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LEARN ABOUT TEA
Where knowledge is steeped in experience
When you look for specialty teas what do you look for? How do you know that the tea you are buying is specialty grade? Can you tell a good Darjeeling from an average Darjeeling? Knowing what a good cup of tea should look like, smell like, and taste like are just a few of the many steps required to bring the world's best specialty teas to our customers.
In the industry we call it "cupping." That's the term used for what a tea taster does as he evaluates the tea. Watching the two leaves and the bud open up after meeting with the hot water. Knowing that the bud gives the cup the fruity and floral flavors and aromas while the leaves give the cup the body necessary to complete the cup. This natural combination of the two leaves and the bud are essential in developing the full potential that is inherent in the tea.
Cupping requires experience and demands developing a sensory pallet that can detect possible defects and predict how a tea will perform when it is flavored or used in a blend. That sensory knowledge comes from cupping over and over.
At The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®, knowing about tea-from the plantation to the cup-makes our teas truly specialty teas. Creating a flavor profile unique to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® requires special steps at every stage in the tea production process, from plucking the leaf, to withering the leaf, then rolling it, followed by oxidizing and finally firing the teas.
As the company's tea buyer and master tea blender I personally travel to the country of origin to develop the specific flavor profile unique to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®. The sourcing of all the necessary ingredients to create exclusive blends, herbals, and fruit infusions is important and challenging. Finding the precise cinnamon for our Chai or just the right cherry flavoring for our Japanese Cherry green tea is what makes our blends and flavored tea stand out.
Quality people produce quality tea
Relationships are key in solidifying a consistent future with the tea estate where we buy our teas. Choosing the right tea estate as your supplier is a major step in the process. Flexibility, knowledge and a quality-driven estate will be the key in producing a consistent quality tea. The ability to develop social programs with the estate to benefit the tea pluckers and their families is critical in developing a long-term relationship that benefits everyone involved.
We plan our purchase of each year's supply to allow for only the freshest teas available. There is only a limited amount of time each year to buy the freshest tea possible. Depending on the country of origin, most teas will develop from April through September. Year after year we strive to maintain consistency while continuing to refine the cup. We never stop exploring all possible options in our search for more floral, fruity flavors and aromas that peak at their highest levels.
Having hands-on participation at origin is a vital first step when it comes to creating a perfect cup of tea. Our quest for perfection continues throughout the blending and flavoring process, which we control are at our facility in Camarillo, California. From personal involvement in developing the tea at origin, to hand plucking, hand blending and finally serving the final product to the customer, there is a little of all of us at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®in a cup of tea.
Tea is a spiritual drink that compares to no other. Whether I am in India, Sri Lanka or Japan, the way people feel about tea is universal. It's a drink that brings people together. Whether your cup of tea is green, black or oolong, the color, aroma and flavors always bring delight to those who love tea. Tea is the only beverage I know that uses all our senses. The touch of the leaf, the whistle of the tea kettle, the aroma of the tea, the color of the tea, and finally the taste of the tea…all add up to a delicious and total sensory experience.
-David De Candia, Tea Buyer & Master Tea Blender
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