SINGAPORE
Tea providers are learning how to engage the new generation of millennials in China, Japan, and other Asian nations, in an increasingly coffee-paced market. Tea traditions are no longer passed down as a heritage and established products and services have declining pull.
The Starbucks-driven surge of coffee cultures is being met with attention to high variety premium products, boutique tea bars and shops, and a focus on cachet, style, and coolness. Singapore’s TWG aims at building tea appreciation, mixing standard and exotic teas, such as China Yellow Gold Tea Buds.
In Tokyo, Sakurai offers a Japan Tea Experience in a rich décor of timber, copper, tea vessels and paraphernalia that complement a menu of highly original tea blends and recipes. These include tea-infused alcohol, a small but growing market segment in Asia: Sencha Gin, pink-hued Hoshiko plum wine.
Oharaka similarly stresses ambiance and experience, tradition and creation. Tea flavorings include baked apple, caramel, and kelp. Tokyo Saryo claims to be the world’s first hand-drip green tea shop. A barista-sommelier equivalent prepares a range of teas and blends from a single grower, explaining their nature and production and highlighting differences.
Add to these examples the proliferation of bubble tea and cheese tea across Asia and the future of tea looks very different from its past, in all but two regards. It will be marked by multiple dimensions of differentiation, a blurring between food, tea and alcohol, and an appeal to coolness, fashion, and style.
What seems unchanging is that (1) fine tea is marked by nuances and complexities of flavor and aroma and (2) it demands an ambiance of tastefulness and style.