Blending

My tea Guru friend, Spautz, often blends. I, on the other hand, am a blending novice. Tips and other blending info would be much appreciated.

This thread also inspired by Cofftea’s profile.

31 Replies
Cofftea said

Awww! I feel loved! Check out designatea.com. They give you free samples of any two blends you create.

Mike select said

Cool site! Thanks for sharing.

Cofftea said

Steepster should feature more custom blends.:)

denisend said

Oh, goodness, please don’t. I just drank my two samples today and they were horrible. :-(

Cofftea said

@denisend, just because yours were bad doesn’t mean they all are.

denisend said

shrug I’ve logged mine, and there’s one more blend from that brand logged. People can make their own decisions.

http://steepster.com/companies/design-a-tea

Why do you keep recommending products that it appears you haven’t tried?

Cofftea said

@denisend, there’s a difference between a suggestion and a recommendation.

denisend said

Yep, when I suggest something that I haven’t tried, I make it clear that I haven’t tried it.

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I’m interesting in hearing what people blend when they blend.

Cofftea said

Mine is a just a pure and basic love for combinations lol. I’m that way w/ my cooking too- especially pizzas. I put EVERYthing I like on the same pizza.:) Blending tea, food, and other drinks is my only bit of creativity I have.

denisend said

I’m not much for blending, but my husband is. He just opens up random cans of tea, smells them, and eventually mixes a couple together.

One of the blends he created we make often enough that I listed it as a custom blend here (we’re both originally from SC, so if you like southern sweet tea, you’ll probably like it):

http://steepster.com/teas/custom-blend/6729-nathaniels-southern-sweet-tea

I’ll look through my cupboard and see what else he’s done…

Cofftea said

I don’t like SST, but I can see where that’d be VERY good for those that do.

denisend said

All of the following are from Teavana:
Raspberry Riot Lemon Mate – 2 parts
Utopian Jewel – 1 part
Tahitian Limeade – 1 part

made as an iced tea

I only blend herbal teas, and occasionally black tea if it’s poor quality. Nearly all of my blends have a rooibos-ish base (red rooibos, green rooibos, and/or honeybush,) to which I add something lighter — mint, lemongrass, chamomile, fruit peel, etc.

Keemun said

Dragonwell with dried ginseng roots
Oolong with a hint of Assam
Oolong with camomile blossoms
Assam/ Ceylon…throw in some rose buds
Silver Needle with lavender
…let me know if you want more ideas or a certain idea more specific

Don’t go over 3 ingredients otherwise it gets ludacris…( nothing against suggestions from other steepsters…peace)

Cofftea said

I must get dried ginseng root.:)

i just blended Bigelow Tea’s Cinnamon Stick with Kimicha’s organic Lychee Peach Black tea. my motivation was twofold: 1) the cinnamon tea is quite weak & needs a boost; 2) i had a small amount of the lychee peach leftover. it’s a strong tea. i thought its peachyness would go nice with the cinnamon & i was right. another time i added orange peel to a black assam; & i often make a blend of David’s organic Lapsang Souchong Star with lavender to add a sweet taste to the smokiness. mostly i blend to juxtapose flavours or to bolster a weaker teat. i’m a neophyte though, so any tips, tricks or blendings offered would be appreciated.

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Denisend ~~ The sweet tea blend sounds yum!

denisend said

Oh, it IS! I LOVE it! :-)

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GreenTeaSteve is Spautz that I mentioned in the OP.

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I have been blending over at Adagio the last few months…my Absolutely Bold Morning Brew is the one I have sold the most of so far and was ranked #2 for this month last week (it has moved since then, however). I have logged a few on steepster but actually have yet to purchase the one that is ranked the highest from the 25 I have blended! LOL

You create a blend and others buy it? Sweet! We need a thread for blends created by Steepsterians.

Yes! Check this out!

Have an idea for a winning tea blend? Adagio Teas provides the tools. Select from hundreds of our gourmet teas to create a formula that personifies you best. There’s no obligation to purchase, so let your imagination run wild. Additionally, each time someone purchases your blend, you’ll earn 10 frequent cup points. Select from the popular blends below, or create a new one now.

http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/index.html?SID=718c249548c4c7df4192ea1c769c58d6

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Marie said

I blend flavored ceylon teas, and sometimes include preblended blacks in the mix. I was inspired by some of the local tea houses, and wanted to figure out a way to get the same flavor blends at home. I usually do 1 part to 1 part in equal amounts. If it’s just me, I do 1 heaping teaspoon of each.

Flavored ceylon:
Earl Grey Raspberry
Earl Grey Strawberry
Earl Grey Chocolate
Raspberry Chocolate
Strawberry Vanilla

I try not to blend flavored ceylon when I want a strong tea because the ceylon is lighter, so it would make the overall tea lighter. Mostly the blending has worked really well for lighter afternoon teas.

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I love blending my own teas together. Especially herbals with blacks, greens, and/or whites! I like to do it by smell or strength of the herbal/tea. For instance, I use Adagio’s Lemon Grass to blend with greens. If I want more of a citrus flavor, I add more lemon grass. I recently blended Pi Lo Chun (60%) and Lemon Grass (40%). I also like lemon grass with Houjicha. I blend hot or cold. :D

I have so many teas… I just let my creative side go! I just try not to put two strong teas together, unless the ratio is 9:1 or something like that…

Ohh, that’s helpful. I hadn’t thought to put herbals with teas to make flavored tea blends. Thanks oO!

Cofftea said

@chrine, that’s the only way I drink herbals:)

I’ve been thinking about this this morning and I think greens and some herbals will go really well together. I just might be brave enough to blend.

Cofftea said

@chrine… DO IT.=P

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Malty said

Thought I’d resurrect this older thread on blending.

Especially liking the two ingredient blend list above. Ideas on how to give a black, green, oolong etc, just a touch of something else…

Ideas?

Have you tried experimenting on Adagio. There are tons of teas, and you can even see what people have mixed with their teas when you look at each tea. They have a ton of flavored teas, and you can find their ingredients there, but a lot of people make their signature blends with the unflavored teas.

If you want to enhance your teas yourself, you should first figure out what taste notes you like in your unflavored teas so you can focus and improve on them. Most oolongs are more floral, so you might add light fruit flavors. Black teas are maltier so they can compete better with stronger fruit flavors or spices. At the same time, you should consider what ingredients will cover or mask flavors you might not like in your base tea. If you don’t like the bitter taste of an assam, you could add vanilla or cinnamon.

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