What's In That Tea?

Photo courtesy of LUXE Tea

Today’s tea favorites are far from yesterday’s plain brew.

By Nancy Roberts

Like fine wine, specialty tea offers many distinctive varieties and flavor nuances. American consumers continue to discover tea’s many facets, say industry specialists, with a current eye toward pu-erh, the aged tea from China. “I see it getting much more press and interest from the general public, both for its health benefits and its investment potential,” says Bill Waddington, owner of the TeaSource in St. Paul, Minn.

Linda Smith of DiviniTea in Schenectady, N.Y., agrees. She says, “The very old, very valuable pu-erhs won’t be available much longer. They’ll be bought up in the next five years. These are fabulous teas that come from a couple different regions, mostly Hunan.” The pressed-disc bricks are “the ultimate for tea collectors,” she says, and because it takes time to age them, they can’t be made fast enough to meet demand. Smith notes, “The very serious tea people are moving in this direction.”

Waddington also notes the prevalence and acceptance of retail specialty tea bars. “While specialty tea and tea shops have been growing steadily, I see 2007 as the year tea bars become almost commonplace, certainly in communities of 100,000 or more,” he says. And Smith believes that the industry “will grow into offering ‘tea shots,’ much like an espresso—where you can pull a ‘tea shot’ out of your espresso machine, perhaps using a really nice assam, to make a strong cup of tea. I’ve seen this happening.”

New twists in the cup
Continuing trends, Waddington says, include green tea, white tea, chai and rooibos, while he predicts “the fading away of some fads this year, particularly bubble tea and maté. There are certainly those who will disagree with me on this, but I think these two categories have had their chance for acceptance by the general public, and neither has been successful. They both have had very limited success in select niche markets: college campuses and Asian communities (for bubble tea), but neither of these items has been able to break into general acceptance by the hot-beverage-drinking public.”

Also, interest in organic and fair-trade teas “is still very intense,” Smith notes. “I don’t know if people always want to pay the premium price, but they do ask, and they are very interested.” To meet the demand, Mighty Leaf Tea Co., for example, is transitioning three more of its teas into organic tea pouches: Organic Breakfast, Organic Spring Jasmine and Organic Darjeeling Estate. “These will be organic iterations of old favorites,” says Annelies Zijderveld, marketing manager.

Flavored and fruit teas continue to grow, especially in the green tea category. “Flavors are always important and tea menus are definitely flavor-heavy,” says Linda Villano, co-founder of SerendipiTea.

“Despite our best efforts,” TeaSource’s Waddington agrees, “we have much more success selling flavored, fruited or scented green teas than straight green teas.” Examples include the company’s Green Tea with Mango, Green Tea with Cherry and Sweet Ginger Green, “a very refreshing, bracing and slightly sweet blend of Sencha green tea, ginger lemon pieces, lemon grass and honey.” Sencha Peach Pancake is a unique blend that includes green tea, caramel pieces, almond brittle, coconut shreds, sunflower blossoms and freeze-dried yogurt granules.

Villano also notes that fruited green tea blends are big. SerendipiTea’s Fiji, a green tea with wild pineapple and papaya, is “a huge seller year-round.” Also popular is green tea blended with strawberry, passion fruit or with jasmine and green apple. A variety called Really Goethe blends green tea with lemon myrtle, jasmine, rose and laurel.

Among black teas, it’s the usual suspects: Earl Grey is a standard, along with blends such as English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast and TeaSource’s bracing Welsh Breakfast.

Black teas with fruits and spices such as peach, berry and ginger remain popular. For example, at SpecialTeas, after Earl Grey the most popular varieties are Madagascar Chai and then Blackberry and Black Currant black teas. Black tea blended with vanilla remains popular while Beary Treat—black tea with raspberry, strawberry and rhubarb—is “doing very well,” according to Juergen Link. Almond Cookie, a blend of black tea with almonds, cinnamon and safflowers, is “to die for,” he says.

New black tea flavors tap into chocolate’s unique appeal, such as Mighty Leaf Tea Co.’s whole leaf Chocolate Truffle Teas, which include two black tea blends, one pu-erh, and three herbals infused with chocolate chips and cacao nibs. One popular black tea variety is Pear Caramel Truffle, which includes chunks of pear and caramel. Chocolate Orange Truffle features black tea with citrus peel, cacao nibs and vanilla. “It’s subtle, with the clean finish of an orange,” says Zijderveld.

Mocha Pu-erh Truffle blends whole leaf pu-erh with cacao nibs and a small amount of citrus for a savory, earthy tone. Chocolate Mint Truffle (rooibos leaves with peppermint and cacao nibs) is an excellent beverage for children, says Zijderveld; in fact, its flavor profile invites the addition of milk for a creamier drink.

Masala Chocolate Truffle contains cacao nibs, cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves and a dash of ginger to achieve a buttery, spicy, creamy taste. The spiciest in the series is Mayan Chocolate Truffle, which includes strawberry and apple chunks with chili flakes, cacao nibs and chocolate chips. “If you steep it for five minutes, you get a sweet but also spicy warmth that builds up in the back of your throat, with a kick to it,” Zijderveld says. “And this particular blend only has five calories per cup.”

Launched last year, the Chocolate Truffle Teas are available in one-pound packages, with specialty gift sets to be launched in July.

