Finally, it’s tea time across America. A true cross-section of the consuming public is shopping for it with the passion of connoisseurs, pouring it to gain social cachet and drinking it in search of better health and longer life.
Worldwide, tea consumption is second only to water, but in this country tea still lags far behind coffee. But as with wine, the small premium segment is winning consumers’ hearts and minds as sales nearly doubled during the 1990s.
At Heartbeat restaurant in New York City, a tea “sommelier” offers sniffs and provides descriptions of nearly a dozen teas, including gold-tipped Assam and Bao Jong oolong from Taiwan, which goes for $10 a cup. In west suburban Geneva, Eileen Shafer conducts historical tea seminars for customers at her shop, Royal Tea Impressions. “There’s been a distinct increase in our tea sales,” she says, “and I don’t think it is anywhere near its peak.”
“I think people are switching from specialty coffees to specialty teas,” says Ron Rubin, marketing chief for the Republic of Tea, the largest U.S. distributor of specialty teas. “Of course, they’re still selling a lot of coffee at Starbucks.”
Tea, or at least talk of tea, was last on many Americans’ lips in the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party more than two centuries ago. Until recently, the tea ceremony as practiced in this country consisted almost exclusively of combining tea brewed from tea bags with lots of sugar and ice cubes. Stirred, not shaken, iced tea accounts for 80 percent of our national tea consumption.
But now, there’s a whole lot of shakin’ going on in the hot tea sector as well.
Premium-priced teas are on a steep growth curve. Sales are climbing at 18 percent to 25 percent a year, Rubin says. (Total tea sales continue to decline, though, as purchases of low-cost tea bags sink slowly.) Posh hotels are upgrading the selection available in their dining rooms. Specialty food markets are offering a wider lineup of beautifully packaged, pricey teas, some of them from single estates. Tea-oriented restaurants treat the beverage with the same reverence accorded fine wine: “Flights” of several brewed teas give customers a comparative tasting (“cupping” in the trade).
“The interest in tea is broadening among my students, and it goes beyond the ritual to what’s in the pot,” says Hinsdale cooking teacher Madelaine Bullwinkel, who includes tea and tea parties among her class topics.
The calming cuppa
Proponents like to stress the drink’s civilized aspects, especially in opposition to America’s high-speed, coffee-centric ethic. Across English-speaking tea-drinking nations, Tomislav Podreka writes in “Serendipitea” (Morrow, $16), “tea kettles whistle around the 4 o’clock hour, signaling the moment when life slows down for a short while, when we can relax, enjoy the tea and perhaps a biscuit or slice of cake.” Podreka’s compact volume provides a quick primer on tea history, processing, nomenclature and rituals.
Here in America, though, much of the emphasis is on ready-to-drink flavored teas, made with fruits such as apricot and raspberry and sold in bottles or cans. The Republic of Tea’s Rubin says his company offers about 60 fruit flavors. The firm’s bottled teas (including blackberry sage and ginger peach) are invading restaurants, where they are served in wine glasses over ice as a cocktail substitute or with food.
“I see a lot of Americanization of the product,” Ric Rhinehart, president of the American Premium Tea Institute, told Fresh Cup, an industry trade magazine. “It’s not enough to have tea, but we have to spice it and sweeten it and add milk and whip it and do everything else to it.” The best example is chai, a beverage made from tea, milk and spices, sold either bottled or in packets to be added to milk. It is drunk either hot or cold.
Packaging and display are paramount to this mini-boom. A 12-foot display of tea and related products at one Whole Foods Market contained flavored teas from Celestial Seasonings, Twinings, Reincarnation of Tea, Republic of Tea and Whole Foods’ own brand in eye-catching packages as well as a plethora of chai and bottled and canned teas. Travelers tea tins from Republic of Tea hold six round, flat bags in a 2-by-1-inch metal container. Top-quality Imperial Republic” Chinese teas are sold in numbered sets for $25 to $40.
Even the humble tea bag, much maligned by connoisseurs, is not immune from hype. Honest Tea of Bethesda, Md., introduces an eight-flavor line of “biodegradable whole leaf tea bags,” and Republic of Tea brags that its round tea bags have no metal staple or string to compromise the tea’s natural flavor. And Melitta comes up with filter bags made of “high-quality unbleached biodegradable paper” in which to steep loose tea.
