STiR coffee and tea magazine

Volume 5, Number 5

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28 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 5, 2016 (October/November) By Janis Hashe A fter the introduction and success of nitro coffee, it was only a matter of time before industry innovators began experimenting with nitro tea. Now glasses, mugs, goblets, and beakers of the foaming concoction are appearing on retail counters in big US cities. Fad — or a niche with staying power? "We love tea chemistry,"says Andrew Chau, co-founder of the highly successful Boba Guys stores in San Francisco and New York, as well as the Tea People brand of loose teas. Chau, who spent 12 years as a brand and consumer product marketer before launching his own businesses with partner Bin Chen, also loves science, particularly the science of brewing tea. After discovering nitro coffee about three years ago, he and Chen partnered with the Bay Area's Black Sands Brewery to tinker with nitro tea. "I asked, 'What does nitrogen do to sugars?' " says Chau. "Turns out, it brings out the [more delicate nuances] of black, smoky tea, for example, and intensifies the sweet- ness of a tea like Muscat oolong." Currently, Boba Guys stores do not have nitro teas on the regular menu, though Chau nitrogenizes two teas with a small, counter-size nitrogen charging station for a visitor to sample at the Hayes Valley location in San Francisco. But nitro is no fad for Chau and Chen. Plans are moving forward for a Boba Guys Nitro store in 2017. "We are always looking to innovate tea,"says Chau. Learn more: www.bobaguys.com Cascading in Chicago At The Cafe at LeFlour in Chicago, Kristen Polich is bullish on nitro tea. "I found out through my coffee roaster that he had been kegging tea," Polich says. "He used some different blends, then gave me some samples to try." Her roaster used Let's Get Fizzical: Nitro Tea Bubbles Up in US Andrew Chau at Boba Guys Nitrogen infused tea differs in mouthfeel and flavor

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