Specialty Coffee Retailer

Specialty Coffee Retailer November 2012

Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.

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Steeped in form and function Teaware must help consumers through the brewing process while looking good. Here are some items that surprising number of variables. Do you brew in the kettle or use a teapot? What' I f there's one place where form meets function, it's teaware. For such a seemingly simple process, brewing tea has a be designed, in terms of structure, materials and other aspects, to extract maximum flavor from the leaves with minimal fuss? For teahouse owners, or coffeehouse owners with a s the best way to make iced tea? How can teaware substantial tea program, teaware form and function are of more than academic interest. Teaware oſten serves as a significant supplemental profit center for shops with strong tea sales. "A great part of our sales are done through tea- and coffeehouses," says Thomas Perez, president of Bodum. Form is especially important in teaware because of the accomplish that hard task. BY PAN DEMETRAKAKES Modern teaware combines elegant form with functionality that makes it easy for consumers to brew perfect tea. Photo courtesy of Bodum be intimidating," Whitman says. "KATI is easy to use, allows " tea easy to brew. For one thing, they avoid the problem of the ubiquitous tea balls: being too small for the pot. "The tea leaf has to have enough room to expand, you to enjoy the beauty and aroma of the leaves, and simple to clean up. Teapots with built-in infusers are the best way to make Masa Fujii, president of For Life Design. "And therefore the capacity of the infuser has to be big enough compared to the size of the teapot." Infuser size taken on added significance with iced tea. The " says nature of tea consumption. From Japan to England, countries where tea is routinely drunk oſten construct elaborate rituals around its consumption. Even without ceremony, drinking tea is ideally a slow, relaxed, contemplative experience; elegant, attractive tea gear adds to that perception. "Our goal has been to create and define the contemporary tea experience, capturing the essence of the Asian tradition while adding a fun, festive contemporary flair, spokesperson for Tea Forté. "The key principle used by our founder is to design teaware that he wants to use in his home, for both himself and when entertaining friends and family. Function has special significance, too, in part because " many consumers don't really understand tea. Someone who is making the step up from teabags may be confused by loose- leaf tea and the process of loading and steeping. For instance, a consumer unused to loose-leaf tea might not understand that the leaves expand up to five times during steeping. The right equipment can take that into account and make it easy for consumers to load the correct amount. "Our custom KATI cup has been a great seller, making loose tea simple. For many consumers, preparing loose tea can " says Jane Whitman, concept of dedicated equipment and techniques for iced tea has taken hold in recent years, designers say. This means, at a minimum, using a larger infuser because iced tea generally requires longer steeping with a higher tea-to-water ratio. For Life's iced tea jugs have straight walls that can fit easily inside a refrigerator door, and are taller than the average teapot just as a point of distinction, Fujii says. Here are some examples of innovative teaware, for both comprises two stacking, heat-resistant glass pitchers, one for brewing, one for ice. It brews a concentrated infusion in the top pitcher. Once steeped, the hot tea is poured over the ice in the lower pitcher, melting it to achieve the perfect dilution. (www.teaforte.com) iced and hot tea: The tea over ice infuser from Tea Forté from Bodum has the same attractive, sleek stainless-steel look as the former double- wall teapot, but with a greater capacity. (www.bodum.com) The single walled Columbia teapot 29

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