Blending

No two batches of tea are ever alike, even if they come from the same garden. So just imagine the immense skill required by our expert blenders who must sift through teas from thousands of different estates. Weather, altitude, moisture and soil each contribute to the flavour, as does the season and even the time of day at which the tea is picked.

At Twinings, tea tasters and blenders train within the UK and tea producing countries for five years before they are fully qualified. The art of tea tasting is a never ending and expansive job and the learning curve will continue throughout a blenders' lifetime. Without this training and experience, our master blenders wouldn't be able to ensure that your favourite cup of tea is consistent all year round.

When making a blend, our professional tasters select only the finest quality teas to produce the desired look and flavour. Each sample blend is brewed, and undergoes a methodical tasting procedure.

Freshly drawn water is boiled in a copper kettle and 280 ml poured over five grams 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 quality, colour and clarity. The tasters use special spoons from which they suck the tea sharply against their palates and expel it into spittoons. Like expert wine tasters, they can detect the slightest variation on the standard they seek.