Tea Blends

I have often enjoyed blends of black China teas with a little Ceylon to thicken it up a little bit.

But DO NOT, whatever you do, mix a little Lapsang Souchong with a Java tea. I tried that this morning when the Lapsang ran out, figuring I would get something spicy with a little smoke to it, but the combination of flavours was a very bad one.

--scott

I have had some Twinings Lady Grey on hand for quite some time. It makes a nice cup but not something I drink very often as the citrus flavor can be a little overwhelming by the second cup. I recently found, though, that a blend of 2/3 English Breakfast to 1/3 Lady Grey tones down the citrus flavor nicely and makes an absolutely delicious drink.

Linda,

I blend equal parts of Ceylon, Nilgiri, Assam and Yunnan black teas (BOP leaf, CTC for the Assam) for a great imitation of "English breakfast". It's wonderful on its own, but takes milk & sugar in stride, too. You can play with the blend by adding Kenya, Java or even cheap Darjeeling.

If I accumulate two or three bags of estate Darjeeling that are almost finished, I often mix them all together for a final pot. Some of these impromptu blends are remarkably good, others less so. But it's still fun to see what happens.

Regards, Dean

Typical British morning teas are blends of teas. Keemun is used in English Breakfast. The British can make a taste that is greater than the sum of the teas. I think doing that yourself is a waste of time. You don't end up with a new taste but something that brings out the worst of tea. I've been mixing black Puers for several months and the taste is less than each individual black. I dumped my last mixture because the amalgamation didn't even taste like cooked puer. I do throw in a pinch of green as flavoring but that is different than blending.

Jim

L> I have a lot of loose leaf tea samples that I've been working my way

Space snipped-for-privacy@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com4/27/06

Jim,

What you say makes sense for Pu'erh where the blending takes place before the cake is pressed. But, I like more Keemun in a red blend than most people do, so I think blending red teas is the way to go. With a little work you can come up with a blend you like better than those commerically available. On the other hand -- and I think this is what you're saying -- it might not be worth the trouble. More typically, if I have two or more tea packets with only the last remaining dregs, I'll mix them, sometimes to auspcious result, sometimes not.

Michael

I think with blending you can come up with something new. The British are the masters. I suggested the OP was combining flavors and not blending for a different taste. Teas with flavor of whatever are rife. What comes out of the black or green Puer process is a 'taste' irregardless if it is blended or not at the factory. It probably couldn't be reproduced again. From my experience blending yourself at least for black doesn't produce anything worth while. One cake might be particularly rancid and the next chauky. The two tastes don't add up they subtract as any combination I've tried so far. Puer with chrysanthemum or rose is flavoring. I think flavoring and blending are two different taste.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

I agree completely on flavoring. If it's not in the tea, I don't need it; tea has so many flavors to begin with. On your idea of one tea subtracting rather than adding to a "blend," my favorite example simply is green and red teas mixed. They never seem to complement one another, but each renders the other peculiar.

Michael