11.25.09
Poor tea in good restaurants
posted by Tracy Monson | 6 comments
Surely as a tea drinker you’ve experienced the following: You’re finishing a fabulous meal and feel nearly sated. Food: beautifully prepared and presented, creative, and delicious. Service: knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive. Atmosphere: well-designed, tasteful, and comfortable. A perfect finish to a perfect meal would be a perfectly prepared pot of fresh, soothing tea to complement your handcrafted gourmet dessert. You’re offered coffee with your dessert, and upon asking for tea, you’re informed they have just one type of tea.
Knowing this isn’t a good sign, and you resign yourself to the mirage that any of cup tea is better than none at all - until you receive it. You’re given tepid water alongside a clunky, thick beige mug, a stale teabag of dust resembling black tea, and a limp lemon slice that you wouldn’t ordinarily put into your good tea anyway. How disappointing to have invested such time and money into a wonderful meal to finish it on such an utterly tasteless note.
Why do restaurateurs so often marginalize us tea drinkers? They often tell me they don’t believe there is much demand for it, that it takes too much effort to make, costs too much, or that it’s too much of a pain to source. We as tea drinkers have been too quiet and too polite for much too long as we acquiesce ending our meals with flavorless fannings and dust.
What we need to do is demand more: ask for good tea and let your favorite restaurants know your preferences. Let them know that good tea, both loose and bagged, is more readily available than ever, so procurement is no longer a viable excuse. It also helps to inform them that good loose tea can be extremely profitable because it can command a higher price if it is prepared and presented well.
I often hear from other restaurant owners that serving loose-leaf tea is a pain. From a process standpoint, serving bad tea is as much work as serving good tea, whether bagged or loose: I’ve proven this in timed “races”. While it’s easiest and fastest to pour a cup of [often stale] coffee or a digestif, it’s still simpler than pulling a decent shot of espresso.
If more tea drinkers demand decent tea, restaurants will start to listen. Patronize places that offer good tea along with good food and vote with your dollars. It’s up to the tea-drinking community to spread the good news about how wonderful a cup of tea can be.
Restaurateurs have an inexpensive, easy opportunity to make a lasting positive impression on guests’ experiences. Great experiences will undoubtedly result in repeat and word-of-mouth visits, which is what a restaurant needs in order to stay viable.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:30 am
I’ve become the St Paul Tea Examiner so I definitely will visit establishments that serve good tea. It’s going to be an ongoing quest for me–where’s the good tea in my hometown? And I’ll write it up, rewarding those who make the effort.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I”ve found in the pacific northwest that restaurants are typically serving higher quality bagged tea. The problem they’re running into is that they’re using boiling water. Since I don’t typically request blends, it’s causing the tea to be burned. I agree with your sentiments here. Let the restaurant owners know that they need to improve. Shifting to whole leaf and providing the correct temperature isn’t as difficult as it used to be.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
We’re meeting in the near future for our presentation of what a golf resort in the area asked us to put together for them. Loose leaf tea in their executive suites and restaurant, along with infuser pot and cups.
Part of our ‘pitch’ to them was that it will set them apart from competitors. And it will. I wish I was 30 sometimes so I had more time to watch this whole thing develop (great tea served in good places), but hopefully drinking it will help give me the long life to do so!!
November 25th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Keep us posted Diane. I’d love a birds eye view of the process with the resort - what they ultimately selected and how the customers are responding.
November 28th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
OOO I so hear you on this and why is it that fast food chains can pull out an amazing tea, now and again. Beats me.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
So true that a great tea presentation not only sets an establishment apart from the competition, but also increases their revenues, effectively right away after bringing on a premium loose leaf tea. We have data from our customers showing a 30% increase in tea revenues (without compromising the coffee numbers) within the first 30-60 days of bringing on our loose leaf tea program! I’m excited to see that other people have the same sentiments!