Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/763665
STiR coffee and tea 39 Visit us at the AMBIENTE 2017 February 10 - 14 in Frankfurt, Germany Hall: 1.1 - Booth: E71 Dethlefsen & Balk GmbH Hermann-Wüsthof-Ring 16 21035 Hamburg Germany Phone: ++49 (0)40 73 10 73-0 office@db-hh.de www.dethlefsen-balk.de Dethlefsen & Balk Inc. 1005 N. Commons Dr. Aurora, IL 40506 USA Phone: 001-(630)-851-8549 info@dethlefsen-balk.us www.dethlefsen-balk.us E DETHLEFSEN & BALK Your competent partner for: Tea Coffee Accessories Confiserie Enjoy the advantages of using an all-in-one supplier with a selection of more than 600 standardised tea varieties, 50 manufactory coffee qualities, an exclusive confiserie assortment and a world-wide leading range of accessories. Sonic's frozen tea monitor steep time and color in the cup. A few years ago Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf began offering a pot of loose leaf tea with pastry. Baristas brought to seated customers at these Southern California shops a tray complete with timer and laminated card describing the tea's origin, characteristics, and ideal steep time. Tea sales as a percentage of bev- erage sales nearly doubled to 20% at these shops. Starbucks experienced even more spectacular results when it introduced "shaken" Teavana iced teas. The premium teas tasted better, according to customers who said they liked the "craft" touch. Teavana handcrafted beverages and full leaf tea sachets lifted sales across the breadth of the com- pany's 12,000 US coffee shops. In 2015, Starbucks grew its tea business 12% across all tea categories, posting an unusually strong 29% in iced teas sales at a time when tea sales overall are growing 4% nation- ally. The company is now heavily pushing its teas in Asia where 6,200 stores began serving Teavana shaken teas this fall. In July 2015 Mighty Leaf Tea was added to the nationwide menu at Peet's Coffee & Tea. "The marrying of Mighty Leaf Tea into its menu mix is a mas- terstroke, bringing two brands with independent heritages and reputations for uncompromising quality together," writes Package Facts research analyst Daniel Granderson in Foodservice Tea Market Trends in the US (2015). "The (Mighty Leaf) teas are all natural, flavor-forward, and fresh brewed in small batches every day while the iced tea infusions are handcrafted using lemonade or limeade with hints of mint, tropical fruits, and berries," writes Granderson. Premium prediction As consumers scale the ladder from mundane to magnificent is it possible a premium bottled iced tea could find a place at the table? Will restaurants ever chill the satisfying flavor of some of the world's most distinctive teas? The biggest obstacles are price and chemistry. Orthodox style, hand processed teas take only the fresh new shoots of the plant (typically the unfurled leaf bud and the next two leaves), which tend to have higher concentrations of polyphenols, explains Scott Svihula in an article titled Restaurants & Fresh Brewed Iced Tea. The polyphenols, includ- ing EGCg, react with calcium and magnesium in the water (which are needed for the extraction process) to form insoluble salts. When refriger- ated these cloud the tea and degrade the taste, affecting mouth feel and color and reducing its health benefits. "So, the better the quality of the tea, the great- er the potential chemical change," writes Svihula, a consultant at Hula Consulting. He said Sri Lankan, southern Chinese and Nilgiri teas from India pro- duce lovely black and green teas that taste great over ice. Keemun has long been a favorite in the West but its distinctive flavor in the Irish and English breakfast blends is nestled amid the As- sam teas (chosen for their tannin) and Kenyan teas known for the color. Flavored teas predominate in the iced tea cat- egory in part because the base teas from Argentina are cultivated for their coppery color and brisk taste of tannin without clouding polyphenols. These machine-harvested blacks make great iced teas but do not show well in hot tea competitions. "Restaurants currently offering premium qual- ity iced teas, some using single-origin teas include Noodles & Company, Cafe Rio: Mexican Grill, Grimaldis Pizza in New York, The Yard Steak- house, and Kona Grill. They range from fast food to full-service, said Svihula. Suppliers of premium iced teas include Art of Tea in Los Angeles and Walter's Bay in Texas. He advises restaurants to mind their chemis- try. "Make sure both the brewing water and water for ice are filtered. Most restaurants steep a 1.5 concentrate and dilute with line-temperature wa- ter before pouring over ice. Others brew the tea double strength and pour the tea over a column of ice. Fresh brewed, flash chilled teas show off the flavor of the tea, he said.