At SpecialTeas, white teas have been doing well, especially lightly flavored white teas such as blueberry, strawberry, melon and peach, says Link. And he’s seen “continued huge growth in rooiboses. It’s been going on for two or three years now, driven by the health benefits and the fact that rooibos is caffeine free.” Popular rooibos blends are Berry Pleasure (with blue mallow blossoms, rhubarb pieces and red currant) and Key Largo (papaya, mango, peach, orange and marigold flowers). Vanilla Rooibos remains “a top seller,” Link reports, along with White Chocolate Toffee, rooibos containing toffee bits with white chocolate and cocoa pieces.

An herbal tisane line added just before the holidays is doing well, Link says. It includes five spicy, chai-like teas such as Mocha Spice (chicory roots, cardamom, pepper, valerian, licorice and carob), Cinnamon Spice, and Spicy Chocolate (cocoa, cinnamon, ginger, pink pepper, coconut). Also introduced late last year is a line of five functional infusions, led in popularity by the Immunity Booster and Flu Fighter. “The idea is to offer some medicinal properties in a beverage that still tastes good,” Link says.

At Harney & Sons Fine Teas, “fair-trade and organic teas are flourishing, along with rooibos,” according to John Harney. Harney & Sons just introduced the Historic Royal Palace Teas, and a portion of its sales benefit historic British buildings. The line of five different varieties includes green, black and herbal teas, available in the distinctive and popular silken sachets that Harney introduced three years ago.

Flavored rooibos also remains popular at Simpson & Vail. Fruit flavors such as Lemon Ginger, French Vanilla and Chocolate Orange also rule. “All the news articles about the antioxidants in rooibos have certainly helped,” says Jim Harron Jr., co-president. And, rooibos combines very well with fruit and spice flavors; in fact, Simpson & Vail offers scores of them.

Among black teas, it’s Earl Grey and then Chai, while the recently introduced Orange Cranberry blend “has been going well,” according to Harron Jr.

New is the organic Georgian Nagobilevi Village black tea, which Harron Jr. describes as “a bit like Darjeeling with the sweetness and bouquet of Darjeeling without any astringency or bitterness; it’s a mellow delicate, sweet cup.” Other new imports come from Bangladesh’s Kazi & Kazi Estate—Organic Golden Tippy Black, which is “substantially different from any other teas we have offered, in both flavor and character, with a full-bodied taste and delicate spiciness;” and the Organic Large Leaf’s “super-large, jet-black twisted leaves brew to an earthy aroma with an amber cup [with] decided maltiness and a slightly spicy, black cherry flavor,” he explains.

LUXE Tea in Bellevue, Wash., is promoting a signature drink, the “Mountain Red Latte,” made with Mountain Red, an herbal infusion of organic rooibos, elderberries, rosehips, blueberries, lavender and rose petals. “Rooibos remains very popular,” Sherry Hsieh says, and “it makes a wonderful latte, perhaps with a favorite syrup added, such as vanilla.” The infusion is a lovely, deep amber color.

Meanwhile, yerba maté “has taken off,” according to T.J. McIntyre of Pixie Maté in Boulder, Colo. The company offers eight different flavors in teabag form, and four different flavors in liquid concentrate. “If people want a wellness benefit, then they go for maté,” he says. “It’s a nice, even stimulant; you don’t get the jitters associated with coffee’s caffeine. And there’s been a lot of press on the antioxidant benefits of maté, so we’re positioning maté for a broad audience.” Maté is strong in the Northwest, McIntyre says, and growing fastest in the Southeast. Just mix the liquid concentrate one to one with milk for a maté latte. Popular flavors include the Original Matte Latte, Chocolate Maté Solstice, Green Tea Maté and Liquid Maté Chai.

Tea brewed right
With all of the varieties and blends of tea now available, one thing never changes—brewing. “We try to keep it simple to remember,” says Waddington. “Black tea receives the hottest water and longest brewing time (boiling and four to six minutes). When you go down to oolong, lower the water temp and brewing time a little (190 F to 200 F and three to five minutes). Green tea, even less time and temperature (two to three minutes and 170-degree water, gently steaming). And white tea even less time and temperature. Pu-erh is a little different, and the traditional brewing time is between 30 and 60 seconds with close to boiling water, although I have seen huge variations. Keep in mind that these preparation suggestions are just guidelines, and there are many exceptions.”

For herbal tisanes and rooibos beverages, Harron Jr. advises using boiling water and brewing for about five minutes. “Use paper tea sacks for rooibos; the needles are very fine and they slip out of the metal infusers.” He also notes the popularity of glass teapots. “People like to see their tea brew; it’s more about the aesthetics.”

Mighty Leaf Tea Co. actually prints the proper brewing time on its teabags and even color-codes its teabags according to caffeine content. “As specialty tea continues to evolve, people are learning simple things, such as removing the teabag from the cup and not just leaving it in for the duration,” Zijderveld says.

Harney advises remembering, with black tea, to heat the pot first. “You want to hold the temperature up there as hot as you can. With green tea, though, it’s much more sensitive—don’t warm up the pot, that’ll help pull down the temperature,” he says.

“Making tea is simple,” Waddington emphasizes. “Leaves in hot water, wait, then drink. You can certainly use a strainer and separate the leaves and the water. Infusing baskets that sit inside the cup or pot during steeping and then are removed provide one of the easiest ways to make great tea.”

At the end of the day, the tried-and-true teas will stick around, but the new flavor twists sure do add a bit of flair for tea lovers and those out for a bit of adventure in their cup.