TEA-BLENDING.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2708, 20 April 1909, Page 3

TEA-BLENDING.

♦ An eminent tea expert, writing in the "Teaand Coffee Trade Journal," says.- " Tea-blending is a scientific art, and the acme of the art is to ' lift' blends up, not to depress them to dull average. The expert will blend low-priced, medium, and fine-quality teas in such as way as to make a ' fine liquoring,' not a medium, cup. The great secret is to select for your 'fetching up' grade a tea that can dominate the blend. For this great experience and a highly trained palate are essential. No hard and fast rules can be laid down, but there is a great prize to be gained by the successful individual who by his skill can make, for two or three pence a pound less money, a blend that shall equal the more expensive one .of the inexpert blender." In New Zealand expert tea-blenders are few and far between, and while there are many biands of blended teas on the market, few are the work of real experts. For the most part the teas are mixed in a haphazard kind of way, the main object being the obtaining of a maximum profit. Uniformity of quality or flavor under such conditions is impossible, and purity problematical. There is one firm in New Zealand who have for many years been selling the finest blended teas in Australasia. Blended by an expert of great experience and unique skill, who also has the advantage of his firm's superior buying and importing capabilities, these teas are undoubtedly very fine examples of the blender's art, and at the. various prices at which they are sold they are undeniably the best value obtainable in the Dominion. We refer to "Tiger" Teas. That they have for so many years retained their supremacy and great popularity in the face of increased competition is evidence of the Sublic's critical abilities. The people of Tew Zealand are, on the whole, good judges of tea, and as " Tiger " Tea is still the pick of the great majority, nothing further may be added, except that they are obtainable from all stores at Is 4d, Is 6d, Is Bd, Is lOd, and 2s per lb. That at Is 8d per lb is the most favored at present. It is a very fine tea, and those who cannot afford the higher priced "Tiger" Teas find it quite as good as other brands of tea at 2s a lb. Those, however, who are compelled to buy a lowpriced tea will get the best value for their money, both in quality and flavour, if they buy the low-priced "Ticer" blends.-(L)