I’m back! Here we go! It is happening–blog time baby!
Let me take a moment to come back down to earth after celebrating this minor victory of being in front of a laptop writing a blog.
Now, what do we speak about? Let me check my notes (I don’t have notes), ok we’ve covered quite a bit so far. I think…
What can I say as a tea blender with about 2 years experience?
Blends, man. I say there is certainly an art to it whether it be a tea blend, or spice blend, maybe a blending of culture. But why blend at all? If our tea is so good, as is, then why don’t we leave it be and put it in a bag all by itself?
I want to quote the inimitable movie Joe Dirt, where his father says, “Hey! How exactly is a rainbow made? How exactly does a sun set? How exactly does a posi-trac rear-end on a Plymouth work? It just does.” However, you did not come here for causal sarcasm and movie quotes, right?
Rather than say, “It just does,” and move on, I’m going to attempt this one and feel free to come along for the ride.
When we blend, we are taking singular ingredients that are unadulterated and presented at their best possible quality, then combining them with other components of equal or greater caliber. These two things may become greater than the parts of their whole within a blend.
Why do we have mixed berries as a flavor choice instead of just one berry? (Oops, One Berry! Was never a Captain Crunch) Actually, maybe this isn’t the best example. Secret time, I actually enjoy many artificial flavorings. Consider it a symptom of growing up in Appalachia, but I love “blue” and “red” things among others, however, I limit my consumption to the occasional treat.
I digress, we probably have mixed berry flavoring due to commercial practices. Can’t get enough strawberries? Cut it with other berries, easy enough. So, let me come up with a better analogy. If we never combined Blues and Rock then we would have never had Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, or whatever else a shitty AI search on google will classify as Blue Rock. Sorry, I’m distracting from the point here.
We take beautiful white peony leaves and combine it with organic, tart hibiscus petals, and plenty of organic ginger that we process from whole fresh roots. The white tea has a milder tea flavor and creates a leafy sweetness void of strong tannins that usually come forward from a green or black tea. Typically, these are your more expensive, haute teas that you’ll find at higher end shops in limited quantites. Again, something that is perfectly great on its own.
Now, being a blender. When I sip the white tea I note that the flavor profile could lend itself well to other flavors. It is very unlike our gunpowder green that is bold, tannin heavy, and slightly astringent. The flavor exists higher on the palette and feels as though it surrounds the center of your tongue where you’d normally experience the sharper notes of a hardier tea leaf. Now, I think, what flavors exist outside of this space? I suppose this is where many years working as a chef benefit me. You taste a lot when you cook professionally, and you taste a lot of the same things many, many times.
Every time you experience a sip of tea, your tastebuds will send similar, but different, information. You yourself are changed in between every cup you drink. As you go, the reference list you have to pull from will continue to grow as you gain more experiences through life. Frog legs taste like chicken unless you’ve had other meats similar to frog legs. I’d say it tastes more like alligator, but if you’ve never consumed a crocodilian then you don’t have the point of reference and it will taste more like chicken. I guess I’m saying taste more things. Sommeliers lick dirt and are respected in their industry, so be bold.
So, tasting the tea and wanting to blend it, I note that there is plenty of space for other flavors, however, we must tread lightly because the flavor is not as bold and strong as other leaves. So, what else brews similarly? Hibiscus petals on their own are tart, acidic, with a touch of floral fruitiness, but also leave space. The floralness strengthens the mild tannin flavor by hitting the same bitter notes. Tartness rounds out the natural sweetness from the tea and adds a fruity note that pairs with the sweeter tea flavor.
Now, with just white tea and hibiscus we don’t have a complete palette. There is still plenty of space in the middle that can be activated by sharper and spicier notes. So we add just enough ginger so that we share the stage. Now we have Sol Tea and you’ve now seen the process we went through to create our very first tea blend. Since that one went so well, we figured we may be on to something.
Now, go blend yourself and your own lives with their own ingredients. Be inspired by the things you take in and create more things like polka-metal, fry bread tacos, or durian ice cream.
So long toads. Stay froggy and I’ll be back soon!