How can specialty tea and infused tisanes benefit the restaurant and bar industry? Here are just seven of the ways.
1. Value – We all know that blended drinks are hugely popular. Blending spirits with infused teas is one way to economically add trendy new options to a restaurant or bar menu.
2. Elegance – Tea has centuries of elegant preparation and teaware that can be modified and adapted to adult beverages for both cocktails and mocktails.
3. Caffeine – A cup of tea might be an excellent chaser after cocktails for a caffeine boost without foul breath. It's also an option for bars to offer the designated driver a special flavor sensation with the focus of L-theanine (an amino acid found in tea that supports mental function).
4. Effervescence – Tea plays well with carbonation, and blended tea and spirits can expand a bar menu with flavor and profitability.
5. Color – From blue pea flowers to hibiscus, blends can activate the sensory palate available to adventurous mixologists at bars and restaurants.
6. Artistic Craftsmanship – Tea is already a resource for cocktail design. Tea businesses and bloggers have favorite recipes that showcase tea, highlighting unique flavors and offering stunning presentations.
7. Marketing & Promotion – June is Iced Tea Month, and this is just one of many ways a bar or restaurant can market its teas and tea beverage offerings to customers. Perhaps a Las Vegas Iced Tea to compete with the other coast's Long Island Iced Tea?
The Challenge?
The challenge I see for participants in this partnership between the tea community and the bar and restaurant community is to make the case for why specialty tea. It will be incumbent on the tea industry to make the case for differentiating beyond basic green and black or herbal. This year's vendors at the World Tea Conference + Expo – co-located with the Nightclub & Bar Show – will be in an optimal setting to not only demonstrate creative uses for tea in this market but also to listen to the questions that the attendees will bring.
The tea industry should ask itself: Are we ready to make a case to the bar and restaurant industry for oolong and pu’er? Which teas is an establishment more likely to blend with spirits? Which tea trends more closely parallel the adult beverage industry – matcha lattes, Gyokuro infused with ice cubes, tea infused with fresh fruit? Is there a way to promote the global reach of tea in this new way? Can we translate tea nerdiness into profits across the bar and restaurant industry? Do we have steep ware that meets the needs of bartenders? Do we anticipate the ways in which storage and inventory control may vary from more traditional tea retail?
Final Thoughts
Certainly, there are many ways in which the tea industry can work with the bar and restaurant industry. However, one of the biggest mistakes I believe we can make is to hold back and arrive unprepared at this year’s co-located World Tea Conference + Expo and Nightclub & Bar Show. Even if you and your business are not presenting at the conference, there are ways in which tea entrepreneurs and educators can share and educate with the bar and restaurant community. Social media gives us the opportunity to participate virtually. And we've all gained some new Internet skills and relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm already looking at what T Ching and the Tea Sippers Society can add and how we can benefit. Equally important, what will we glean from the gathering, so we can move forward with the bar and restaurant community and other exciting markets.
Related: This insightful article, along with many others on the topic of tea and bars/restaurants, is featured in a new white paper from the World Tea Conference + Expo. CLICK HERE to download the free white paper.
Learn More at the World Tea Conference + Expo
To discover more on how the tea and bar/restaurant communities can flourish together, among other tea business topics, register for the upcoming World Tea Conference + Expo, June 28-30, 2021 in Las Vegas. The event will be co-located with Nightclub & Bar Show, North America’s premier conference and expo for the bar and restaurant industry.
Registration for World Tea Conference + Expo, along with the conference agenda, is available at WorldTeaExpo.com. All World Tea attendees will receive access to the co-located Nightclub & Bar Show.
Babette Donaldson, a tea author, educator and organizer, is the owner and publisher of T Ching and the founder of the International Tea Sippers Society. Visit TChing.com and TeaSippersSociety.com.