Friday, September 16, 2011

Zangvil Tea Scale Up + Contest

Scale Up of Zangvil Tea



Yesterday I've decided on the final formula for my Zangvil perfumed tea blend, and did the first trial scale-up. And of course, now comes the less fun aspect of the process - which is pricing the tea and doing all the necessary calculations, not to mention label design. Each tin, as it turnes out, contains 2 full-length vanilla beans, and the white tea itself is on the pricier side - so the tea is not going to be cheap to produce, that's for sure... However, the good news is, that this tea can be resteeped up to 6 times with a very beautiful, fragrant results all the way till the 6th steeping. Very unusual for such a delicate tea, but it has a lot to do with the other ingredients there too.

The new line of teas (as some of you may have already gathered from the pages of this blog, I'm re-doing all of my tea collection, and they will all re-launch in larger, 50gr tins, as they become ready). New labels are necessary as well, because not only will the list of ingredients will change, but also the size and shape of the tins. And while I'm at it - I'm thinking that little splashes of colours would be nice, similarly to what my amazing graphic designers have done for the scented chocolate bars.

Scale Up of Zangvil Tea
I'm thoroughly enjoying the process of creating the new perfumed teas, so it will take a while before the other teas (Roses et Chocolat, Immortelle l'Amour) will be ready. Charisma formula is ready (it all began as a house blend I made for studio guests), so it's just a matter of sourcing the materials myself.

It is such an interesting medium to create in, and testing it is very different from testing perfumes - it requires brewing many pots of tea in the right temperature, analyzing the aroma and flavour, and seeing how many steepings can be achieved with each blend. So it's giving me many excuses for throwing little spontaneous tea parties for family and friends and get their opinions and observe their response to the tea, which is lots of fun on its own.

Also, each material having a different colour, shape and texture that is visible even more than with the essences I work with for my perfumes. The visual and tactile aspect is a lot more obvious than with liquid essences. The fuzziness of the silver hairs on the white tea leaves and buds. Yellow jasmine flowers. Crystallized ginger looking like chunky gemstones. Long and plump vanilla beans, which I slice by hand, a process that inevitably squeezes out the black seeds from within, leaving their fragrant specs on my fingers and having a rich woody aroma. And the surprise ingredient - are you ready yet? Hmm... I think I will leave this as a secret and will run a contest instead for the person who guesses it! It adds a very luxurious and special effect in the perfume and is totally unexpected - a little nutty and very sweet and soft... Look at the picture and let's see who might be able to guess! The person who does, will receive the 1st tin of Zangvil Tea when it launches November 20th.

White Tea Tasting

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17 Comments:

At September 16, 2011 1:41 PM, Blogger ahsumaker said...

I will guess Allspice, but I think that's too easy an answer...

 
At September 17, 2011 2:40 PM, Anonymous Alyssa T said...

mushroom? and if not, i think that is a awesome unique idea for a tea ingredient!!

 
At September 17, 2011 8:38 PM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

Good guesses, keep 'em coming :-)

 
At September 19, 2011 10:00 PM, Blogger Michael said...

I love hearing about the progress with the teas! Thanks for sharing. Are those maybe grains of paradise, or peppercorns?

 
At September 20, 2011 1:34 AM, Blogger Robin Parker said...

Pink peppercorn?

 
At September 25, 2011 6:28 AM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

Still no correct guess... I'll give you all one more hint, and wrap the contest by the end of the day. The person who made the closest guess will win!
And the hint: think of a perfumery ingredient, not something that is traditionally in the culinary world.
Good luck!

 
At September 25, 2011 6:44 AM, Blogger stellaglo said...

patchouli. or oakmoss

 
At September 25, 2011 7:05 AM, Blogger kate the soapstress said...

Juniper?

 
At September 25, 2011 7:55 AM, Anonymous Cristina said...

Palo santo wood for the secret ingredient? Is that pine resin in there too or just turkish delight?

 
At September 25, 2011 7:59 AM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

No Turkish Delight or resin - this is the candied ginger. Like I said, the ingredients are jasmine scented silver needle (white tea), vanilla bean, crystallized ginger, and... a secret ingredient that you can easily see the image of if you look at the wet brewed leaf picture...

 
At September 25, 2011 8:06 AM, Anonymous Denise Miller said...

Is it sandalwood?

 
At September 25, 2011 8:09 AM, Anonymous Cristina said...

then it must be the little balls, if it's not juniper berry then hawthorn maybe? All this sure makes one think of all sort of combination tea to try :)

 
At September 25, 2011 8:28 AM, Anonymous Scent Hive said...

Tonka Bean seeds?

~Trish

 
At September 25, 2011 8:29 AM, Blogger Waldorf Magic Journey said...

Is it caraway seed?

 
At September 25, 2011 12:14 PM, Blogger ahsumaker said...

ambrette seed?

 
At September 25, 2011 8:39 PM, Blogger Azaria's Mom said...

I'm guessing "Juniper Berries"...

 
At September 26, 2011 7:58 AM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

And the correct answer is ambrette seed!

 

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