My first loose leaf tea experience was with a tea blend. I have consumed a lot of tea blends during my tea adventures and learned what I enjoy and what I would avoid. So much so that the science and the art of tea blending has always fascinated me. But, my experience as a tea blender is very limited. I regularly make a masala chai blend from scratch and I sometimes will blend two teas together in my stash when I think they might sound nice together. However, as a tea curator who often is tasting and selecting blends, I have always wanted a peek at the behind the scenes of tea blending. Now, I’m sharing my findings with you so you can try blending tea at home!

Getting Started With A Tea Blending Kit

As luck would have it, when I was researching more about tea blending, Sarah Vaughan of Proper Cuppa connected with me. She kindly gifted me her guided Tea Blending Kit so I can have a first hand experience to learn more. This kit includes 6 different teas, some pure and some flavoured, plus a botanical ingredient: lavender petals. 

As a certified tea sommelier, she created this tea blending kit to provide a starting point, inspiration and some easy recipes for tea blending beginners. It’s a great way to start learning about some of the classic teas and how they fit together.  

There is an art and science to tea blending as a professional but Sarah believes tea blending should be fun and approachable as well.

“Tea blending does not have to be intimidating and you do not need to strive for perfection. The fun is in the experimentation!”

With some guidance from Sarah, here’s what you need to know about the art of tea blending.

What is a tea blend?

A tea blend is a combination of teas and/or other ingredients to create new flavours. The ingredient list on a tea blend will be of 2 or more items.

Tea blends can be quite simple but they can also be very unique. Not all tea blends are equal. There are tea blends that feature all-natural, raw ingredients. But, there are tea blends that feature flavourings or essential oils, too.

This is because it is often difficult to get the right flavour just from dried fruit pieces. Flavourings (natural or artificial) are added to enhance the taste and aroma.

Some common tea blends out there are Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Genmaicha and Irish Breakfast.

I’ve highlighted these teas on my blog before and when doing so I always make sure to mention there are no set recipes or formulas for them. This simply means that one tea company may sell an Earl Grey tea that is very different from another tea company. 

The final product comes down to what tea was used in the blend and the ratio of the components. 

For example, an earl grey tea is generally a black tea with bergamot oil. If two different tea companies are using the same ingredients, but different ratios, this will greatly affect the flavour profile. That’s why some earl grey teas may have stronger notes of bergamot oil than others.

Tea Blending Components

A tea blend usually consists of a tea base, but that base can sometimes also be a dried herb.

Pure teas used in a tea blend can be any type of tea. It’s most common to see tea blends that have a black or green tea base, but white, oolong and puerh are also used.

Yellow teas are more rare, therefore it is not common to find that type of tea blended. 

Tea blends that feature true tea — from the Camellia Sinensis plant — are caffeinated.

Herbal tea blends start with a base like rooibos, chamomile, peppermint, tulsi, etc. These are naturally caffeine-free and do not come from the tea plant.

However, some herbal tea blends can be caffeinated. Yerba mate and guayusa don’t come from the tea plant, so they are technically herbal teas, however, they are caffeinated herbs.

Teas, whether herbal or true, are often blended with other herbs, spices, fruits, roots, flowers and sometimes flavourings.

What makes a good tea blend?

As a traditional tea lover, I have always assumed that a good tea blend doesn’t mask the taste of the true tea base.

If I want a green tea based blend, then I don’t want it to only taste like the other components added. I want to experience those vegetal or marine notes as well. 

But, what’s good to me might not be good to someone else as we all have different taste preferences.

I asked Sarah of Proper Cuppa to provide some input as well. She states that the key to a great blend is balance. When tea blending, it is important to get your base, middle and top notes to all work in perfect harmony.

“If the base is weak, the blend will taste thin. If the top notes are overshadowed by a heavy base then you won’t have any sparkle.”

Tea Blending & Music Correlation

I enrolled in Sarah’s Introduction to Tea course on Udemy because I was very interested in learning more from her about tea blending. Section 8 of this course covers the basics.

It begins with her comparing the experience of tasting a tea blend to listening to a musical chord.

“One tea can have a variety of notes and another tea will have those different notes as well. When you put them together you get a beautiful chord that resonates just like in music.”

This brings me on to the next question to answer…

Why do we blend tea?

There are times that you may come across just one pure tea that offers all the flavours that could be from a blend. However, Sarah explained that one pure tea can be in short supply and often much more expensive.

This is where tea blending can come in.

With tea blending, you can take two or more teas and combine them. If done well enough, they will fill in the gaps or missing pieces of each other.

Tea Blending Tools 

To begin blending tea at home, you need a few tools. 

– scale
– tea spoon
– tea and other components/ingredients
– small mixing bowl
– 2-3 equal size cups, white interior (more than 1 is needed as you’ll be doing side-by-side tastings)
– tea infuser/filters
– timer
– notebook and writing utensil

Gram to Teaspoon Conversions

A small scale is best for accurate blending and tasting. However, if you do not have a scale, follow the approximate conversions listed below.

1 teaspoon = 2 grams
1/2 teaspoon = 1 grams
1/4 teaspoon = 0.5 grams

Find more conversions here.

How to Make Your Own Tea Blends

It’s time to experiment with blending tea at home! Here’s what to do:

1. Decide on a simple blend or complex blend.

Simple tea blends are a bit more straight forward. They consists of 1-3 ingredients and can sometimes just be a blend of pure teas (i.e. Irish Breakfast).

Complex tea blends can consists of 3 or more ingredients and will involve more added flavours (i.e. Lavender Earl Grey Cream).

