Basic principles and applications of tea blending

Tea blending is an important tea processing technique that combines the flavors of tea leaves, layers of aroma, and enriches the quality expression through blending. Tea blending can not only improve tea quality, but also meet market standardization needs, maintain product stability, improve economic efficiency, develop characteristic products, and thereby enhance the market competitiveness of tea products.

 Basic principles of tea blending

Using different raw materials for blending

The raw materials for tea blending vary in terms of grade, season, production area, variety, etc. Rich sources of raw materials are more conducive to improving the quality and diversity of blended tea products. In the blending of Pu’er tea, the use of pure Shantou tea results in a unique taste and strong regional characteristics, but there are problems such as weak taste, insufficient content, and lack of coordination, as well as slow aging and transformation process. Based on the different seasons, tree ages, production areas, and altitudes of the blended raw materials, a seven factor blending model for sun dried green tea of Pu’er tea is designed. The blending is carried out from seven dimensions: original flavor, honey flavor, richness, plumpness, salivation, throat rhyme, and neutral flavor, which can improve the sensory quality of pure Pu’er tea

Mixing of raw materials in different seasons

Tea leaves produced in different seasons have their own characteristics. Spring tea has a mellow and durable taste, summer tea has a smooth and astringent aroma, and autumn tea has a high and rich aroma. Mixing green tea from different seasons in Shandong can be used to solve the problem of high summer tea production but low output value.

In the blending of low-grade tea products, adding a small amount of oolong tea can improve the quality of summer tea raw materials with low aroma, taste, and roughness

Blending of raw materials from different production areas

The climate conditions and soil conditions in different production areas vary, which can affect the content of tea leaves. For example, tea leaves in low latitude areas have higher levels of polyphenolic substances, while tea leaves in high latitude areas have higher levels of amino acids. Compared to plain tea, high mountain tea has richer amino acids and aromatic substances.
In the blending of Pu erh tea, emphasis is placed on the compatibility of Pu erh tea blending. The strong and sweet taste of Brown Mountain tea blends perfectly with the sweet and fragrant taste of Jingmai Mountain tea, resulting in high-quality finished tea.

Raw material blending of different tea tree varieties

There are significant differences in the content of secondary metabolites among different tea tree varieties, manifested in significant differences in product flavor. In the blending of oolong tea, aroma and taste are important factors determining its quality, followed by appearance and leaf base. Narcissus has a unique orchid fragrance; Cinnamon has a sharp aroma, with floral, fruity, and cinnamon like notes; Huangguanyin has a high and prominent fragrance of flowers; Golden peonies have a fragrance of flowers and fruits, with a long-lasting aftertaste; Dangui has a rich creamy aroma, and raw materials can be selected according to the characteristics of the finished tea during the blending process.

Pairing low-grade narcissus with thick strands and strong aroma with Wuyi Qizhong, which has a tight appearance, sharp aroma, and weak taste, can harmonize their appearance, enhance their taste, and complement each other’s advantages.
Develop a matching plan based on inventory situation and market orientation

Tea blending cannot be solely based on improving product quality. In recent years, the area of tea gardens and tea production have shown an overall upward trend, and tea inventory has been increasing year by year with huge inventory pressure. The problem of accumulated aged tea has become increasingly difficult, and new tea products have emerged slowly in the market with relatively single product forms, which cannot meet the material and spiritual cultural needs of consumers. Based on market research, we have identified consumer needs, accurately positioned and refined selling points, and used the digestion of inventory and meeting market demand as the starting point to provide more possibilities for tea blending.

In recent years, tea blending is no longer limited to the same tea category. In order to enrich tea products and meet the diverse needs of the market, multi tea combination blending and reprocessed tea blending products have gradually entered the public eye

Combination and blending of multiple types of tea and tea with other plants

Unlike the blending of a single tea category, the purpose of blending multiple tea categories is more to develop new products and meet the diverse needs of consumers.

Using white tea as the main ingredient to blend Gongfu black tea can enhance the caramel flavor of the blended tea while retaining its sweet and refreshing taste; The blending of fragrant Tie Guan Yin tea can enhance the orchid and glutinous rice aromas, and the proportion of blended tea should be between 15% and 25%.By combining a certain proportion of green tea and oolong tea in the same batch and machine, a new tea product with weight loss and lipid-lowering effects can be developed.

In addition, there are various types of tea beverages made by mixing and processing the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and other organs of plants.By using different innovative processes to process chrysanthemums and blending them with tea leaves, it was found that chrysanthemums that have undergone withering, fermentation, and drying have the highest flavonoid content and free radical scavenging ability. When blended with Qihong and white tea, the quality is even better.

Due to different growth environments and processing techniques, tea leaves exhibit different quality characteristics. Each batch of tea leaves has its own advantages and disadvantages. Through blending, the advantages of the tea sample are amplified and the disadvantages are reduced, resulting in a finished product quality that meets the target sample and forms its own product characteristics.

In today’s saturated supply side and abundant high-quality raw materials, health and aesthetic elements can be added during the blending process to play a more significant role. Based on the principle of ancient medicine and food sharing the same origin, a medicinal tea product that combines the health benefits of tea and medicinal herbs has been developed, which has received widespread attention in the market

Existing problems

With the development of industry technology and equipment, the process and quality of tea blending have been significantly improved, and intelligent and automated blending equipment has emerged. However, currently, the blended finished tea still relies heavily on expert sensory evaluation, with strong personal subjectivity, and there are some urgent problems that need to be solved.

(1) There may be multiple blending methods for the same batch of tea raw materials, making it difficult to achieve a unified standard; The finished tea is blended through evaluation, but it is not possible to achieve consistency between other indicators such as the content of blended tea and the standard sample.

(2) At present, research on tea blending still focuses on the study of blending raw materials themselves, lacking relevant industrial integration. The utilization rate of tea machinery and new technologies has not yet reached a high level, which greatly affects the development of blending technology.

(3) The research on blended tea has certain limitations, mainly focusing on specific black tea and oolong tea, without cross regional and variety studies, which has affected the development of tea blending technology in China.

(4) Some businesses mix inferior tea ingredients into their products for profit, such as in the blending of jasmine tea, where a large number of flower slices are blended into the finished tea, causing consumers to change their color choices and believe that blending is a bad way to pass off inferior tea as good, and excessively pursue pure tea. This concept is detrimental to the development of blended tea and requires active guidance.