Wondering what's new in the world of tea? Check out the latest in tea news, including two tea shop openings, some tea-friendly beverage trends and the Trump brand's apparent obsession with tea. My commentary, while not actually tea news, is at least moderately amusing... so read on!
Bird Pick Tea & Herb Opens in Santa Monica Place
Bird Pick Tea & Herb is a charming Los Angeles-area tea shop with beautiful displays of teas and herbs in large glass jars. (OK, so it's not exactly the best tea storage method, but it loos gorgeous!) They currently have locations in Pasadena and Culver City, and their third location will be one of the many high-end shops opening in Santa Monica Place on August 27th.
Bird Pick isn't the first company to seek out mall locations. Teavana is known for positioning themselves in shopping malls, and a number of other companies have sold tea out of mall kiosks and storefronts. Within the tea community, reactions to mall-based tea brands range from supportive ("It will encourage more people to drink tea") to appalled ("How dare they sell tea like it's a bedazzled t-shirt!").
In Pursuit of Tea Opens in New York City
As I've previously mentioned on the Coffee / Tea blog, In Pursuit of Tea opened a new pop-up shop in SoHo, New York City. Read more on the In Pursuit of Tea shop on About.com.
Energy Drink Sales Stall
Despite continued growth, energy drink sales are cooling. Some tea leaders have forecasted this trend for several years, citing the recession and an increased desire for comforting or calming beverages as drivers away from energy drinks and toward tea.
Beverage Trends Report Talks Tea
A recent beverage trend report found that 86 percent of consumers purchased a non-alcoholic drink outside the home within the last month. (Am I the only one instantly who did mental math on my average monthly non-alcoholic drink purchases?) They also noted that tea is growing in prevalence as an option on many restaurants' menus. Win! Now if only more restaurants knew how to brew tea...
JapanTown Festival Featured Tea
On August 22nd in New York City, the second annual JapanTown Healthy Food & Green Festival featured the healthy foods of Japan, including samples of ITO EN's Teas' Teas line of naturally flavored teas. ITO EN closed the doors of its flagship store in New York City on April 9, 2010, but it appears that the brand will continue to make a mark in New York tea culture.
Salada Tea Names Consumer Spokesperson
Salada Tea recently completed a nationwide search for a consumer spokesperson. They named San Diego-based clinical nutritionist Tara Coleman as the ambassador of their message to "Unbottle Your Tea" in favor of fresh-brewed tea. She will blog, tweet, attend health and environmentally focused events, participate in a variety of Salada promotions and be awarded $10,000 for her efforts. Sounds like a pretty sweet position! You can learn more about Tara and see her contest-winning video entry on Salada Tea's site.
The Trump Organization and Talbott Teas Partner to Introduce a Collection of Gourmet Tea
Trump and Talbott partnered to create Trump-branded teas, and then the tea Twittersphere revolted. (Seriously, though... Westchester: The Tea? That's up there with the SoHo cupcakes from German McDonalds.)
Meanwhile...
Snapple Expands Availability of The Celebrity Apprentice Tea
The headline pretty much explains it all, but in case you interested in learning more... It seems the Trump brand is all about tea these days!
Naturally Flavored Green Tea Catechins Available
There's a new way to have tea catechins and a flavorful drink without actually drinking tea. That's right, I'm talking about naturally flavored green tea extracts. My opinion? Either the "functional (franken)foods" trend is seriously ready to peak or a lot of people really, really want to get EGCG without actually drinking tea. I hope it's the former.
Do you tweet? Follow About Coffee/Tea on Twitter.
Are you on Facebook? "Like" About Coffee/Tea.
Interested in learning more about tea? Sign up for the free, easy Tea 101 e-course.
Bird Pick Tea & Herb Opens in Santa Monica Place
Bird Pick Tea & Herb is a charming Los Angeles-area tea shop with beautiful displays of teas and herbs in large glass jars. (OK, so it's not exactly the best tea storage method, but it loos gorgeous!) They currently have locations in Pasadena and Culver City, and their third location will be one of the many high-end shops opening in Santa Monica Place on August 27th.
Bird Pick isn't the first company to seek out mall locations. Teavana is known for positioning themselves in shopping malls, and a number of other companies have sold tea out of mall kiosks and storefronts. Within the tea community, reactions to mall-based tea brands range from supportive ("It will encourage more people to drink tea") to appalled ("How dare they sell tea like it's a bedazzled t-shirt!").
In Pursuit of Tea Opens in New York City
As I've previously mentioned on the Coffee / Tea blog, In Pursuit of Tea opened a new pop-up shop in SoHo, New York City. Read more on the In Pursuit of Tea shop on About.com.
Energy Drink Sales Stall
Despite continued growth, energy drink sales are cooling. Some tea leaders have forecasted this trend for several years, citing the recession and an increased desire for comforting or calming beverages as drivers away from energy drinks and toward tea.
Beverage Trends Report Talks Tea
A recent beverage trend report found that 86 percent of consumers purchased a non-alcoholic drink outside the home within the last month. (Am I the only one instantly who did mental math on my average monthly non-alcoholic drink purchases?) They also noted that tea is growing in prevalence as an option on many restaurants' menus. Win! Now if only more restaurants knew how to brew tea...
JapanTown Festival Featured Tea
On August 22nd in New York City, the second annual JapanTown Healthy Food & Green Festival featured the healthy foods of Japan, including samples of ITO EN's Teas' Teas line of naturally flavored teas. ITO EN closed the doors of its flagship store in New York City on April 9, 2010, but it appears that the brand will continue to make a mark in New York tea culture.
Salada Tea Names Consumer Spokesperson
Salada Tea recently completed a nationwide search for a consumer spokesperson. They named San Diego-based clinical nutritionist Tara Coleman as the ambassador of their message to "Unbottle Your Tea" in favor of fresh-brewed tea. She will blog, tweet, attend health and environmentally focused events, participate in a variety of Salada promotions and be awarded $10,000 for her efforts. Sounds like a pretty sweet position! You can learn more about Tara and see her contest-winning video entry on Salada Tea's site.
The Trump Organization and Talbott Teas Partner to Introduce a Collection of Gourmet Tea
Trump and Talbott partnered to create Trump-branded teas, and then the tea Twittersphere revolted. (Seriously, though... Westchester: The Tea? That's up there with the SoHo cupcakes from German McDonalds.)
Meanwhile...
Snapple Expands Availability of The Celebrity Apprentice Tea
The headline pretty much explains it all, but in case you interested in learning more... It seems the Trump brand is all about tea these days!
Naturally Flavored Green Tea Catechins Available
There's a new way to have tea catechins and a flavorful drink without actually drinking tea. That's right, I'm talking about naturally flavored green tea extracts. My opinion? Either the "functional (franken)foods" trend is seriously ready to peak or a lot of people really, really want to get EGCG without actually drinking tea. I hope it's the former.
Do you tweet? Follow About Coffee/Tea on Twitter.
Are you on Facebook? "Like" About Coffee/Tea.
Interested in learning more about tea? Sign up for the free, easy Tea 101 e-course.
Comments
Nice updates. Will this continue to be updated? Enjoyed learning new happenings on tea
Thanks, Lisa. Yes, I will continue to update the blog with tea news so long as the news is interesting and relevant to my readers. Generally speaking, I tend to focus much more on recipes than news on this blog. However, the more readers the newsy posts get, the more often I’ll post on tea news… so if you like what you see, share the link!