HATFIELD, Mass. - The first thing that hits a visitor walking into the Tea Guys office is the scents. Cinnamon. Orange. Ginger. Could that be chocolate?

Some of the ingredients might seem like strange bedfellows for the black and green and white tea leaves that await these marriages, but Oliver and Emily Rich are skilled justices of the peace when it comes to blending teas.

Here in the former lumber yard office that has become the company's headquarters and production facility, the Riches are riding the crest of a new wave in tea consumption with their own brand of blended teas called Tease.

Fresh from Boston University Business School and looking to start his own company, Oliver Rich hit on the idea of blending teas five years ago.

"No one was doing what we were doing," he said.

Although the herb has a 5,000-year history, it wasn't until 1999 that Americans began discovering the many wonders of fine teas, Rich said. Since then, tea sales have doubled in the United States and are expected to reach the $15 billion mark by 2015.

As Rich explained it, tea was once more popular in America than coffee but gave way to the roasted bean after World War II. Much of the rest of the world has never stopped enjoying its pleasures, however. The preparation of tea is an almost religious ritual in Japan and China, the latter of which grows 3,000 varieties of tea within its borders.

While people in Britain and Ireland consume more tea per capita, Germans boast the more sophisticated palate, Rich said. Tea Guys imports most of its teas from that country. The Riches have visited many of the places that supply their stock, including China and Japan.

In addition to its use as a beverage, tea has long been an ingredient in cosmetics such as face creams. Oliver Rich's original emphasis was marketing to spas. Among other products, the company offers bath salts and eye compresses containing tea.

As the culinary uses for tea opened up, Rich began to make more blends for drinking. Some of his blends have as many as 15 ingredients, including dried fruits and chocolate. The Riches use local products when possible, buying maple sugar, for example, from the North Hadley Sugar Shack.

Since starting up in the Eastworks Building in Easthampton, Tea Guys has steadily expanded. It recently moved into its 3,600-square-foot space in Hatfield, where large bins of teas, spices and dried fruits await blending. The Riches admit that they have sipped countless gallons of tea looking for the right combinations.

"You have to understand how to combine certain teas to get an end result," said Oliver Rich.

"It's a lot like wine," added Emily Rich.

Oliver Rich came up with the brand name, Tease, as a play on words. "Like a sexy, modern tea," he said.

For more information and online sales, visit www.teaguys.com.