The Black Tea Grading & Blending Handbook
Master orthodox leaf grades, regional terroir, and the economics and technique of blending commercial breakfast teas. For enthusiasts and the trade.Complete edition includes: Standardised cupping protocol for blenders: ISO-adapted method, side-by-side evaluation, and stress-testing under real cafe conditions. Formulating breakfast blends from scratch: three archetypal profiles, trial ratios, iteration sequences, and the critical milk test. Full cost breakdowns and margin models: landed prices (mid-2026), worked examples, wholesale vs retail pricing, and forward-contracting strategies. Scaling to production: batch-blending protocols, QC cupping templates, segregation risks, and maintaining consistency across 10 kg to 1-tonne runs. Substitution planning and supply resilience: building flexibility into your recipe, acceptable alternatives, and communicating (or not) when components change. Marketing, compliance and storytelling: legal claims, origin transparency, trade vs consumer messaging, and turning your blend into a brand asset. Advanced sensory techniques: layering top/mid/base notes, contrast, controlled defects, and designing a signature house style. Future-proofing for climate and consumer trends: climate impacts by origin, strategic certification, transparency demands, and long-term supply planning.
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