchid, lilac, lavender
Fruity
Peach, apricot, citrus, berry, melon, raisin
Vegetal
Grassy, hay, seaweed, spinach, artichoke
Nutty
Roasted chestnuts, almonds, toasted grain
Earthy
Soil, mushroom, forest floor, wet leaves
Roasted
Charcoal, coffee, dark chocolate, smoke
Sweet
Honey, caramel, vanilla, malt, brown sugar
Bitter / Astringent
Drying mouthfeel, tannin, dark greens
Start simple. “Floral and sweet” is a valid note. Over time you will get more specific: “orchid on the nose, honey in the mid-palate, light astringency on the finish.” The first step is just paying attention.
Two ways to keep one
Paper notebook
Satisfying to write in. No battery. No screen. A dedicated tea journal feels ceremonial, which is part of the point.
Downside: hard to search, hard to compare across sessions, no way to filter by rating or tea type.
Dedicated app
Search across every session instantly. Filter by tea type, rating, or vendor. See all your notes on one tea side by side. Compare how the same tea tasted six months apart.
Downside: a phone in your tea session. Worth it for serious tracking.
SteepLog is your tea journal
SteepLog tracks water temp, steep time, infusion number, tasting notes, and rating for every session. Search across all your entries. Your entire tea history in one place. Free to download.
Or start with the free brew reference download.