Fresh Cup Magazine

A Fine Infusion
Premium Tea Meets Haute Cuisine
By David Volk

Tomislav Podreka still remembers the difficulty he had selling his company's teas to restaurants in the old days. That was when restaurant tea only came in bags, specialty coffee was a novelty in many eateries and only the top restaurants had quality desserts. Those were the days when his importing and wholesaling company, Serendipitea, was just getting started, and trying to acquire foodservice accounts was a daunting proposition. "The first year was abysmal," Podreka recalls. "[Restaurant owners] didn't consider tea important. A lot of restaurants didn't even have a decent dessert program. I had instant coffee at some places. They were still getting away with stuff like that."

   This scenario may sound like ancient history, but it isn't. It was actually only seven years ago when Podreka was struggling to get loose-leaf into the country's top restaurants. That was prior to when companies like the Republic of Tea began launching aggressive marketing campaigns for loose-leaf tea, and before scientific articles about the beverage's health benefits caused a public run on the drink. But as consumers began taking notice of premium tea, so, too, did retail and foodservice establishments. Even celebrity chefs Jean-Gorge Vongrichten, Andre Soltner and Diane Forley glommed onto the trend, viewing tea as a trendy artisanal food for their menus. But for many tea wholesalers, acquiring foodservice accounts is still a challenge. Many restaurants tend to shy away from loose-leaf tea, worrying that it's too labor-intensive and not cost-effective. Certainly, running a premium loose-leaf program is more work than plopping a premade teabag into a cup of hot water. But if a restaurant is truly committed to quality in every regard, its beverage choices, from wine to coffee to tea, should reflect those ideals. And in the end, the effort can be well worth it in terms of the financial payoff.

   Joshua Kaiser, director of imports and production for New York-based importer and wholesaler, Rishi Tea, says good loose-leaf typically costs between $15 and $40 a pound. Figuring that a pound of tea is enough to make 180 cups, the cost of a two-cup pot can range from 16 to 44 cents. Since many restaurants can turn around and sell a pot of tea for six dollars, the result is more than five dollars of profit. Plus, Kaiser says, it doesn't cost much for a restaurant to shift to loose-leaf tea. Most establishments typically start with five pounds of tea and purchase a few tea sets at $10 each. So the total initial investment ends up being around $300. Linda Orr, co-owner of Teaism, a wholesaler and retailer in Washington, D.C., admits that setup may cost more than sticking with 20-cent teabags, but there's a greater profit potential. As she puts it, "There's no way they can get six dollars for tea made from a teabag."

Choosing the Right Variety & Quantity
When helping restaurants develop effective premium tea programs, the best place to start is with the tea itself. When Kaiser suggests teas for a customer, he considers what the restaurant serves and to whom. Although he is an advocate of matching tea with food the way some conduct wine and food pairings, the issue of matching a tea program with a food menu can be far more basic. For instance, if a customer specializes in Asian cuisine, it makes sense to serve complementary teas. That's why Executive Chef Patricia Yeo serves teas like Dragon Well or Iron Goddess of Mercy at AZ, her Asian restaurant in New York City. On the other hand, she favors Moroccan mint, blood orange, Darjeeling, green tea, and Earl Grey at her other Manhattan restaurant, Pazo, which specializes in Mediterranean cuisine.

   A restaurant's clientele also plays a critical role in the decision of which teas to offer. "It's important to know who is drinking the tea," says Kaiser. "Trendy urban professionals have a much different taste preference than Victorian tea aficionados." Regardless of demographic, tea suppliers agree that it's best to start with a limited mix of teas rather than an overwhelming assortment. Podreka and Kaiser say that a restaurant should begin with five to seven varieties. Kaiser favors one or two caffeine-free herbal infusions, along with an Earl Grey, an unblended black tea, and either an oolong or a green tea (or both if there's enough space). Podreka recommends starting with a black, green, oolong, and three herbal infusions.

   Depending on the size of the account, Serendipitea sometimes creates custom blends to offer restaurants a signature tea specifically designed for its menu and clientele. For instance, he created the minty "Once Upon a Tea" not only to complement a variety of desserts, but also to appeal to children's palates. Kaiser also offers blends, but does not custom blend because most of his customers' businesses are too small to make it cost-effective.

