Tealicious Tea Bags or Premium Loose Blend

While a majority of tea lovers use a bag filled with leaves it is not everyone's cup. The advantage of this packaging is that you can carry it everywhere and make an instant cup with the hassle of straining. Though the water still has to be brought to a boil the process nevertheless is much quicker.    

Discovered by accident by an American merchant Thomas Sullivan today's packaging is far more advanced than earlier, with hygiene in place. These square or hexagonal-shaped paper bags are filled with various blends of teas generally less than premium stuff because of cost but nevertheless quality driven.  

A large populace is immersing in these tea bags as a habit inculcated especially when new to the magical brew. They have never tried or want to experience the exciting World of blending the leaves which abound in variants and varieties. 

Does this mean that blending is a mathematical puzzle?

Well yes and know. If you are a master blender employed by a major tea house the art comes easy. If you are a connoisseur the art is easier what with no limitation placed by the company. But for amateurs, it needs a lot of immersion in the World of tea leaves. One has to learn the flavors and what they produce in conjunction. 

This is a full-fledged activity blending teas from all over the World and producing master blends that tingle your tongue and nostril so that you reach the peak of flavor. Believe me, you as a novice can indulge in the passionate world of blending leaves of camilia sinensis. All most all the variants and varieties are available online buy them and say Cheers!

   

Making a Tealicious Blend

Tired of same spoonful of leaves in your morning cuppa...here is a suggestion. Invest in different kinds of tea:

Assam Black Tea

Nilgiri Leaf from the blue mountains 

Darjeeling Premium Certified Leaf 

The Assamese leaves impart color and strength to the brew while the Nilgiri leaves in the blend make it as astringent without which the taste would be flat and boring. Lastly the Darjeeling leaves add to the magical aroma the gardens are famous for.     

Blend these leaves in equal proportion or reduce percentage of Darjeeling tea as the cost is much higher. Anyway add as per your taste and get a wonderful blend. 

It is best to buy premium varieties of CTC leaves of all varieties if you wish to achieve  fantastic taste and aroma to hit your sensory apparatus. If you are health conscious you can buy the organic leaves which are by all means expensive as compared to the non organic forms.     

The brew should be on the stove for more than three minutes if you wish  for all the flavor to peculate. Excessive boiling will lead to make the brew bitter which not all consumers prefer. 

 

Tea Basics: What’s in a Blend?

Most tea retailers create their own blend to make their tea taste and smell unique so that a particular group of target customers are hooked to only that variety of tea. However, there are no maxims regarding the right blend or anything. There are some regular blends and you can make your own blend by mixing two or three of these regular blends to suit your taste.

Here are some blends that you can take a look at to get an idea about the usual blends. You can try some of them and then make your own by mixing them or adding a few herbs or spices of your choice to experiment.

Earl Gray

This is only black tea with Bergamot citrus oil added for the aroma. The light citrus flavor is refreshing and strong and you can make it to smooth the aroma if you want with a few jasmine or holy basil leaves.

English Breakfast

Yes, this is the name of a blend of tea or to be precise, a Chinese Keemun famous in India, Africa and Ceylon. This is one of the commonest types of tea.

Irish Breakfast

Similar to the English breakfast, the Irish breakfast is a blend grown in Assam and Ceylon in large quantities. It is dark in color and malty in texture.

Afternoon Blend

This is a light tea unlike the English and Irish breakfast. The blend is made from the best Darjeeling tea, Oolong tea and light Ceylon tea. Since it promotes digestion it is recommended after heavy meals which we usually tend to eat during lunch and hence the name.

Russian Style

This is black tea or oolong tea teamed with Lapsang Souchong for the smoky effect. The blend is generally made by mixing Keemun tea, Assam tea and green tea from China. Some other blends include different types of black tea only.

Spiced Tea

Spices like cloves, cardamom, anise and cinnamon are added to superior quality Ceylon tea and your spiced tea blend is ready. The base is black tea because black tea has a strong aroma base to be able to stand out even in the flavor of these spices. To add to the refreshing property dried orange or lemon peel can be grated into the tea and left for some time before straining and consuming.

Herbal Tea

Herbal tea, just like spiced tea is not a blend of tea in itself but tea with added herbs for the aroma and health factors. Green tea is preferred over black tea in the case of herbal tea but you can use either or even a blend of green and black tea. You can add peppermint, holy basil, spearmint and other light herbs to make the blend of your choice.

Tea: How to enjoy best

If tea tasting and blending are an art so is the way it is prepared. Tea preparation and serving is something perhaps a regular party giver or tea ceremony holder would hold expertise in. It is a hosts delight to serve this hot brew to his or her esteemed guests.

Tea preparation begins with choosing the leaf. In informal circumstances exquisite tea varieties are not a must since cost matters. Taking the weather into consideration strong, dark tea with astringent flavor suits the best, where as in hot weather brew with subtle aroma and sweet taste is more befitting. In the case of former black leaf should be used where as in the case of latter green leaf is apt.

When serving tea in informal occasions, porcelain cups and saucers should be used. The cups brimming with hot beverage should be served on a plain tray along with biscuits and other light snacks.

In case of formal occasions as tea parties and ceremonies, the finest variety of leaf with strong aroma and subtle muscatel taste should be used. A fine example is Darjeeling black and green tea leaf. Premium variety of Assam black leaf also befits the occasion.

The recipe should always be plain and simple with or without milk. Spices and condiments should never be added as they spoil the original flavor of the tea leaf. The connoisseurs would prefer the drink this way.

Special care should be taken whence preparing the brew. The water should be boiled and then allowed to simmer. The leaves should be added during this phase and should be allowed to soak in for some time. As soon as the strong aroma of the leaves starts to emanate from the steaming brew the mixture should be strained.

This recipe gives fine tasting black tea brew. If milk has to be added then it should be done whence serving.

Whence serving exquisitely designed bone china or silver cups and saucers should be used along with kettles of same quality that hold the black leaf and milk. Specially designed containers should be used to hold sugar cubes. The black tea should be gently poured into the cups. Milk should be poured too for those who wish to have it that way. Along with tea, light sandwiches, snacks and biscuits find good accompaniments.