The quality of tea is judged by using our senses, these being sight, taste and smell, and bas played a vital role in the te:l industry ever since people began drinking tea. In the factory, during production, drier mouth samples are routinely tasted on a regular basis by experienced personnel to monitor the quality of tea. Experienced £asters can identiIy problems occurring during each stage in the tea manufacturing process. Where a factory has more than one production line, tasters can compare their performance for quality, and companies with multiple factories often taste the teas to compare factories so that certain quality standards are mainrained. Brokers and buyers rely on taste in the buying, selliug and marketing of tea. Finally, the consumer has expectations of what their 'perfect cuppa' should taste like. This article is intended to show how to set up a tea tasting panel and how to get more information from an existing one. By scoring our drier mouth teas during black tea production we can learn more about our factory. For example, we can objectively determine critical times during the day where quality might be improved, such as when we start up a production line and during shifts. Does the quality improve during the night and by how much.