Tonic properties
A strong selling point for tea in generalincluding herbal teais its healthful properties. Green tea, in particular, has been blessed by the medical establishment for its high content of antioxidants that are believed to help prevent cancer and heart disease. Tea’s other big health claim is what’s not in it. Boosters cite the absence of calories (unless you add sugar), fat and salt. Tea also possesses less than half the caffeine of coffee and most of it can be removed by giving the tea a preliminary 1 minute steep.
Green tea is experiencing the most explosive growth at this time. Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Council of America, says sales have climbed tenfold, to about $20 million per year, over the past three years. but a new product from South Africa, Rooibos, or “red tea,” made from leaves of the African plant (ital) Aspalathus linearis, is being put forward as possessing “50 times the antioxidant properties of green tea.” It is still difficult to find, but should be more widely available in coming months. Health concerns seem likely to boost sales of organically grown tea as well.
A new study from Oregon State University theorizes that white tea from China, relatively rare and expensive (from $22 to $220 per quarter-pound at Todd & Holland retail tea shop in River Forest), might be more beneficial than green in preventing cancer.
Also on the market are “functional” teas, or tisanes, which are blends or formulas designed to produce a specific, short-term health benefit such as aiding digestion or relieving congestion. Herbal teas, also known as tisanes, are not true teas but come from a wide variety of flowers, seeds, peels, leaves and roots. Then, lest we become too somber, there’s “bubble” tea. It’s made by combining in a cocktail shaker a cup of brewed tea, condensed or powdered milk, sugar or syrup and ice cubes. Shake vigorously (don’t stir) and when you pour out the drink it will have a head of bubbles like beer. The credit for inventing the drink goes to Taiwan, but bubble tea shops have opened in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities.
The tea frontier
Lack of native tea or ingrained tea rituals in this country leaves us open to experimentation. The challenge, experts believe, is to educate and entice consumers (and sales personnel) without overwhelming them. Price has not been an impediment so far, though a significant proportion of teas in the catalog of Todd & Holland are $40 or more per quarter pound. Even if the price is $60, using the industry standard of 200 cups per pound, this equates to $1.20 per cup, which puts tea in the “affordable luxury” categoryespecially since the tea leaves will retain flavor for six months or longer.
So who are these thirsty shoppers? A study by the National Association of the Specialty Food Trade pegs specialty tea consumers as affluent, between 35 and 54 (or over 65) and more numerous in the West than the East.
“More than 60 percent of our customers are female,” says Paul Gorklavs, general manager of Villa Kula, a beautifully appointed tea room on Lincoln Avenue. “They come wanting to re-create the notion of a ladies’ sit-down social gathering, but quality is a huge motivation when it comes to choosing what tea to drink. Families come, too, and the children really like being part of it.”
“Our mail-order customers are 60 percent male, longtime tea drinkers ages 40 to 60,” says Bill Todd of Todd & Holland, a mecca for lovers of exotic teas (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). “In the store, the ratio is 60 percent female, with a lot of interest in the health aspects of tea voiced by those in their 20s and an interest in accessories by almost everyone.”
And what brings them?
“From customer after customer,” he says, “I hear this explanation: `Good tea is as enjoyable as coffee and drinking it I am less wired when the sun goes down.’
Teacher Bullwinkel has a slightly different take.
“In this country,” she says, “we are so accustomed to using packaged tea we don’t even look at it. Cut into a tea bag and you will find lots of crumbs and scrapings. It’s a shock and is likely to send you looking for something better.
“There are distinct differences between carefully produced loose teas and generic tea in tea bags,” Holland agrees, “not the least of which is price.”
But Bullwinkel sees a hurdle to tea becoming completely mainstream.
“The biggest barrier to fine tea becoming widely popular in this country is time. Tea is subtle. You must relax and be open to fully appreciate it. Drinking tea is not something to do with a cell phone in the other hand.”
