Pouchong

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A lightly oxidized Chinese tea from Taiwan, known for its delicate, floral flavor and pale golden liquor
2. A semi-fermented Taiwanese tea that falls between green and oolong, prized for its light, fragrant character
3. Lightly oxidized tea leaves from Taiwan, rolled and dried to produce a mild, aromatic brew

Etymology: Pouchong is a lightly oxidised tea whose name describes how it was once packed: the leaves were wrapped in paper before sale. The English word appears to come from a Chinese phrase meaning "the wrapped kind" or "tea of the wrapped kind," though it is not certain whether the source was the Hokkien form (pau-chióng-tê, "wrapped-kind tea") or the Cantonese form (baau1 zung2, "the wrapped kind"). Both dialects describe the same practice, so the uncertainty concerns which southern Chinese speech community supplied the term rather than what it meant. The name is a literal description of the product rather than a metaphor. Its meaning stayed fixed while the tea's identity was defined by the wrapping: the wrapping was the tea's most visible feature, so the name simply pointed to it. The word therefore keeps the physical act of packaging at its core, with no shift into abstract senses.

Synonyms: baozhong