Teas come in a number of varieties to suit mood, taste, aroma, or for health inducing benefits. Mixed teas combine these different varieties to form flavors that are desirable and unique. Due to the sheer number of different teas currently available, the number of taste combinations has made tea mixing into something of an art.
How does one blend a variety of teas together?
Loose leaf teas make this real easy. Take different varieties of pure teas, or different grades, add flavoring components, herbs or spices. To be clear, some blended teas aren’t made from tea leaves at all, but rather, are derived from flowers, leaves, or fruits.
What devices can I use to make loose leaf blended tea?
How you boil the water is up to you. To make loose leaf tea all you need is a cup. However, to steep your tea and strain it, the most preferred methods are a french press, a tea infuser, a tea strainer, or a tea bag.
What is an example of a blended tea with natural tea flavor?
Cinnamon Camomile is an example of a popular tea blend. More complex blends are formed when you create a fusion between more than two ingredients. For instance, Ginger, Citrus Tumeric combines three ingredients into a complex, blended tea.
Why blend tea at all?
There’s an art to the perfect mixed tea blend. Tea drinking connoisseurs take great pride in their savory concoctions. Since tea drinking can be a social occasion, tea drinkers share their recipes, inspiring others to experiment as well.
Blending brings out a variety of flavors and natural aromas. But not all ingredients are always natural. Some can be artificially manufactured and added to provide a less costly, simulated, exotic taste sensation. There’s a tendency to consider artificial flavors as less than desirable, but not all artificial ingredients are created equal. To illustrate, modern medicine uses highly refined extracts which can be considered artificial. Artificial simply means molecules not found in nature but that doesn’t mean that artificial is bad for the body. Research artificial ingredients and become knowledgeable about which ones to avoid putting into your tea.
But why use artificial ingredients at all?
Exotic natural ingredients can be costly. Manufactured varieties can be made stronger, longer lasting or provide a desired scent that would not be possible otherwise. Some companies choose to use a combination of both “nature equivalent” and artificial flavor to maintain a stable balance of aroma and taste.
Are blended teas healthy?
You can enjoy several health inducing properties from blended tea. The flowers the tea comes from are what is often the origin of the health benefits. Nettle tea can aid in hay fever. Chamomile calms and is believed to reduce inflammation. Fennel and peppermint are considered good for digestion. Masala chai is a multi ingredient tea renowned for improving immunity.
All of these factors are what have propelled tea and all the blended variations into the most consumed drink around the world and demand is still on the rise. Every day new varieties of blended tea are showing up in stores and more tea connoisseurs are experimenting with loose leaf blends that they can call their own. Experiment for yourself and see if blended tea is right for you.