PREPARING LOOSE TEA
To introduce yourself to high quality tea, Michael Harney, vice president of Harney & Sons Fine Teas, recommends:
“Step 1. Get rid of your tea bags and buy a fine loose tea.
My choice would be Assam from India. Then buy a tea pot, something ceramic from Britain or unglazed from China.
“Step 2. At home, boil water, filtered tap water if possible. Allow 1 teaspoon (or 2 grams) per 6 ounces of water. Heat the pot with boiling water, pour it out and add the tea and fresh water. Water for black tea should be at a boil and not quite boiling for green tea. Steep black tea for three to five minutes and green for two to three.
“Step 3. Drink the tea and make some more.”
TEA BY TYPES
True tea is grown on large estates, called plantations, on three foot high bushes, called Camellia sinensis, that may provide leaves for a century. Harvests occur at least three times a year.
Five nations produce the world’s best teas: China, Japan, Taiwan, India and Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).
Most will be classified black, green or oolong, depending on how the tea is processed. In addition, a few oolongs are known as “blue” teas.
Tea destined for bags is mechanically cut, torn and curled, which harms the tea but is economical. Tea bags also may contain small pieces of broken leaves called fannings. (In his book “Serendipitea,” Tomislav Podreka sums up the tea purist’s attitude when he writes, “all tea bags are a waste of good tea and of your time.”)
Fine teas are rolled by machine or hand, preserving the whole leaf and retaining its flavor. Teas from several plantations traditionally are mixed together, but demand has grown for tea from single estates. As with wine from a single vineyard, the supply is limited and the price can be high. Harney & Sons sells Meleng Assam from the Meleng estate at $11 for four ounces and Assam Golden Tips from Diksam garden estate at $46 for three ounces. Ceylon Silver Needles from the Telbedde Estate in Sri Lanka, of which only a few kilos were plucked last year, is $220 for four ounces at Todd & Holland.
Here is a rundown of the main types of tea:
Black tea accounts for 94 percent of U.S. tea consumption. The dark color and full flavor are due to oxidation, or fermentation, that most other types don’t undergo, though oolong is fermented briefly. Yunnan and smoky Lapsang Souchong from China, Assam and Darjeeling from India and Ceylon from Sri Lanka are examples. Earl Grey is Chinese black tea scented with oil of bergamot. Scented jasmine and rose Pouchong teas are made in China and Taiwan.
Blended teas are made from leaves harvested from two or more nations. They include blends such as English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast.
Green tea, cited for impressive long-term health benefits, is most popular in Asia. Most taste delicate and grassy, and tend to be lower in caffeine than black. Japanese Sencha and Gyokuro are highly regarded green teas, as is Chinese “gunpowder.”
Oolong lies halfway between black and green. It offers complex fruit and floral aromas and tastes, making it popular with connoisseurs. Look for Pi Lo Chun from China or Taiwan. Though the same tea leaf as regular black tea, they taste quite different due to different methods of processing.
Red tea, or “Rooibos,” is made from the needlelike leaves of the Aspalathus linearis plant. The bright red brew is not a true tea.
It is free of caffeine and contains a broad spectrum of vitamins.
BUYING AND SIPPING
Here are just a few of the many locations in addition to some supermarkets where tea can be purchased. Also listed are tea houses, cafes and hotels where tea service is emphasized.
For loose tea:
Merz Apothecary
4716 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-989-0900
Royal Tea Impressions
227 S. 3rd St.
Geneva
630-232-1300
Ten Ren Tea and Ginseng
Co. of Chicago
2247 Wentworth Ave.
312-842-1171
The Tea House
541 Fessler Ave. Naperville,
630-961-0877
Todd & Holland Tea Merchants
7577 Lake St.
River Forest
708-488-1136
Whole Foods Markets in various locations
To sip:
Atwood Cafe
1 W. Washington St.
312-368-1900
Joy of Ireland
700 N. Michigan Ave.
Level 3
312-664-7290
Four Seasons Hotel
120 E. Delaware Pl.
312-649-2349
Ritz-Carlton Cafe
160 E. Pearson St.
312-573-5160
Russian Tea Time
77 E. Adams St.
312-360-0000
Villa Kula
4518 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-728-3114
