From black tea to green tea and everything in between, the world of tea is vast and complex. For many people, tea is simply a hot beverage to start the day or to enjoy with a snack. But for professional tea tasters, tea is both an art and a science.
While the tea plant has its roots in China, its leaves have touched every corner of the globe.
As global demand surged, so did the necessity for quality assurance.
Since then, tea tasters have become an integral part of the tea industry, as they help tea companies release consistent products that their customers will enjoy.
The Role of Professional Tea Tasters
There are many reasons why companies hire professional tea tasters, but ultimately, when you sell a product such as tea, you need to have a consistent product to sell. Hiring somebody who has experience in tasting and judging tea can help you achieve that goal by working with you to blend and process tea into a consistent and well-branded product.
There are many difficulties involved in such a career. Since tea is a natural product, the quality of the harvest can vary drastically each year depending upon weather conditions and which farming methods are used.
Blending the tea is another important aspect of being a professional tea taster. It’s actually a lot more difficult than it sounds. Since the quality and flavor of the tea vary each year and harvest, you have to work with what is available at hand and achieve quality, consistent results so customers receive the exact product they are expecting.
This is an important aspect of customer retention when selling a branded product and it takes a lot of practice to achieve this at scale.
Companies without a tea taster often sell more single-origin, unblended teas and end up relying on the either the farmer’s word or the company owner’s personal flavor preferences.