We celebrated International Tea Week by inaugurating a captivating competition where teams were tasked with creating their own unique blends. Each team had the opportunity to brainstorm and craft their blend over the course of a week, culminating in a 45-minute preparation session on the day of the competition.
The purpose of this event was to provide our English Tea Shop team with a comprehensive understanding of the extraordinary organic teas they offer to the global market. By exploring the ingredients and their benefits, we aimed to foster creativity, innovation, and teamwork, as we firmly believe in the power of crowd-sourcing to fuel the best ideas. This hands-on experience allowed teams to intimately engage with the ingredients, from selecting and weighing them to skillfully blending them into the final product, all under the guidance of our master blenders.
Taking on the role of master blenders, the core team divided into six groups, challenging themselves to think like entrepreneurs while honing their blending skills. Throughout the process of creating their blends, they carefully considered factors such as quality, pricing, target market, aroma, flavor, brew color, and unique selling points. They even prepared cost sheets for their creations!
This delightful activity not only allowed the team to connect with the ingredients they work with, but also offered insights into what makes a remarkable blend. In addition to being a refreshing and enjoyable experience, it deepened their understanding of their products and opened doors to explore new creative avenues.
The blends were subjected to blind tastings by our master blenders, who evaluated them based on criteria such as creativity and taste. Here is a summary of the teams and their blends below.
Team 1 – Asian Black Tea and Cocoa Cinnamon
Drawing upon extensive market knowledge, this team devised a premium hybrid blend by recognizing an untapped demand in the Asian Pacific region. Capitalizing on Asian consumers’ affinity for chai and spicy notes, they reinvented a classic. Their blend featured ingredients such as black tea, cinnamon, coconut, cardamom, vanilla flavor, and fennel.
Team 2 – White Tea Blissful Medley
By combining white tea with cinnamon and other rich-tasting elements, this team crafted a robust and flavorful tea, aiming to spread joy and happiness. Their delightful blend comprised white tea, cinnamon, strawberry, raspberry, and cornflower petals.
Team 3 – Wellbeing Harmony
This exceptional tea prioritized women’s well-being, featuring top-notch ingredients like chamomile, gotu kola, beetroot, licorice, hibiscus, orange fruit, rose petals, cranberry, and vanilla flavor.
Team 4 – Summertime Fusion
Utilizing white tea and citrus, this team conceived a refreshing summer brew tailored specifically for European summers. With the addition of hibiscus and spearmint, their iced tea possessed a vibrant twist that everyone adored for its simplicity and taste.
Team 5 – Divine Alpine
Infused with invigorating ingredients such as peppermint, cinnamon, and spearmint, this team introduced a worthy addition to our gifting assortment, suitable for both regular and seasonal occasions, with a focus on the European market.
Team 6 – Spice Coconut Snowman
Geared toward the winter season, this team skillfully combined spices, nuts, and creaminess to develop a blend featuring cinnamon, coconut, cocoa, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, and cardamom. By sourcing locally and using fair-trade ingredients, they aimed to highlight the farmers behind the blend, catering to the global market.
The winning team with the Wellbeing Harmony blend, not only secured the victory but also received the prestigious People’s Choice Award for their creativity in making a super-goodness tea for women and their wellbeing using top ingredients loaded with nutritional benefits. It was a competition filled with many new learnings that gave everyone a chance at seeing and experiencing how blends are created.
