Tea Blending-An Accidental Invention! It Needs More Support From Tea Research!

There was an English tea merchant selling tea packs in his town during the year 1660 A.D. He used to get a bag of tea from one estate or the other and make small packs and sell them to the people in his area.
People were buying from him, but used to make remarks on the quality of the tea he supplied.
THE GOODNESS OF TEAS!
The flavor was not always the same. Again, when the taste was good, the tea color was very low. Again, when the taste was not so.

Again, when the taste was not so. Again, when the taste was not so. When the color was good, the taste was good, the taste was not so. They said, "The tea was good last time, but it is different now".

It had become quite customary to hear comments of his customers about his tea.
The merchant was not able to find out a way to escape from the unsatisfied customers' remarks. Man could be a silent listener of all these things and cannot control. The tea characters change from grade to grade, season to season, process to process and even time to time.

This is because the teas grown in different estates differ in their characters. When ever he buys a new tea bag and distributes it in small packs, the customers' comments were also changed.
NO SINGLE TEA HAS ALL CHARACTERS IN PERFECT MATCH!
It was quite surprising to hear from almost all consumers that the tea was good that time in all respects. To cover up the time, he mixed all the remainings of tea bags and made into small packs and sold to his customers with all the reluctance. Once it happened that the merchant sold almost all the tea bags as remnants.
He had actually mixed all the leftover teas purchased so far and supplied to the consumers only to avoid the time gap. But, the customers were satisfied and started asking to supply only similar teas in future also.
MIXING MAKES IT BETTER - AN ACCIDENTAL INVENTION!
The color, taste and flavor are average and were acceptable to the people of the town. It was fine; blending of various kinds of tea had helped the merchant to run his business without much of bad comments. He started mixing and selling!

The trader understood the idea and started buying different kinds and grades of teas from a number of estates!
THANKS TO THE ANANYMOUS TEA MERCHANT!
We cannot continue with just mixing any kind or grade of tea available in the market as did by the merchant. But, this will not suffice the varying market needs of this modern day. It has its own merits!

So, tea blending was born. Though accidental, it was really an invention worth to be written in the history of tea industry!
WANTS ARE DIFFERENT! TEAS ARE DIFFERENT!
The tea taste changes with so many factors, natural and man made too. Some like leaf teas and others dust teas. Some love teas made by orthodox way and others the modern CTC way of production. There are different kinds of people loving different kinds of teas to make varying tea drinks.
NEED TO INVENT, INNOVATE AND STRATEGISE!
The growth of any product depends on the merits of invention to begin with, innovation in course of time and finally the strategy to cope up with the market competition.
RESEARCH NEEDED!

Hence, there is a need to do a research at a higher level with identification of tea grades, their physical and functional characters in relation to the final tea drink. There is also a compelling need to have an unbiased tea evaluation technique to judge true market values of the teas in question.
ART OF TEA TASTING - WITH HUMAN ERRORS!
Evaluation based on this gives only artistic values and do not speak about the real value of tea. It has erroneous influences of human mind. Simply because, the traditional tea tasting is an art and has no scientific base.

However, it has all the demerits of the human errors. It took a number of years gradually to improve up on the art or knowledge of tea tasting.
You know an art is enjoyable, but contains more of illusions and not the truth always. An art is always kept as a secret and not open for scientific analysis and confirmations.
SCIENCE IS TRUTH, A FOUNDATION FOR GROWTH!

However a revolutionary tea research culminating into a unique "scientific tea testing, tasting and blending technique" was done only very recently. Science is truth always and gives confirmative results and paves way for innovative and progressive growth of any business.
There is delay and it is due to the strong belief of the tea industry as a whole!
TEA TESTING, TASTING AND BLENDING TECHNIQUES:
Is it different from traditional tea tasting?
Yes. With all scientific base!

Is it a competition technique to the art of tea tasting?
No, it is complementary and supportive!

Tea researchers and students will also get benefited! In a big way! Yes.

Will this help the tea business and industry?
Tea blending, an accidental invention has opened new vistas to tea industry through scientific tea testing, tasting and blending techniques!
To know more about scientific tea testing, tasting and formulae of tea blending, please contact: pnkguru@yahoo.com Also visit:
http://www.teablends.blogspot.com/
RESOURCES:
FROM OWN RESEARCH AND BUSINESS EXPERIENCES OF THE TEA SCIENTIST AND THE AUTHOR.

Aperitif Hybrid Tea Rose

The latter part of last summer was hot and droughty in Westminster. I went to look at a garden, locally, on top of a windy hill that is quite exposed to the worst of winter's harshness. Included was a small rose garden. Due to the weather and some neglect, all of the roses looked poor, except one. This was a yellow hybrid tea, fully foliated and loaded with buds about to unfurl, still bearing the remnants of what was obviously a heavy spring and early summer bloom. It had about eight husky canes and stood every bit of 5 feet tall. As a class, yellow hybrid teas tend to be the most difficult of all. In general they don't have a strong constitution. They seem particularly prone to winter kill. For years I have been searching for a good yellow hybrid tea and to stumble across one so serendipitously is truly amazing. The homeowner said the rose was about three or four years old and that this was her best rose; so easy to grow and so reliable. With some investigating the rose turned out to be Aperitif, not budded but growing on its own root. Aperitif is a recent introduction from New Zealand. We checked further and found that in just a few years, Aperitif has developed quite a worldwide reputation for vigor and reliability.
Aperitif has glowing, well-formed, yellow blooms on long, strong stems. The four and a half inch blooms are exquisite, with up to 30 petals and a light fragrance. The long stems, which will reach 18 to 22 inches, make Aperitif an exceptional addition to floral arrangements. The bush is very vigorous and will grow easily in the garden, reaching a height of 60 inches. The glossy, medium dark foliage is quite disease resistant.
Planting and Care
For best results, plant in early spring.
Plant 4 feet apart in well-drained soil enriched with compost.
Prefers full sun.
Fertilize with Rose-Tone monthly from March 15th through August 15th.
Prune in the spring.
Hardy in zones 5 (with protection)-9.
Click here
to view Aperitif Hybrid Tea Rose on the Carroll Gardens website.
Alan Summers, president of Carroll Gardens, Inc., has over 30 years experience in gardening and landscape design. He has made Carroll Gardens one of America's preeminent nurseries, having introduced more than 20 new perennials and woody shrubs over the years and reintroduced numerous "lost" cultivars back to American gardeners.
It contains valuable gardening advice and tips and answers to customer questions. Carroll Gardens publishes a weekly online newsletter written by Alan.
Click here
to sign up for the Carroll Gardens weekly enewsletter.
Every Saturday, Alan hosts a call-in gardening forum on WCBM radio - 680 AM. For those outside of the WCBM listening area, they can listen to radio show via the internet.