Non tea drinkers often associate tea drinking with bland flavors. Only true tea connoisseurs, new and old, understand the wide variety of exciting flavors found in tea. Even years ago, you could find many different tastes by experimenting with green tea, black tea, oolong and pu-ehr. Today, however, with the availability and popularity of flavored teas on the rise, the possibilities are endless.
There are an almost unlimited number of combinations of teas and flavorings, and the best tea makers are seeking to make as many as they can. Since flavorings taste different depending upon the type of tea you flavor with them, you can create several different tea tastes with just one sort of flavoring.
Take, for example, Golden Moon’s Honey Pear Tea. This is a very high quality black tea blended with ripe pear and smooth honey. The flavor is sweet and full bodied, with a Middle Eastern feeling to it. It’s truly one of the most delicious tea combinations you’ll find, whether you drink it iced or hot. But, what you may not realize is that if you combined the same high quality pear and honey flavors with white tea you would get an entirely different result. White tea is very light and sweet, so a white honey pear tea would be far less rich and full bodied and would also be much sweeter. If you mixed pear and honey with green tea, you’d have a liquor somewhat stronger than white tea, but lighter than black tea. The flavor would be less sweet than white tea and a bit more earthy.
So, as you can see, there are a lot of possible combinations out there for flavored teas. But, just like any other product, not all of it will be to your liking. Before you choose a tea blend, consider teas you already drink and enjoy. If, for example you’re just not a green tea drinker because you don’t like the earthy taste of it, it’s possible that even your favorite flavoring won’t change your mind, but if you can find a sample, it’s certainly worth your time to try it out.
It’s also important to choose high quality teas that are blended with high quality flavorings. Making the best tea blends and specialty teas is not easy, so only a few tea makers will really give you the flavor you’re looking for. Some things to look for when you’re choosing a blended tea like honey pear include:
Loose Tea -In general, the tea found in tea bags is lower quality than loose teas. You’ll always get the best brew by using loose tea leaves, whether it’s for a blended tea or a single tea.High Quality Tea Leaves - Tea grading is a complicated matter. Each variety of tea (white, black green) is graded just a bit differently, and each country where tea is grown grades their tea differently, too. In the US, the best teas will be labeled as “tippy”. Any tea with the word “dust” in the tea description is very low quality tea.Natural Flavorings - When tea makers use artificial flavors in their specialty teas, you can tell the difference. Using natural flavorings and real honey give the tea a much richer and more delicious flavor.Specialty teas and blended teas are very hot right now. And, the demand for them is expected to grow. So, you can expect that to mean that the number of specialty and blended teas on the market to grow, too. Every tea maker will want to get in on the action, but that doesn’t mean that every tea maker will produce a tea you’ll enjoy drinking. So, as a consumer, how do you ensure that you’re getting the best specialty and blended teas?
Well, the best way seems to be to know your tea vendor. By choosing tea vendors like Golden Moon you’ll ensure that you’re getting the very best blends. Golden Moon works only with the best tea growers in the world and has unique relationships with them to allow them to get the best leaves of the best harvests. Then, Golden Moon uses their talent, experience and expertise to blend these fine teas with the best natural flavorings to create the perfect cup of tea.
When you buy the finest teas, like those produced by Golden Moon, you’ll see that they are priced a bit higher than the tea “dust” you’ll find at the grocer. However, this is because you’re getting a tea made from much better ingredients than other teas. And, when you compare the cost brew for brew, you’ll find that Golden Moon tea isn’t really more expensive at all. Because Golden Moon teas are made from high quality loose teas, you can easily get more than one infusion from each measure of tea. You certainly can’t use low quality tea bags more than once! So, cup for cup, this superior tea is really very cost effective.
Get on the specialty and blended tea bandwagon and discover the many unique teas that await your palate. With wonderful combinations like Golden Moon’s Honey Pear, you’ll be certain to find many new favorites!
Copyright: Copyright © 2008 Jon M. Stout
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