With the average American spending an estimated $50 a week on protein products, the macronutrient is getting its moment in the spotlight. Protein has taken center stage as a superfood that customers are willing to open their wallets for. Given this trend, powdered teas with protein are gaining popularity, driven by demand for functional beverages and proactive wellness.
Tea is also a popular beverage, known for its low caffeine, antioxidants, and wellness benefits. Combining tea with protein is an expected union. Combining protein with tea in a functional powdered drink presents unique formulation and processing challenges, including ingredient interactions, flavor profiles, shelf-life stability, and manufacturing process.
Ingredient Interactions in Powdered Teas and Protein
When proteins and teas are combined, chemical interactions may occur, impacting the product’s nutritional properties, stability, and palatability. One of the primary interactions occurs between polyphenols and protein. Tannins and catechins are polyphenols that can bind to proteins, impacting flavor, solubility, and available antioxidants.
Adding acidic components, such as citric acid for lemon flavoring, may result in a pH drop that denatures some proteins or makes them less soluble.
Options:
- Choose protein types with known lower binding affinity. For example, whey binds less to tea compounds than casein, allowing greater availability of the tea’s nutrients.
- Consider protective strategies, such as using carrier ingredients, like maltodextrin, to reduce direct interaction.
- Test the final product to ensure the tea will deliver the intended wellness benefits.
Flavor Management
Another challenge with powdered tea and protein beverages may be achieving sensory balance. Protein and tea can both bring strong flavors, so creating a pleasant flavor profile requires understanding issues that may arise and how to address them.
The polyphenols in tea may impart bitterness and an astringent mouthfeel. In a protein drink, which is expected to be smooth and easy to drink, the compounds could make the beverage bitter.
Proteins can have unique flavor profiles. Soy protein may have a legume flavor and aroma, pea protein can have an earthy plant-like taste, and whey protein can have a dairy note that comes across as milky or slightly sour.
Without correction, a blend of protein and tea could taste unpleasant or have an unpleasant aftertaste.
Options:
- Match your tea type with a compatible protein profile (example, matcha with plant protein blends)
- Use flavor compounds, bitter-blocking agents, or add texture modifiers.
- Monitor how processing impacts flavor compounds.
Stability and Shelf-Life Considerations
Tea polyphenols are sensitive to heat, oxygen, light, and moisture. Both protein and tea are hygroscopic, which can lead to clumping. Fats in the protein can oxidize and go rancid, leading to off flavors. Vitamins and added nutrients can degrade in the presence of oxygen and heat.
Options:
- For oxygen-sensitive ingredients, consider an oxygen absorber or packaging with an inert atmosphere (nitrogen flush).
- Choose packaging with a high water vapor transmission rate and oxygen transmission rate, such as foil lined packets, to prevent oxygen and moisture ingress.
- Accelerated stability testing can predict how the powder will behave in long-term storage.
Powder Flow, Handling, and Hydration
Consumers expect a protein-infused tea powder to disperse easily in water without lumps or residue. However, when you blend tea powders (often fine, hygroscopic) with protein isolates (that may have differing particle size, shape, and surface energy), you introduce challenges of segregation, poor flowability, dusting, and reconstitution issues.
From a processing standpoint, these issues often begin long before packaging. Tea powders are light and electrostatically charged, while proteins can compact or bridge inside hoppers. The mismatch in bulk density and particle behavior causes uneven distribution, inconsistent fill weights, and clumping during mixing or dispensing.
Options:
- Evaluate particle size distribution and bulk density of all dry ingredients before blending. If densities vary widely, fine particles (such as tea) can settle to the bottom of the mixture or form dust clouds.
- Agglomerate the blend to increase particle uniformity and reduce dust.
- Confirm environmental controls. Raw materials should be conditioned in a low-humidity environment to prevent moisture uptake that can cause caking.
- Choose a product development and manufacturing partner that has a proven track record for successfully working with protein and functional beverage powders.
A Trusted Partner for Powdered Tea and Protein Beverages
For brands developing powdered tea and protein blends, Tipton Mills Foods acts as a strategic partner, helping brands make the shift to protein beverages. As a developer and manufacturer of functional powdered beverages, Tipton provides engineering-driven solutions that address both product development and supply chain challenges. Tipton’s expertise in blending, agglomeration, and nitrogen-flush packaging stabilizes sensitive ingredients, improves solubility, extends shelf life, and accelerates the path to market. With certifications in SQF, NSF, Organic, and more, Tipton supports product integrity from concept to commercialization, helping brand owners launch innovative functional beverages quickly and confidently. Make Tipton Mills Foods your trusted partner for functional beverage innovation.
