Speciality Tea
Find out more about Speciality Tea
Speciality Tea usually refers to teas that are not the ordinary, everyday, blended teas that are available in teabags. It can mean teas that are produced on a particular tea garden such as Goomtee Estate in Darjeeling, Kenilworth Estate in Ceylon, or Tregothnan Tea Estate in Cornwall; or it can mean a ‘single origin’ speciality tea that is grown in a particular region or country such as Malawi, Indonesia, Assam in India, Uva in Ceylon, Fujian Province in China, etc.
The term ’speciality tea’ can also mean a blended tea with names such as Afternoon Blend, Irish Breakfast or Mayfair Blend; and the term can also refer to flavoured teas which are made by blending white teas, green teas, black teas or puerh teas with flowers, fruits, herbs or spices.
Speciality teas from ‘single estates’ are rather like wines from individual wineries or vineyards. Because plants are affected by the seasons and weather patterns, the taste of the both grapes and speciality teas can vary from season to season, from year to year. So the speciality teas produced on one tea estate this year will differ from speciality teas made produced at the same garden next year.
Some people enjoy the connoisseur quality of single estate speciality teas and look forward to comparing the speciality teas from year to year. Others prefer to know that the tea they like to buy will taste the same each time they purchase a packet and so they choose a ‘single origin’ blended speciality tea.
Speciality teas from a ‘Single Origin’ are usually a blend of teas from several tea gardens in a particular region or country, and the aim of the blender is to create an aroma and flavour which is characteristic of that region. For example, Assam speciality teas are usually sweet, malty, smooth and rich; Kenyan speciality teas are powerful, full or flavour and vibrancy; high-grown Ceylon speciality teas are fragrant, golden and subtle. So each year, the blender chooses speciality teas from the different gardens and producers that reflect those characteristics.
Speciality Teas for particular occasions or times of day are blended to offer consumers a suitable taste for different mealtimes or different moods. English Breakfast speciality teas usually mix malty Assams with vibrant Ceylons and powerful African teas to give a burst of wake-up flavour and strength; Irish Breakfast speciality teas usually use more African teas for an even stronger flavour; Afternoon Blends of speciality teas are usually lighter and more subtle to suit the elegance of mid-afternoon tea parties and to marry well with traditional cakes and pastries.
Flavoured speciality teas such as Earl Grey, Rose Petal Tea, Chai or Jasmine tea add the extra interest of additional flavourings. Dried flower blossoms such as rose petals or lotus flowers, little chunks of dried fruit such as mango, pineapple or orange peel, pieces of dried spice such as cloves or cinnamon bark, and dried herbs such as mint and lemon grass are combined with the speciality teas after the tea has been manufactured.
When making flavoured speciality teas, it is important that the blender chooses a base tea that has a balanced, all round flavour that will work well with the additional flavouring; and the additional flavouring must not be so strong that it overwhelms the tea flavour. The two main ingredients should work well together so that both flavours of speciality teas can be enjoyed.
See the range of Speciality Teas and make them in the Tea Machine from Fine T.
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