Processing and grading are exhaustive, and vitally important to teas manufacture. The teas are not necessarily ready to be packaged and sold, and this is where the skills of the tea blender enter the picture. At Twinings’ Head Office in England, our expert blenders select teas from thousands of different tea estates and yet still arrive at the exact flavour for a particular blend. No two batches of tea are ever alike, even if they come from the same garden, which makes the art of blending extremely complex.

Weather, altitude, moisture and soil each contribute to tea characteristics; tea changes according to its season, and even to the time of day at which it is picked. To produce the same, optimum blend every time, the importance of the blender’s art is inestimable. At Twinings a tea taster and blender will train for five years, before they are fully qualified, although they are constantly learning and developing their skills.

Small samples of tea are first obtained from tea brokers and tasted for quality, flavour as well as being assessed for colour. Duly approved, the teas are then purchased from markets around the world. Professional tasters will now select teas to produce the desired blend. Each sample blend is brewed, and undergoes a methodical tasting procedure. Freshly drawn water is boiled in a copper kettle and poured over five grammes of tea in a special white, lidded ceramic cup. The leaves are infused for precisely six minutes, after which the “liquor” is poured off into a bowl ready for tasting. Tasters examine both dry and wet leaves, judging the brew’s colour and clarity. Then using special spoons, tasters suck the tea sharply against their palates and expel it into spittoons. So well seasoned are tasters’ palates that they can detect the slightest variation on the standard they seek. The taster's job however has not finished, as the tea still needs to be tasted after blending, and during the packing stage. Only when this has been approved, will the tea be ready for distribution to Twinings’ many retail outlets throughout the world, and of course to consumer’s teapots.

v.    Tea buying:
vi.   Tea differentiation:
vii.   Tea exportation:
viii.   Tea health benefits: