Instant Tea

Instant Tea
The commercial production of instant teas began in the 1940, and this form of tea has grown in popularity in the United States to the extent that it now comprises 42% of tea sales in that country, although on a worldwide basis instant tea accounts for only a very small proportion (less than 5%) of consumption. The demand in the United States is for instant teas soluble in cold water, because it is iced tea which is the real basis for the success of instant tea in that country.

In the other countries, hot tea is the preferred beverage and it would appear that here the popularity of tea bags has been the factor responsible for the limited consumption of instant teas.

The methods used for instant tea production have been protected by patents, and the patents published up to 1969 have been reviewed in 1977. The basic steps in the preparation of instant teas are extraction of tea solids from fermented but unfired tea leaf black tea, or green tea, followed by concentration of the extract, and drying of the concentrate to a powder.

Extraction may be effected by a variety of method among which counter current extraction and percolation methods have been widely used. Concentration of the extract is effected by evaporation of the water under reduced pressure at a moderately elevated temperature and during this process various methods for trapping the escaping volatile compounds have been devised. These trapped volatiles are concentrated and retained for incorporation into the final dried product.

The concentrated extract is turbid due to the formation of cream and solubilization of this cream is a fundamental problem in the production of instant teas soluble in cold water. The finals step of drying the concentrated tea extract is commonly achieved by spray drying, but other methods, such as freeze drying or drum drying are the subject of published patents.

The importance of instant teas to the World Tea Industry may be gauged by the intense activity which is current in the field, and this activity is itself an indication that a truly acceptable instant tea has not been yet produced.
Instant Tea

Hot Water Soluble Tea

Hot Water Soluble Tea
In country consuming the traditional hot beverage the instant product has not, so far, enjoyed the same fairly wide acceptance as has instant coffee. Only on the last few years has there been any serious attempt to market instant tea in the United Kingdom outside the catering and vending sector. The market is still in an early stage of development with several freeze dried products of reasonable quality consisting of 100% tea solids retailing alongside mixes containing whiteners or sugar and other flavoring.

The manufacturing process is essentially similar to that for instant coffee, namely the preparation of an aqueous extract, followed by concentration and drying of the extract to yield a completely soluble powder or granules. In the case of tea, however, control of the processing condition is much more critical of product degradation is to be avoided. The extract may be prepared from conventional black tea or from undried green leaf which may be partly processed before the extraction. In either event the extraction conditions must be precisely controlled in order to provide both satisfactory quality and a commercially viable yield. After extraction the liquors require very careful handling to minimize undesirable changes before the final drying step. This may be by spray drying or freeze drying.

For a retail product, marketing considerations dictate that the product density should be such that one tea spoonful of powder or granules corresponds to a cup of average drinking strength.
Hot Water Soluble Tea