April 20, 2008

What is a Custom Tea Blend?

With the explosion of tea culture across the country and the expansion of tea options around the world, today's tea drinker has more choices than ever before. And of course that delights me to no end, knowing that there are endless blends of teas to try. A tea drinker has no excuse to ever fall into a tea rut.

As American consumers, we have so many choices available to us with everything we buy. Many industries now offer customers the chance to customize their product - be it cars, sneakers, or shades of house paint. It is one way to stand apart in a mass marketed world.

The choices of "customized blends" I have found online are simply a new way of packaging already blended tea.

For instance, The Artisan's Cup sells you pre-made blends and flavors and then lets you customize an order of either green tea, black tea, or a mix of green & black tea. And while the list of flavors sound good enough to eat (gingerbread, coconut cream, banana bread), you are no doubt getting artificially flavored tea. There is little info about the flavors, but fun explore.

If you head over to Adagio Tea, they have created "custom" teas with an interactive swing! They encouraging their buyers to mix Adagio's teas to create "new" Adagio blends. Customers can then post their "newly named creations" and allow others to rate them, share them and even purchase them. It is a unique angle for an established tea company, and for many people, it may be their first time blending. The names and the blends are a lot of fun (Pirate's Spice, anyone?). Kudos for creating communiTEA and making blending fun for everyone!

Now, as a tea blender I am always excited to see the many ways people are experimenting with blending and sharing and creating tea. Anything that brings tea away from the stodgy reputation is a good thing. The new generation of tea drinkers demand that it be anything BUT stodgy or uptight. and Mad Pots! is all about keepin it fun and creative...

HOW MADAM POTTS CUSTOMIZES TEA...

As an artisan tea blender myself, I do my part in taking tea in a progressive direction. What makes Madam Potts and her Mad Pots of Tea different is that I work to create a blend based on the sipper's personality and preferences. I have developed a PersonaliTEA system that asks the sipper a variety of personal choice questions. Those answers become the inspiration and the basis for the blend that gets created.

I work with you, to understand your preferences and even solicit tasting feedback during the process as this work of art is created for YOU! Nothing is pre-made. No artificial flavorings. My blends are 100% Natural, if not completely Organic (labeled accordingly).

In the 2+ years I've been doing this, my feedback has been 100% positive.

The form is downloadable (see Top Right Side of Blog). Payment is simple. For only $19 (plus shipping and handling) you get either 4oz loose or 15 teabags, artfully designed, packaged and labeled. Once your blend has been created, I offer substantial discounts on re-orders!

This process cannot be mass marketed. I can not teach anyone how to do it. I have taken years to learn about teas and herbs. I cannot pass down this ability. I can only share with the adventurous and the curious this passion for creating something truly unique.


It's what I do.
It's why I'm called MADam POTts.

Drink it, Sip it, Make it Yours....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW, I did not realize I was in the midst of an authentic tea blender. Sounds fun, sounds unique, sounds difficult.

I will have to check out your tea blends the next time I purchase tea.

Thanks for sharing the info about Adagio. That's an interesting concept.

Madam Potts said...

Welcome to the Mad World of Tea!

Have fun exploring every company and every blend that sounds interesting to you!

If you want to check out a sampling of blends that I've created, click the Category Link for [Tea Blends] in the side bar.

Happy Sipping!

Anonymous said...

Madam Potts,

I was able to wake up early enough to catch the SIREN FM show about tea and your mad brewing idea based on custom blending for every persoanlity is a totally wonderful concept. Certainly a great way to get people together for a spot of tea on a grand scale that puts the fun back in to tea drinking.

Cheers to Madam Potts!