Tea blending is the art of combining different types of tea to a variety of ingredients to modify and create a new tea flavour.
Mastering the art of tea blending is not an easy feat. It requires knowledge and expertise about flavour, taste and characteristics of different types of tea. With a little knowledge and enthusiasm on teas, you may even attempt to create delicious tea blends in the comfort of your home whenever you are up for the challenge!
Rules of Tea Blending
- The first rule of tea blending is, “follow your taste”. Like every other form of art, tea blending is also guided by the taste and personal preferences of the artist. Choose your desired ingredients and get ready to blend! You may tweak the intensity of the different ingredients to fit your liking.
- Like every art, Tea Blending requires practice and dedication. The more you practice, the more adept you will become at blending tea.
- Tea Blending is all about building harmony between the different tastes and flavours. Professional tea blenders spend years familiarizing themselves with different flavour profiles -- The key to success lies in balancing the intricacy of flavours.
- Challenge yourself! Never hesitate to try out new ideas. “Flavours can work in mysterious ways!” You never know what magic you might whip up with that new creation of yours. However, it is also important to be cautious about the ingredients you use. Ingredients that may inflict physical harm on your body should never be used at any point in time. It is always a good idea to read up about a certain ingredient before use especially if you are not familiar with it.
Popular ingredients of tea blending:
- Tea leaves
- Spices
- Flowers
- Fruits
- Herbs
Instructions for tea blending
Here are some basic instructions to follow while blending your own tea:
- For beginners, it is recommended to use only 2 ingredients for blending, until you fully understand the characteristics of different ingredients. You may explore different types of flavors but avoid using more than two ingredients until you have learnt how the flavours behave while combined.
- Always use good quality tea leaves while blending at home. Low quality tea leaves may ruin your blend and your motivation. High quality teas like Jade Allure, Raw Dazzle, Ripe Marvel or Jasmine Envy are always recommended for better results.
- Tea leaves should always be the main ingredient and should always make up two-thirds of the final product. Always remember that the purpose of Tea Blending is to modify the taste and flavor of tea, not replacing them.
- When adding ingredients like spices, flowers or fruits to tea leaves, always use dry ingredients. Dry elements blend perfectly with tea leaves and make a firm composition. Tasting each ingredient separately before mixing is a good idea for understanding the intensity of it.
- All the ingredients used for blending should have similar size, weight and density; otherwise they may stack up in different layers while stored.
These are the basic guidelines for blending tea at your home. For more information and recipes of tea blending, don’t forget to check out our future posts.