If you could ask a tea artist/blender a question, what would it be?
Hello everyone!
I have a question for all of you out there that care to respond to this thread:
If you could ask a tea artist/artisan/blender aka one who blends and flavors teas a question, what would that question be?
I’m trying to put together some questions for an interview.
Your help would be greatly appreciated!
PLEASE NOTE: I’ve already submitted the interview questions to the interviewee, so I won’t be able to ask more questions. I do thank everyone who replied! It was very helpful to know what kinds of questions other people had. I felt a little lost with some questions to ask since I am a former tea artist/blender, I come from a different perspective, so I wanted to know what others thought.
Thanks again!
How do you learn to be a tea blender? How do you stand out from the crowd and make your blends special and different?
I think there is really only one way to learn, and that is through practicing (and drinking/eating as many different types of food as possible!).
As for standing out, hopefully the blender doesn’t need to do anything, because a good tea stands out on its own. ;)
I don’t know if these are good interview questions, but I keep wondering how they put ingredients like “cream” into tea, and where they look to get fresh ingredients. Also, I’ve seen in some reviews here some teas having a ‘fake’ flavor – how do they avoid that? Who tastes their teas besides them?
A couple of good questions thus far. I want to bump this so that I can hopefully get a few more questions! Thanks!
How do you come up with blending ideas? Is there a reason why hibiscus, chicory, and licorice root are in so many teas?
I’ve never worked with chicory, but hibiscus offers a bright pink/red color. And color is a great part of the tea experience. I’ve never worked with licorice before, but I know of some great blends with it in it. Its a very unique ‘exotic’ flavor that is a great way to add complexity to a blend.
In my experience those three kinda overpower the blend. Perhaps I’m a bit sensitive to those.
When teas have pieces of dried fruit in them are they for looks/feel or for actual flavor?
I’ll be finalizing the questions in the next day or two, so if anyone else has a question that they’d like to add to my list … I’d really appreciate it!
How long does it take to finalize a blend? Broken down a bit more, here’s what I’m wondering:
- How much of a single test blend do you blend at a time? (I would think that blending more than an ounce or two at once would be very wasteful)
- How long does each test blend/batch have to age to get the right flavour?
- How do you compare different versions of the same blend to make sure you get it just right?
- Is blending an individual affair, or do groups of people in-house taste together to find the flavour with the widest appeal?
Different tea companies will do all of these steps differently. But you’re right in that you want to blend a smaller amount to waste less product. Personally we never age a tea to get the flavor right. Most of our teas the longer they age the lower the quality; so it is a race against time.
A lot of it depends on if the blend is for all of your customers or a specific customer. This impacts how much importance your say is vs. the customer. (So for example our English Breakfast blend we always keep a blended stock. We can then compare each lot we receive from the estates and adjust if need be to the recipe, another example is that we have just been commissioned to make a tea for a wedding. The bride is from Argentina and the groom is from Eygpt. So the blend will be a black tea (grown in Argentina, with hibiscus petals grown in Egypt) that we didn’t really have much liberty with, but we still have to make sure the ingredients are balanced and harmonious.
What was your journey to becoming a master tea blender like?
When making a blend, do you start with a tea base in mind or a particular flavor that you’re trying to achieve (I would assume flavor/theme first but this may be more ineffecient)?
Where’s the tea world going to be in 5 years? 10?
Before starting up my company I was obsessed with tea for 10 years. I had worked in a tea shop for 4 years,and run a ‘tea appreciation society’ for 2 years (and then worked on a tea estate for a brief time. Personally I think the only component of the journey is experience, and remembering what has worked and hasn’t.
When I am making a blend, I always start at the base (or dominant flavor). But there are lots of other factors too: will their be milk added to it? sugar? Do I think the customer will want an exotic blend or more of a safe one?
For a local farm supply shop in Dallas, I make up a custom blend for them that is a dark-full bodied black tea (the majority of their customers like coffee, so something that they can add milk or sugar to, and still maintain the flavor). I also blend in some of our Yunnan FOP, because to me, it reminds me of my time spent on farms around freshly brushed horses. But it also needs to be versatile and be good as ice-tea (Summer in Texas = hot)
And where I think the tea world will be in 5 years? I think the United States will continue shifting more towards tea, with flavored teas becoming more dominant. I think the UK will shift a little away from its ’builder’s brew’ culture, and continue in the direction of coffee and more flavored teas as well. There has been a big shift towards Artisan culture, and I really hope that continues!
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