Allan Pirret, Sales Director of Novus Tea, explains that premium cold brew tea looks set to become this summer’s favourite ‘grown-up’ refreshment.
Having an innovative and healthy range of non-alcoholic cold drinks is really important; cold brew tea meets these criteria and is proving incredibly popular at the moment. It has the potential to meet the needs of customers on warmer days who would normally order tea but may want something longer and cooler. These customers may shy away from traditional soft drinks that may not be perceived to be aimed at adults.
Cold brew tea is sugar-free but has a gentle, natural sweetness; it has no calories and contains all the well-known health benefits of tea; it is excellent for quenching thirst and hydrating the body; and it’s perceived as an ideal drink for ‘grown-ups’.
It’s simple to introduce ‘cold brew tea’ into your soft drinks menu, using teas that you already have in your hot beverage menu; it’s easy to prepare using existing equipment, and doesn’t need any specialist skills.
As the name suggests, ‘cold brew tea’ uses cold, rather than hot, water for the infusion of the tea. Any type of tea can be used with the cold brew method, including black, green and white teas, as well as herbal and fruit infusions. Cold brew tea is not to be confused with chilled, iced or ‘on the rocks’ tea that has been brewed using hot water and then chilled before serving.
Because cold brew tea uses cold water, the tea infuses more slowly over a longer time. This slower, longer process extracts more flavour and antioxidants from the tea, and produces a milder, richer, smoother taste, which is also often sweeter, with no hint of the bitterness associated with over-brewed hot infusions.
A cold brew tea offer ticks many boxes for your customers. Firstly, innovation in cold beverages; because the idea is relatively new and they can consider themselves ‘early adopters’. Secondly, the serving of the drink offers some ‘theatre’, especially if interesting serving equipment is used. Thirdly, cold brew tea can build on your hot tea and coffee offer, helping to demonstrate your expertise, which your customers are happy to buy into.
The secrets to making good cold brew tea
- Use only high quality, premium teas and infusions – they’ll give the best, most subtle flavours
- Allow enough time to prepare batches in advance – the flavours need time to develop
- Offer a range of straight teas, as well as some ‘value-added’ mocktails
- Offer customers a chance to sample different examples before they buy
- Explain the background and origin of your teas – they all have a story – and be enthusiastic about the flavour experience they offer
Novus Tea: Telephone: 01621 776179 Website: www.novustea.co.uk
