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Blending of tea – the development

Article · January 2014

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Two and a Bud 61(1&2):53-56, 2014
ARTICLE
Blending of tea – the development
Romen Chandra Gogoi
Tea Taster, Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Tea Research Association, Jorhat – 785 008, Assam
INTRODUCTION
The tea industry today is aware that teas grown in
different estates differ in their characters and quality
generally depends on the genetic makeup of the plant
agro-climatic conditions, elevation, chemical
composition of the green leaf, and the processing
methodology. The tea characters change from season
to season, process to process, grade to grade and even
from time to time.
In his quest for finding a solution, the seller mixes
different grades of teas from different estates and
comes up with a product mix that conforms to the
colour, taste, aroma and other acceptable perceptions
of the consumer. Thus was born - blending of tea - a
new tool for tea marketing. “Blending is a much highly
elevated art form; though not exactly scientific, it’s a
highly skilled art practiced by a few who truly know
their craft.”
Simply mixing of more than a single kind or grade of
tea cannot fulfill the demand and perception of the
consumers. For sustaining a particular blend of tea
and capturing the market, blending needs more R&D
support.
BLENDING
The blending of tea basically means a proper mixing
of more than one variety or grade of tea derived from
various estates or more than a single area/region of
origin with different characteristics resulting in a
unique or special type of tea. The blend must have the
desired look and quality in terms of aroma, pungency
and strength. The product should be available to the
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customer at an affordable price. In other words, tea
blending is simply the creative experience of mixing
more than one type of tea together for a perfect cup
with a unique taste and aroma as expected by the
consumers of a specific region.
Now-a-days, tea blending is not only confined to tea
with tea. The ingredients of blends are also extended
to tea with herbs like mint, tulsi (ocimum), etc. and
tea with different extracted flavors like lemon, rose
berry, jasmine, ginger, etc. Blending of tea can also be
carried out with different types of spices like
cardamom, cinnamon, peppermint, clove, bay leaf, etc.
Purpose /Object of blend
 The purpose/object of blending is to obtain better
taste, higher price, or both, as a more expensive,
better-tasting tea may cover the weaknesses of
the inferior tea with which it is mixed, to produce
a blend acceptable to the customer.
 Every blend must taste the same like the previous
one, so that a consumer will not be able to detect
a difference in flavor from one purchase to the
next.
 To find out the right percentage of the
constituents by taking measures with scientific
understanding and artistic sensitivity to develop a
standard quality of blend.
 To present a tea, through which consumers are
able to get better satisfaction at a moderate price
with sustainable, uniform and palatable quality and
a good profit margin for the blender.
 Tea Blending Drum
 To provide the customer with a blend that would
contain a high quality expensive tea (which he
may not normally buy) which may be mixed with
a low priced tea to produce fuller and heavier
liquor at an affordable price.
 Most important purpose of blending is to minimize
fluctuation in quality which will pay the best in
the end.
History of tea blending in India
The evolution of tea blending process cannot be thought
in isolation from the contributions made by the British.
During the early era, teas were sold from the estates
directly. These teas had catered to a specific group of
consumers who liked and relished the standard, flavor
and character of the teas from the same estate. These
customers were more or less dedicated to the estates
from which they bought their teas.
However, the teas do change character seasonally and
the customers found that the taste of tea was not the
same throughout the year. In 1660, this was what
exactly happened to a tea trader. He would normally
have in his store, teas from different estates for the
dedicated customers. People during that era did not
realize that tea characters are seasonal and the quality
differed from season to season. The seller was not
able to sell his teas because of the declining
characteristics of the teas as the season progressed,
and he mixed the teas from all the estates. To his
greatest delight he found that the mixed teas resulted
in an excellent blend with improved taste and aroma
and he could sell his tea in no time. Thus evolved the
new terminology – the blending of tea. It was about
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Tea Blending Unit
four centuries ago and since then the industry has not
looked back. Blending today has become an exciting
activity in tea marketing.
It is now well known that the quality of tea is best up
to a certain time of year (up to June in Northeast India)
and it continues to decline thereafter. The quality also
differs for different cultivars, jats and clones, different
growing areas and teas from different countries. In
India there is marked preference for specific taste of
teas. The consumer preference for a type tea in
Western India or Northern India would be different
from that consumed in South or Eastern India. The
tea traders therefore have gone for location specific
blends to cater to the need of these areas. For this
purpose teas from different regions are mixed to
produce a cup with balanced characteristics specific
to the targeted region. As has been mentioned the
variation of the quality is seasonal but the consumer
would have developed preference for a particular
blend. It, therefore, becomes imperative on the part
of the blender to supply the required kind with
minimum fluctuation throughout the year. The major
blenders go for surplus purchase during the quality
period and store them hermetically to be used in the
lean season. These high quality teas are mixed with
low quality teas to produce a consistent and acceptable
blend. While doing so, the blenders take into account
the compatibility factors i.e. mixing has to be done
with matching teas. In doing so, the cost payable by
the consumer is always kept in mind. Blending of tea
in India is nearly 100 years old.
