so you wanna tea blend: a flash guide!!
it's easy!! it's not quick or free but it IS easy, and if you're thrifty it can be very low cost. i'm not talking of pouring river water in your socks, though, but about blending your own loose leaf tea and herbal blends. so this guide will focus on how to do that!
why do this when there's a perfectly good tea bag in your local supermarket rn? well yeah, supermarket tea can be very nice. and at the same time, maybe you wished your chai blend had more black pepper. or you drank a mint oolong blend at your ex's house, and you do NOT want to message them again, it's too soon, you'd just cave in again, but you really want to have that tea again.
or maybe you just like doing things with your hands to feel more human.
whatever is the case, boy do I have news for you! tea blending essentially has two base steps and they're not even hard.
- step 1: acquire ingredients
where do you get them? your supermarket doesn't have loose leaf ceylan, i mean maybe it does, i don't know you.
well i get some of mine in a local tea shop that sources harder to get stuff, but i also go to my supermarkets and markets. i live in the Peruvian Andes, tho, so my market and your market may look different - but give it a shot and see if you can find your spices there! basic things like cinnamon, clove, bay leaf, white pepper, star anise - all of these might be available easily.
now for herbs: mint and spearmint you maybe can find at your supermarket. farmer's markets may help you get other local herbs and flowers available, like chamomile, lemongrass or lemon verbena. specialty tea shops may carry already dried versions of these ingredients too.
for tea, meaning the product of the camellia sinensis plant, a local tea shop might help with particular types like an oolong, ceylan or green tea. my market has huyro tea, a very Peruvian variant. but if none of these options work for you, you can actually buy loose leaf tea in AliExpress. just check that the store is reputable and the reviews are positive, and you're good to go.
lastly, for dry fruit, you have to be kinda careful with store-bought ones. if it bends it usually ain't dry enough. you can dry your own at an air fryer tho, or at a regular oven! look up techniques online. i like to cut thin fruit slices and put them in the air fryer, at the lowest temperature i can, for about an hour and a half. that does the trick for me.
- step 2: make a blend
this is the fun part. it's all about experimenting, messing up and tweaking the formula, and experimenting again. largely here you may do whatever you want, but let me give you a few pointers!
proportions of ingredients: a good starting point is 70% base ingredient, 20% secondary flavor, and about a 10% accents - like spices. but always keep in mind flavor and scent strength. a 10% of cardamom may dominate your blend, while 10% of clove might be a bit more forgiving. likewise, 70% of white tea is different from the same quantity of green tea.
harmonization: this is just the process through which all the different scents, accent sensations and flavors come together into one coherent sensory experience. it takes a little time. i've learned to leave my blend resting undisturbed in a closed jar, for about 48 hours / two days before i give it a fair try. recently i thought i'd gotten a fairly good blend, only for it to have entirely too much cardamom - it hijacked the whole thing! but after i upped all the other ingredients, and let it rest for two more days, the cardamom chilled out. harmonization!
the fun aspect- playfulness: this one's important to me, as a person. what is tea blending but fancy sensory play? crushing clove, opening cardamom pods, smelling, touching, tasting - have fun with your experience. be a little evil scientist in your evil lair. and the blends that don't come out quite as you wanted them too are also fun experiences that lead to growth, and learning. you're not doing this for a grade or for anyone else who's not you, even though you may share your blends with others. this is entirely for you. make of it what you wish, make it silly if you so desire! i like when it's silly <3
and there you have it.
you've made tea. now drink it. don't put sugar in it, and then do - heck, go for honey too. don't put milk in it, and then do (if you want). have you tried it cold? with ice? with lemon? paired with a nice sandwich or a little cake? have you had it out of your favorite mug? all of these things change the experience of your blend. i recently learned chamomile and milk, paired with honey, is one of the tastiest things in god's green earth.
it's all play, really. we're just playing, but your adult brain may want to deny you that. don't let it! make things with your hands and then do things with the thing you made! your life will be richer by it.