Is it Tea? Will it Blend?

I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with tea blends. I believe, with the upmost sincerity that if it’s yummy and healthier than soda or alcohol, drink it. I do, however, have an issue with other infused drinks being called, “tea.” I don’t like that tea has become a generalized term for any infused beverage. Much like Coke, Corn Flakes, and Frisbee, tea’s true meaning bad been diluted by decades of a cavalier and aloof understanding of a fascinating plant.

With blends, as with any other drink, I feel that if it needs to be mixed to be palatable, it just shouldn’t be consumed. I drink my coffee black because I’be found a roast and roaster that produces a great natural flavor. I don’t need to doctor up my morning dose of “wake up” because it just simply doesn’t need anything. The same goes with my tea. I have had plenty of bad teas. In fact, I just recently tried some white tea that I had to spit out because I thought it was utterly disgusting. Never once did I say to myself, “I wonder if this would taste better than sour milk if I added some honey?” I just threw it away and moved onto the next thing.

Point is, it’s easy to forget just how much variety is available in teas (and coffee). There are thousands of different teas out there to try. The award-winning farmers have worked hard to make a product that tastes amazing on its own and I just don’t have it in me to assume I know more than the farmer about how the tea should taste.

Brief history lesson:

When the British first became interested in tea, they really only had a green or black option. I’m generalizing here, but they believed green was too weak and black was too strong. In an almost comically Goldilocks parody, they decided to try mixing the tea. Whatever they ended up with caused great delight and began hundreds of years of blendology. We’re all familiar with the classics such as, “English Breakfast” and “Earl Grey.” To give them a little credit, it’s entirely possible that the Chinese were not willing to trade their top-shelf teas. They were barely open to trade anyway.

I’m never going to be the type of person to tell you that all blends are garbage and you shouldn’t be drinking them. I just hope with this project I can inspire you to try something new.

I’m going to need help trying to name a class of drink that is an infusion, but not tea. I feel like, “infused drink” just doesn’t have a good ring. The last thing I want is to feel like I’m mansplaining the definition of tea to the masses. I get embarrassed for myself when I begin a sentence with, “Well actually…” If you have any thoughts at all, I’d love to hear them.

Thanks for reading.