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Masterful tea programs have two parts: Foundations and Mechanics.
Foundations refer to the selection and nature of your program. This includes your philosophical approach,building your tea menu,and implementing education.
Mechanics cover the actual logistics and movements of your service, including tea storage, tea dosing, service style, and clean up.
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Your Foundations are the base questions and understanding that you need before you can begin thinking about your actual tea service.
KEY QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
- How do you think about tea service in your space? Fundamentally, why are people coming and choosing to buy tea here?
- What teas are you serving? How many types of tea? How often does that change?
- How will staff be trained to work with tea?
Before you can begin to think about tea selections or your service mechanics, it's critical to calibrate your approach to tea.
Tea should be served with the same incredible attention to detail given to coffee in modern specialty cafes. The core reality is that tea drinkers choose to purchase tea because they are expecting a product and service that they cannot or will not make for themselves at home.
It's incumbent on us as tea sellers (and on you as tea servers) to perfect this experience and serve tea in a way that respects the leaf and the tremendous amount of work that went into its production. Specialty tea is not a commodity. Each leaf is a craft product, grown and crafted (typically by hand) by true artisans.
In practice, this philosophical approach means three things:
- Your tea should be good tea.
- You should be knowledgeable about your tea offerings.
- Tea should be served consistently according to strict parameters.
A well-planned offering is the backbone of an effective tea program. The offerings should feature classic tea categories that guests will recognize. These categories are based on the oxidation level of the tea (green, white, oolong, black, dark), including tisanes (infusions made from plant parts unrelated to true tea).
Teas change with the seasons, and so should tea menus—regularly rotate 1 or 2 teas within fixed categories. Switch up tea sig drinks often, but maintain popular standards (like chai and matcha lattes).
- Less is more. We recommend no more than 5 hot teas at any time.
- Variety should be achieved by rotation, not be expanding the menu.
- Don't forget about sig drinks.
- True tea has caffeine. Most tisanes do not. It is important to have both to appeal to diverse tastes.
It takes a skilled hand to pull a shot or pour a latte—the same is true of tea making. Baristas need dedicated tea training. Develop a barista training model that includes high-level tea education. We'll help! Establishing a training standard for baristas is key to consistent tea service.
Cupping in particular is crucial to developing a rich understanding of tea preparation.
- Hold tea-specific training with staff.
- Cup teas with your team as often as coffee—and with your tea provider at regular intervals.
Your mechanics cover the actual logistics and "how" of your tea program. They include storage, dosing and measurement, ware selection, service method, and cleanup.
KEY QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
- How will tea be served? What about matcha and chai?
- How do guests order?
- What is the plan for waste management?
- How (and where) will tea be stored?
Before tea is ever served, it is stored and displayed (ideally for the customer).
Smart tea storage follows these basic principles:
- Store away from light, heat, and odor.
- Minimize oxygen exposure.
- Refrigerate matcha.
- Store tea prominently.
We designed our MIYABI tins in house to provide specialty cafés a beautiful and streamlined way to store their tea selections.
Plus, it's free for our partners (less shipping).
Pre-dosing is the easiest way to instantly improve tea service at coffee bars.
Following the "Menu Building" section, it's our advice that all hot tea service be a single size. This allows you to dose all of your hot tea servings ahead of time.
Think of the MIYABI tins as your long-term storage and display option, but you shouldn't have to open these tins multiple times a day. Instead, measure out single servings into air-tight jars and keep those in an easily accessible place near your point-of-service.
- Use a precision scale to weigh servings of tea per our steeping instructions.
- Store dosed teas in airtight, light-blocking glass.
- Keep 4-5 servings of each tea dosed.
Steeping with the right gear is as important as steeping the right tea. Choose the most appropriate wares and accessories for your service style—the most critical being the teapot.
- Glass, single-serve teapots are the best way to make loose leaf tea in cafés.
- Use the best wares for the job.
- Calibrate mug size to teapot size (12 ounce mug = 12 ounces of water in teapot).
- Stock 1 more teapot than you think you'll need. 4-6 is adequate for most cafés.
* Nail down your service model (see chart below) before purchasing equipment.
Tea leaves are compostable. With a typical pH level of 3-4, spent leaves are perfect for raising the acidity of soil. Collect used leaves in a sealed container and offer to local growers or community gardens.
While the compostability of tisanes is highly variable, in general used plant material also has a pH of 3-4. The spices we use to brew our chai concentrate are collected by a local farmer each week.
