By Ms. Radhika Batra,
Founder & Owner, Radhikas Fine Teas & Whatnots
Tea is a fascinating leaf, however our country dunks in a lot of chai in the bargain a lot of good leaves such as white, green, oolong and black Top End Darjeeling and Golden Tip Assam gets exported abroad.
In the pursuit of spreading the charms of good teas an organic tea brand like mine has been making a lot of effort since the past 12 years in partnering with Tea gardens that are biodegradable or organically cultivated to bring the best leaf to our country.
Thus, the tea trends clearly speak in the favour of good quality teas.
Teas that come with benefits
They are not dust or chemical or preservative laden and the premise is freshness in your cup from the gardens direct. Thus trend number one will be “pure fresh leaves that are organic”.
The “target audience” also determines the trend, thus youth tend to go for flavourful blends than straight leaves. They will be trying flavours that entice as they primarily will get into Tea for wellness and a healthy choice. Flavours like anise, peach, berries, orange, mango will be trending.
While the more mature audience and connoisseurs will be seeking whole leaves like Sencha, Gyokuru from Japan Longjing from China and Darjeeling from India to name a few.
Another paramount trend will be the “brewing mechanism”. Gone will be the days where people depend on cheap teas or tea bags they will want to witness the tea experience. Thus, tea ceremony rituals at home. Tea bars in offices and Tea lounges will be the new place to be in.
People will want to make tea mindfully, wherein tea ware to match the leaf will be sort.
Offices will be investing in tea bars where employees will be taking a healthy break by brewing their own teas instead of vending machines and cigarettes. Tea lounges are machines being innovated in Germany where all you need to do is pop the tea capsule which is fresh leaf and put pours a premium quality leaf.
To conclude trends for tea above basically are what you will be seeing. Tea brands that are true quality and follow compliance’s will be the ones to thrive and innovate above for their audiences creating new ones on the way while those who only have fancy packs but no leaf won’t.