Tea Party
Author: Hunter Holcombe
April 2008
Food + Beverage
Americans don’t exactly have the best reputation for appreciating tea.
The problem began ceremoniously in 1773, when disgruntled colonists dumped 45 tons of it into the Boston harbor to protest British taxation. As tea carried distinct ties to British culture, many Americans refuted the national drink in favor of a heartier, stronger cup of coffee. Coffee beans from Mexico and Central America were fairly cheap, and Hollywood stereotypes of rough, coffee-drinking cowboys and espresso-sipping mobsters only furthered a favorable image of the dark, caffeine-packed brew.
When Starbucks and Seattle reinvented coffee in the 1990s as a gourmet beverage, Americans went nuts, and $3 “coffees”—loaded with foamed milk, flavored syrups and toppings—became everyone’s favorite morning ritual.
Ironically—and perhaps as a direct result of overdoing coffee—tea began to make major gains in the U.S. market around the same time. Instead of standard Lipton on every grocery store shelf, consumers began to see a broad assortment of teas, and with drastically increased quality. According to the U.S. Tea Association, the American specialty tea market has quadrupled in the last 15 years.
“We started to see a tea renaissance in early the ’90s,” says Dawnya Sasse, director of Tea Events, a company that provides consulting for those interested in starting their own tea business. “The interesting thing is that Britain is actually going through a coffee revolution; their tea industry is trying to keep the tradition alive. Here, however, tea is growing at an explosive rate.”
What does this booming trend mean for meetings? Well, for one thing, the days of simply setting up a big vat of hot coffee for your breaks are long gone. Dropping coffee entirely would be unthinkable—there are still plenty of us who can’t even find our keys without that first cup—but providing tea is becoming as important as offering a vegetarian meal option.
“The health benefits are so great that a lot of people are starting to look into it,” Sasse says. “And many companies want to do something [for their employees] that is relaxing and healthy.”
Tea first started to gain popularity simply by diversifying. Instead of your standard black, green and peppermint teas, companies like Celestial Seasonings began offering a wide range of flavors, like cinnamon, lemon, orange spice, etc. More recently, however, consumers began to seek out higher-quality teas, such as loose-leaf, and demanding seeping alternatives to the English-style paper tea bag.
Because of the availability of tea today, what you choose to use for your next meeting depends a lot on the expectations of your group. If you are offering it simply as an alternative to coffee, Sasse recommends starting with a nice selection of pyramid tea. Differing from standard tea bags, pyramid-shaped tea bags allow more room for the tea leaves to expand while seeping (they are also visually appealing). If the tea bags are made of nylon, you also avoid the problem of tainting the flavor, as some paper bags do to delicately flavored teas. However, consider also that nylon bags are less eco-friendly than biodegradable paper tea bags.
If you want tea to have a more prominent role in your meeting, a great option is a tea bloom. For this visually stimulating display, you place a large glass pot in the middle of the table, pour in boiling water and place a ball of tea inside. As the meeting carries forth, the tea ball slowly expands in the hot water, unfolding its leaves and eventually blossoming into a “bouquet” of tea leaves and flowers. The tea can be served at any time. “It’s really a nice way to get a meeting started,” Sasse says.
Of course, there is no greater tea party than the century-old tradition of afternoon tea at The Fairmont Empress hotel in Victoria, B.C. Not only does the Empress craft its own unique tea blend (available for sale), but the level of service and decorum involved make it a special treat.
Elegant high tea service can also be found in most major U.S. cities. At The Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, for example, afternoon tea is served in the luxurious lobby lounge. Your group will delight at the formal service—accompanied by a harpist—as they gaze out over the city skyline.
