Twinings shares info about blending practices
Stephen Twining, the tenth-generation descendant of founder Thomas Twining, has revealed how the homonymous tea company goes about blending its teas. Twinings, part of Assiciated British Foods conglomerate, employs 9 tea tasters, who double as buyers and blenders. They are trained for a minimum of 5 years before assuming the responsibility of crafting over 200 blends sold in 115 countries. Tea tasters also adjust the famous blends to local preferences. For example, they decide how much tea from Assam goes into the best-selling English Breakfast Tea, a blend comprised of teas from 15 to 25 estates in Assam, Sri Lanka and Kenya. The company currently has 3 versions of English Breakfast (English, Indian and Rest of the World) and is working on a version for Russia.