5 Tips for Creating Your Own Tea Blend

Recently I’ve been really interested in creating my own tea blends. After doing some research online, many tea ingredients are only sold in bulk. I wanted to create and test different flavors and blends, but I couldn’t commit to a bulk order of one ingredient. Then, I came across Blend Bee, which sells pre-made blends and has an option to create your own tea. You can order a sample bag which makes up to 10 cups of tea for less than $10. This website is amazing and has SO many teas, spices, herbs, flowers, fruits, beans, and flavors to choose from. It is really helpful because the website lists flavor descriptions and the health benefits for each ingredient. You can name your tea and write a description of the tea which will be printed on your bag. Also, there is an option to leave a note describing how you would like your tea to taste. I found this incredible helpful! I ordered my Blend Bee tea and it was delivered quickly, the tea tastes amazing, and it definitely serves more than 10 cups which is awesome!

​​I felt a little overwhelmed by all of the options and below is a helpful guide to creating your own tea blend.
 
1. Decide the health benefits you would like from your tea and the time of day you will be drinking your tea.
If you’re drinking this tea in the morning it would be best to have a caffeinated, energizing tea. So you should add energizing ingredients such as green tea and ashwagandha root. 

2. Choose up to 6 ingredients.
All of the ingredient options are amazing, but I found myself adding a lot of ingredients and needing to scale back on a few. It is difficult to imagine how elder flower and sage will pair together without tasting or smelling the tea before you buy it. So it is best to keep it somewhat simple. 

3. Choose 1 base ingredient.
This is usually a green, white, black or red tea. This will be the main ingredient in your tea. It's important to keep in mind the properties and flavor of your base ingredient. For instance, white tea doesn't have a strong flavor and will pair well with almost any ingredient. 

4. Choose spices, herbs, flowers, fruits, beans, and flavors.
This is the fun part! I found some inspiration from teas I love and tea recipes online. The tea flavor description and health benefits on Blend Bee were very useful! It's important to keep in mind that some ingredients and flavors are very powerful and may be overwhelming. My tea blend has ginger root in it which is very overpowering. If you do choose a powerful ingredient, in the notes you may want to explain if you would like your tea to have a faint taste of that ingredient. 

5. Order a sample size bag.
I think it is best to order a small amount first and then make adjustments. On Blend Bee they save your recipe which makes reordering and adjusting the recipe very simple.
 
Below is my custom tea ingredients, title, description, and notes. 
Jasmine Green Tea
Elder flower
Lavender
Orange Peel
Sage
Ashwagandha Root
Ginger
Tea Title: Barry Delicious
Tea Description: A great start to your morning that will keep you healthy and energized!
Notes: I want a healthy morning tea that will keep me energized and tastes great with all of the benefits of the ingredients!