Blending Tea

I thought I'd make a brief entry on blends. If there is anything I've discovered, it's that you can make a blend out of practically anything. If you mix too many things, it does become a bit overly-complex in terms of the number of tastes however.

What are the rules for blending teas? Well, quite simply there aren't any. Just like making a dish, you just have to think about what flavors go well together, and what won't clash. In general though, here are a few ideas:

I have found that blending teas with herbal infusions works quite well. Black and green teas go well with mint and lemon flavored infusions, for example. Try blending a jasmine green with peppermint...delicious! Greens also do well with floral tasting infusions. You can also get inspiration from existing blends...say you tried a raspberry black that you enjoyed. Well, try mixing a similar but unscented black tea with a raspberry infusion, and voila!

If you want something a bit tart, try blending a raspberry infusion with a lemon infusion.

I personally love Irish Breakfast with Peppermint: the two strong flavors really work well together, and give my black tea a refreshing edge.

Jane Pettigrew's The Tea Companion suggests adding a small amount of a "good quality" tea, or adding a little bit of scented tea to something else to make something special and different. One of her recommendations is adding a few Jasmine leaves to a China black for an afternoon blend.

I'd love to have any other suggestions!

Comments

[Joe Daniels]

You hit on some great points there. I try not even to drink regular teas anymore. I enjoy a small site, www.tommystea.com , that sometimes comes out with a great blend, but they usually are gone quickly. :(

[Joe Daniels]

You hit on some great points there. I try not even to drink regular teas anymore. I enjoy a small site, www.tommystea.com , that sometimes comes out with a great blend, but they usually are gone quickly. :(