As a tea blending beginner, I found it easier to start with a simple blend and grow into a complex blend from there. Simple tea blends will often be great as is, but there are times you may want to expand on the flavour profile and add additional ingredients.

Sarah also advised beginning with something that you enjoy and know well. If you drink more pure teas, try a simple blend first. If you usually drink flavoured, floral or fruity tea blends, try a complex blend first.

So, once you have selected the components (tea and ingredients) you want to work with follow the other tips below.

2. Know the tea and ingredients individually.

Before blending, steep and taste each of the components separately. That includes the tea but also rose petals, cinnamon bark, lavender, dried apple pieces, etc. Basically anything else you want to use in a blend!

This will help you understand the flavour profiles and how they may or may not work together.

Keep the steeping guidelines in mind, too. For example, if you’re blending a white and black tea together, they use different water temperatures and steep times. They can blend successfully but consider the appropriate temperature and time to use depending on the ratio.

If you’re using dried herbs, be safe and research any side effects or warnings prior to blending.

3. Weigh the components and make 2 or more blend variations at a time.

When beginning a tea blend, the total weight should equal 2-2.5 grams or roughly 1 teaspoon. This will be enough for you to prepare the tea in one 8 ounce cup/mug for tasting as it’s recommended to blend a single serving of tea first. Not only does this make it easier when changes are made to a recipe, less tea is wasted as well.

Weigh the tea and ingredients individually and add them to a small mixing bowl once you reach the total weight. Toss the components together to blend then steep appropriately (find tea steeping guidelines here). I like using a tea cupping set (shown below).

Cups or mugs with a white interior is suggested so you can have a better look at the appearance of the infusion.

As mentioned in the list of tools needed for tea blending, more than one cup or mug is needed. This is because you should create 2 or more variations of a blend. Preparing them at the same time is ideal as a side-by-side tasting will help you accurately compare the variations.

The variations don’t necessarily have to be very different. In fact, they can be quite similar. Sometimes one blend might just have 0.3 grams less of an ingredient than another. Depending on the component, small changes can make a big difference in taste.

4. Keep in mind how the final tea blend will be consumed.

After you have all your components set and begin some experiments, think about how the flavours and aromas go together. Ask yourself what’s the best way to highlight them?

Would this tea blend shine better without milk?

Is this blend going to be a wellness tea?

Would a sweetener help accentuate the flavours?

Are you looking for a blend that would be best as a tea latte?

Keeping this in mind is important for the end product. For example, if you’re making a malty black tea blend that would be best with milk, you may not want to add ingredients like lemon or hibiscus as the acidity in those components can cause milk to curdle.

Another example is if you’re looking to create a blend that will promote better sleep you may want to stay away from caffeinated ingredients and focus more on herbs like chamomile or valerian root.

5. Document everything.

Always bring a notebook and writing utensil to the tea blending station! You need to document ingredients used, measurements, flavour combinations, and experiments.

This is because you may not nail the perfect blend on the first try, maybe not even on the first few tries. That’s okay! It’s quite common.

In fact, the first few blends I tried myself with the Proper Cuppa Tea Blending Kit were major fails on my part. I had to adjust them a few times as they resulted in either a bitter taste or one flavour overpowered another. Trial and error!

So, the formula or recipe for a tea blend will change frequently. If you write down everything, then you’ll have an easier time remembering all the different ingredients, measurements and combinations you tried.

Proper Cuppa has a tea blending template you can download and use for this, too.

6. Taste test often and write more notes!

I know I just spoke about documenting everything for the tea blend recipe. But, you can’t forget to also actually record all of your tasting notes too!

When you are tasting a tea you should make note of both the aroma and flavour. Even observe the dry and wet leaves. Is the tea blend too strong? Weak? Bitter? Flat? Oily? Tasting notes can be detailed or short and sweet.

Ultimately, you are want to blend a tea that tastes great to you. So, keep making more variations and keep tasting until you have a winner!

Then, you can cross out the formulas or recipes that didn’t work for you and your taste buds. Save the perfect one so you can replicate it and make a larger batch!

2 DIY Recipes for Tea Blending at Home

Proper Cuppa’s Tea Blending Kit comes with several recipes for you to blend and test at home but they also encourage you to create your own. Their recipes are based off their taste preferences and are great for a starting point.

After I tried several of their tea blending recipes, I decided to make some changes to better serve my tastes. Below I am sharing an Irish Breakfast Tea recipe I modified from the kit and then a Jasmine Earl Grey Cream recipe I created on my own.

The measurements below are for a single serving. Grab a tea blending kit here and give these a try at home!

Irish Breakfast Tea Recipe/Formula

Irish Breakfast is one of my favourite traditional tea blends. I drink a few variations quite often so I thought it made sense for me to begin my experiment with a tea blend I already know quite well. 

To learn more about Irish Breakfast tea and how it is different from English Breakfast or even Scottish Breakfast, read this article.

My Blending Recipe:

1.5 grams Assam
0.7 grams Ceylon
0.3 grams Keemun

Jasmine Earl Grey Cream Recipe/Formula

Lavender Earl Grey is something I come across often in tea shops. I wanted to play around with Jasmine a bit more and thought it would be interesting with Earl Grey Cream.

In the end, I preferred more cream flavour so a Vanilla black tea is the star of this blend followed by Earl Grey and a hint of Jasmine.

My Blending Recipe:

0.5 grams Jasmine
0.5 grams Earl Grey
1.5 grams Vanilla 

Are you interested in tea blending? Pin this post for later here –> https://bit.ly/3glAmEk

If you could blend tea at home, what would you create first? Let me know in the comments!