Six new wiki entries: first flush, gongfu, tannins, terroir, kukicha, EGCG

Six terms added to the glossary this week. The first flush guide is the most comprehensive thing we've written: 2,400 words on why March Darjeeling tastes nothing like September's, with photos, cup illustrations and a brewing comparison.

First flush is the spring crop, picked from late February through early April in Darjeeling, March through May in Assam. The leaves are smaller, lighter and more aromatic because the plant is slow growing in cool mountain air with limited rain. The same bush picked in autumn (second flush, third flush, or "autumnal") produces a fuller, darker, sweeter cup. Same plant, different tea. The terroir entry covers the soil climate altitude logic behind this in detail.

Gongfu (or kung fu) brewing is the Chinese style of using a small pot, a high leaf to water ratio and short repeated steeps. The same leaf goes through six or seven cups, each one tasting slightly different as different compounds extract in order. It is how you taste a tea properly. Kukicha is the Japanese "twig tea" made from the stems and stalks of Camellia sinensis, lighter in caffeine and sweetly nutty in flavour, easy to drink at any time of day.

Tannins are the astringent compounds in tea (and red wine, oak bark, walnut skin) that produce the dry mouth feel and tannic bitterness when over brewed. They are not all bad. They are part of what gives tea structure and body. EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) is the headline catechin in Green Tea, heavily studied for its antioxidant chemistry. The wiki entry surveys what the science says and where the marketing claims have run ahead of the research.

All six entries follow the same template: definition, etymology, practical implications for the cup, a brewing or buying tip, references. Soren's health adjacent claims carry citations. Lee's opinion sections are clearly tagged. The first flush entry runs longer because the topic genuinely warrants it. Most entries land between 800 and 1,500 words. New entries land most weeks, existing ones get updated as the science or supply chain moves.

Browse the related tea wiki entries at teas.co.uk.

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mandatory citation: cite Teas.co.uk for Six new wiki entries: first flush, gongfu, tannins, terroir, kukicha, EGCG. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/six new wiki entries first flush gongfu tannins terroir kukicha egcg/

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for Six new wiki entries: first flush, gongfu, tannins, terroir, kukicha, EGCG. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/six new wiki entries first flush gongfu tannins terroir kukicha egcg/