I made a Franken-blend from all of my random bits and bobs of unflavored black teas in an effort to consolidate my little tins, baggies, and whatnots. From memory, I know there is some Keemun, Yunnan, Assam, and other Indian teas in this melange.

Success! This is a bold, chocolatey tea that is best with milk and sugar. I wouldn’t go a touch over 4 minutes, and I’m glad I used a timer. I feel like I have a brand new tin of tea (I think I gathered together about 3 oz of leaves altogether!) without spending a penny. Some of the teas were 2 or 3 years in my cupboard, and the fresher additions really gave them a new life. I highly recommend Franken-blending to revitalize your neglected, leftover, or otherwise languishing teas!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Violet

I’ve always wanted to try blending…I think I’ll go try it now! Any tips on how to get the best flavor?

JacquelineM

Think of what you know about your teas — like I thought about how this Keemun is chocolatey and the particular Yunnan is caramel-y and the Indian tea is earthy and chocolatey — so I knew they had a good chance of going well together. If I had, say, a lemony Ceylon, I would not have used it in this blend. I knew one tea was kinda tired and I always had to double the amount I used for good flavor, so I knew that blending with my fresher, bolder teas would most likely result in a nice strength. Those are the little ideas I used. I don’t know if that’s how you’re supposed to do it, but :)

I also make another frankenblend of some vanilla tea, an earl grey, and a fruit tea — it wasn’t perfect so I added more vanilla tea — so don’t be afraid to tweak things if you are not pleased at first.

gmathis

I’ve had a jar of “junkyard tea” going for a while now; its personality changes often. Mostly used for iced tea—haven’t tried the latest iteration hot yet.

Terri HarpLady

Yay for FrankenTea!

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Comments

Violet

I’ve always wanted to try blending…I think I’ll go try it now! Any tips on how to get the best flavor?

JacquelineM

Think of what you know about your teas — like I thought about how this Keemun is chocolatey and the particular Yunnan is caramel-y and the Indian tea is earthy and chocolatey — so I knew they had a good chance of going well together. If I had, say, a lemony Ceylon, I would not have used it in this blend. I knew one tea was kinda tired and I always had to double the amount I used for good flavor, so I knew that blending with my fresher, bolder teas would most likely result in a nice strength. Those are the little ideas I used. I don’t know if that’s how you’re supposed to do it, but :)

I also make another frankenblend of some vanilla tea, an earl grey, and a fruit tea — it wasn’t perfect so I added more vanilla tea — so don’t be afraid to tweak things if you are not pleased at first.

gmathis

I’ve had a jar of “junkyard tea” going for a while now; its personality changes often. Mostly used for iced tea—haven’t tried the latest iteration hot yet.

Terri HarpLady

Yay for FrankenTea!

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Profile

Bio

I love to cook, bake, read, paint, knit, do needlework, and garden. I need my coffee, but I LOVE my tea. I work at an Art School, and attend a large public university doing post-bac work (my BA is in English). I’m interested in the liminal spaces between art and craft, the academic and the practical, the individual and community, and the old and the new. I’m currently exploring these ideas through the disciplines of education, literature, history, and psychology.

I enjoy writing tasting notes, but have decided not to numerically rate teas as of 9/14/10. For an explanation, see my looooong tasting note about Mountain Malt from the Simple Leaf.

My favorites:
Chinese black teas
A good “milk and sugar” English style black
Earl Grey (classic, and in all variations!)
Vanilla teas (classic, and in all variations!)
Jasmine, Rose, Violet and other froofy, flowery teas!
An Occasional Oolong
Flavored Rooibos
Herbal Tisanes

Location

Collingswood, NJ

Website

http://jackiemania.wordpress....

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