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Auction of lots of tea is held once a week. The tea is sold to either bulk buying industries or individual buyers. Brokers who have a background in tea planting and have developed skills in tea tasting usually conduct the auction. The tea brokers act as intermediaries between the producers and the buyers. Guwahati, Coimbatore and Cochin are important auction centres in India. The auctioneer should be up to date in market trends. And he should be able to quote the best prices.

There are also tea broking houses where the brokers test the various samples of tea which come from different plantations. Tea tasting is a highly specialised area. The tasters have to develop the expertise to distinguish between the different flavours. Companies specially recruit these experts, for there is no disputing the fact that the quality of tea depends on its flavour.

The different varieties brought to the auction centres are blended, branded and marketed by the expert tea tasters. Tea tasters advise researchers on commercial factors like taste, economic viability and maturity of tea. But since tea tasting is all about the taste buds, one essential qualification to become a tea taster is that you must not smoke or drink.