Georgian Tea Nomenclature Standard

The first open standard for naming Georgian tea. Authored by Teanium. Open for adoption by all Georgian tea producers.

Version 1.7 — adds SHUKI (yellow tea type), DZVELI (anaerobic aging sub-method), and two tisane types: TKIANI PANTA and TKIANI TUTA.

Why GTNS Exists

Georgia has produced tea for over 180 years. The country's terroir — subtropical climate, volcanic soils, Western Caucasus mountain relief — cannot be reproduced anywhere on the planet. Yet Georgian tea has spoken in a foreign language. "Sheng," "Shou Mei," "Shaikun" are Chinese terms; applied to Georgian products, they erase Georgian identity.

This is not a quality problem. It is a nomenclature problem.

A product without a name is a commodity. A product with a name in its native language is culture, history, and a protected terroir.

GTNS is the first open standard for naming Georgian tea — designed as a tool for the entire industry, not the property of a single producer.

Protocol Architecture

[METHOD?] [TYPE] ✦ [REGION] ◈ [FORMAT?]

• Method (optional) — how the leaf was processed
• Type (required) — what the leaf is
• Region (required) — where the leaf was grown
• Format (optional) — how the leaf is presented

Separators: ✦ between name and region, ◈ between region and format. Fallbacks for plain text: · and //.

The three-line label on every Teanium pack carries: Georgian script in primary size, Latin transliteration following the BGN/PCGN 2009 standard, and an English subtitle that names the leaf's biochemical state — not its flavour.

The Methods

Methods describe what was done to the leaf. They sit before the type when the processing is the defining feature.

Method Compatibility

Tea Types

The type name is the core of the product name — always present. Each is a Georgian word carrying meaning.

Camellia Teas

• თოვლა — TOVLA · White tea — minimal processing, highest catechin content
• შუქი — SHUKI [SHU-ki] · Yellow tea — post-fixation yellowing. Between white and green. Caffeine 20–35 mg/cup. New in v1.7.
• ეგრისი — EGRISI · Green tea — L-theanine to caffeine ≈ 2:1
• მზიანი ცივი — MZIANI TSIVI · Living tea — sun-dried, active microbiome
• ნიავი — NIAVI · Light oolong — partial oxidation, floral character
• დილა — DILA · Black tea — full oxidation

TKIANI Tisanes (Wild-Foraged)

TKIANI — open category for all wild-foraged tisanes. The raw material is leaf, not fruit. EN subtitle: "Tisane," not "Tea."

• ტყიანი ანი — TKIANI ANI · Wild apple leaf tisane — Lechkhumi
• ტყიანი ნაპრალი — TKIANI NAPRALI · Wild bilberry leaf tisane — Guria
• ტყიანი პანტა — TKIANI PANTA [PAN-ta] · Wild pear leaf tisane — Lechkhumi. New in v1.7.
• ტყიანი თუთა — TKIANI TUTA [TU-ta] · Mulberry leaf tisane — Lechkhumi. New in v1.7.

Regions

• იმერეთი — IMERETI · Central Georgia. Red clay soils. Historical heartland.
• აჭარა — ADJARA · Black Sea coast. Rich, full-bodied leaf.
• გურია — GURIA · Western Georgia. Delicate, aromatic leaf.
• ლეჩხუმი — LECHKHUMI · High-altitude. Concentrated, rare leaf.

Formats

• ფოთი — FOTI · Loose leaf (default, not stated on packaging)
• დაგები — DAGEBI · Pressed tea of any shape
• კუბი — KUBI · Portion cube 2–3g (Teanium proprietary)
• ქვარი — KVARI · Stone-ground whole leaf. Maximum bioavailability.

Five Principles for Extending the Protocol

1. Name from Georgian language. All type names are Georgian words.
2. A name, not a description. Indirect imagery, not a literal label. Exception — the TKIANI category: the second element names either the image of a place (ANI, NAPRALI) or the plant itself (PANTA, TUTA).
3. Transliteration by standard. BGN/PCGN 2009, with one recorded adaptation: ყ is rendered as k (KURCHA, TKIANI) for pronounceability on export markets.
4. Methods from approved glossary. MZIANI, KURCHA, KVAMLI (+RKALI), SHIDA (+DZVELI).
5. Region as real geography.

v1.7 demonstrated this: SHUKI added as a type, DZVELI as a sub-method, PANTA and TUTA as TKIANI types — without restructuring the core.

Roadmap: From Standard to Protection

1. Adopt. Producers use the system. Buyers see unified language.
2. Expand. Add type names and sub-methods (as SHUKI, DZVELI, PANTA and TUTA in v1.7).
3. Associate. Working group to govern the standard.
4. Geographical Indications. IMERETI TEA as protected designation.
5. International recognition. NIAVI, DILA, RKALI, SHUKI become as known as Matcha.

A standard is not created by decree. It is created by example — and adopted by those who see value in it.

Download GTNS

The full standard is available as PDF in three languages with complete tea profiles.

• GTNS v1.7 — English (PDF)
• GTNS v1.7 — Русский (PDF)
• GTNS v1.7 — ქართული (PDF)

License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Open for use, distribution, and extension.

For Georgian Tea Producers

GTNS is open. No licensing fee, no registration, no permission required.

Propose a new type name or contribute: gtns@teanium.com

For Media and Researchers

Press: press@teanium.com

Citation: Teanium. Georgian Tea Nomenclature Standard, v1.7. Batumi, Georgia. teanium.com/pages/gtns