From R & D point of view, Tocklai Tea Research
Institute has made extensive studies on blending of
tea both at the pre and post manufacturing stages. It
is now well established that the fermenting periods
are different for different cultivars of tea. Accordingly,
the cultivars have been grouped in to fast, medium
and slow fermenters. While clones or Jats of similar
fermentabilty give teas with uniform characteristics,
the manufacturer can even target specific markets by
processing teas with different fermentability.
Tocklai has also done extensive work on the blending
compatibility of clones and jats. It is known that the
teas made from different jats and clones differ in
quality considerably.The clones TV1, TV2, TV3, TV5,
TV8, TV9, TV10, TV11, TV 12, TV13, TV20 and
TV22 have been categorized as having strong Assam
character which are similar to hard bright tea. But the
fact remains that individual clone of this category does
not produce a self drinking tea. For instance TV1 and
TV2 which make a very strong pungent tea, cannot
be drunk without mixing with other tea. Clone TV9 is
a high yielding clone, which has a level of cup quality
equal to or slightly better than that of a good light leaf
Assam jat. Clone TV20 is a combination of yield and
quality. Clones TV7, TV14, TV16, TV17 and TV18
are placed under the category of flavoury Assam
character. TV14, TV16 and TV17 have pronounced
Raspberry flavour and TV18 has minty flavour.It is
interesting to note that out of all the 32 released clones,
only two clones have been identified as ‘self drinking’
clones. These are clones TV16 and TV17. However,
it is worthwhile mentioning that the result of blending
clones with jats like Betjan, Kharijan and Dangri-
Monipuri etc. either before or after manufacture throws
excellent colour in cup, and the liquor fulfills the cup
characters expected of it. These information will be a
useful guidance to the blender in selecting compatible
jats and clone for a particular blend.
Golden rule of tea blending
There really aren’t any rules for blending teas. Check
first to make sure that whatever ingredient is added
can be safely consumed and that the blends are
soothing, desirable and palatable. Even then we have
to abide by some guide lines.These are:
 Review the taste perception of consumers of
different locations for whom the blend is targeted.
 Ascertain which/what types of tea will mix best
to suit for appearance, size, density, taste and
aroma.
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 The aim of blending tea is to create a well-
balanced cup characters using different origins
and characters of tea. This also ensures that
variation in quality from season to season can be
eliminated.
 Select the best material to develop a particular
blend for a specific region and to know the
variability of component parts of each blend.The
blend should enable one to opt for any cheaper
grade of tea available.
 Variations in the ingredients of a blend may be
avoided by not changing more than one of the
components.
 Determination of apparent specific gravity/density
of blend is necessary. A blend with low specific
gravity(i.e lighter tea) has greater volume per unit
weight and therefore will cause difficulty in filling
up standard sized containers.
 Assess the availability of the constituting
components of the selected blend throughout the
year and to arrange procurement and storage of
such teas hermetically, should they become
unavailable during the lean season.
 Every blend must taste the same as the previous
one.
 Blending tea is an art of highest degree with
factors such as weather, altitude, moisture, soil
and season each contributing to a tea’s
characteristics.The importance of the blender’s
art is inestimable. The bigger challenge is to
maintain consistency.
Looking at key areas for judging a tea blend
The following points are important:
 A Tea connoisseur mainly looks for three
attributes in tea. Firstly he would look for the
appearance. Secondly, the smell perception
(aroma/flavour) - without the desired aroma, a
consumer would not like a tea. The third and the
most important test is its taste and mouthfeel.
 Right proportion of the ingredients of the blend
and how have they assimilated with each other.
  Time of release of the product (blend) in the
market taking into consideration the taste and
fashion of the targeted consumers.
 Determination of apparent specific gravity/density
of blend - necessary for the purpose of packing.
 In a blend, attention must be given to desirable
characteristics like the size and appearance,
pungency,briskness, flavor and strength of liquor
as well as price of the blend which should be
affordable to a customer.
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 The quality of water of the targeted area is to be
taken into consideration as the brightness of the
liquor and the infused leaf, taste and aroma are
influenced greatly by the quality of water used
for brewing.
Tea blending today has become a separate industry
by itself. The advent of Packet Teas and Tea Bags
have made the tea blending industry more competitive
and exciting.Tea connoisseurs today have plenty of
tea blends to choose from.