My name is Paul Jefferies, I'm a Trainee Tea Taster at Tetley.

I'm one of the newer members of the Tea Buying and Blending team and I've been working at Tetley for just over a year. As a graduate in French and Italian I didn't really imagine myself working in the tea trade. However, when I saw the position of Trainee Tea Taster advertised I knew it was too good an opportunity to ignore.

As the 'Trainee' title suggests, I'm always learning and above all that means tasting as much tea as possible every day (sometimes blindfolded), covering all the different origins and types to build up a knowledge of the world of tea and develop a more discerning palate. I've also spent time at our factories in Eaglescliffe, Cochin and Karachi, seeing how the best quality tea goes from the bush into the bag and then on to make everybody's cup of tea.