   Quantity and storage are also important issues in setting up a restaurant's tea program. That's why Podreka says, "We're not big on selling a lot of tea-we're big on selling a little bit of tea. There's no better way to kill an account than by selling them too much product."

   Todd Wickstrom, who manages Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Mich., experienced this problem firsthand. The deli sold loose-leaf tea, but Wickstrom's tea supplier required him to order a crate at a time, leaving him with 20 kilos of tea and no place to put it. He dropped the account and went with a supplier that didn't require such large minimum orders.

   With proper storage, tea can remain fresh for up to two years, but Podreka says it's best to order only a two- to three-month supply. The amount a restaurant will sell in a given period varies, but he says the best rule of thumb is to assume that one out of every six customers will order tea. So a restaurant that seats 100 people should expect to serve 16 pots of tea per each 100 customers. A restaurant that seats 200 should buy and sell twice as much. The best way for a restaurant to make sure it has adequate supply, Kaiser says, is to find out how long it takes for the supplier to fill orders, then put one person in charge of ordering tea and have the resident tea expert order more when the storage bin is less than a third full.

   Podreka says wholesalers should also provide restaurants with airtight containers for storage. The first set of containers should be provided free or at minimal charge. Storage can be as simple as a tea tin that's kept away from heat, light and moisture. And fortunately, loose-leaf doesn't have to take up a lot of space. It can be just a few containers stacked on shelves, or if space is tight, Orr suggests mounting containers to a wall and storing only a two-day supply of tea in the service area. She advises keeping the rest of the supply in a sealed bag in a Tupperware container away from spices, coffee and other foodstuff that could contaminate the taste and aroma of the teas.

Training Techniques
Once you've sold a restaurant operator on the idea of premium tea and you've helped her develop an appropriate program, it's time to consider training. Not even the most carefully planned tea program will work if the waitstaff doesn't know how to prepare and serve the product correctly. Making tea may be as simple as mixing leaves with boiling water, but knowing how to put the two together properly makes all the difference. That's why Podreka holds onsite staff training sessions where he teaches restaurant employees how much tea to use, how long to steep and how to pair tea and food. The sessions also teach employees how to answer customer questions about different teas. Podreka goes on to hold continual trainings because he knows that not only do restaurant staffs turn over quickly, but those who sit through training and remain at the restaurant may not have absorbed all the information the first time around. "Training is very simple," he says. "You show them it's easy. That's the way I like to be trained."

   Kaiser isn't quite so hands-on. If a customer is nearby, Rishi will do an onsite tasting with the staff and provide a guide that shows how to prepare, store and display teas. He says he simply doesn't see a need for extensive training because "it's not rocket science."

   Tea suppliers who operate their own tearooms or restaurants sometimes have an advantage over wholesalers and importers who don't retail because they can show an example of how tea programs work in the real world. Orr, for instance, uses her tearoom, Teaism, to show customers how to set up a successful tea program. Orr believes that allowing prospective customers to watch Teasim's servers prepare tea during the lunch rush is one of the best ways to teach them how to set up their own service areas to accommodate loose-leaf tea. Devan Shah, owner of Chado Tea Room in Los Angeles, offers his wholesale customers monthly classes at his tearoom. Both Shah and Orr also provide written reference materials with instructions on how to brew tea properly. Orr goes a step further, providing a large laminated card for a restaurant's service area that offers a quick refresher course on how to make tea.

   Part of training also includes making sure a restaurant's management and staff are fully behind the tea program. Orr says that one of the best ways for managers to show support is to drink tea regularly and to attend training sessions. Just as the waitstaff in high-end restaurants is encouraged to sample and become familiar with the food menu, they should also be encouraged to drink tea and become more knowledgeable about it so that they can enthusiastically recommend it to patrons. After all, there's plenty for managers and waitstaff to be enthusiastic about. Premium tea sales mean bigger checks for the restaurant and, hence, larger tips for servers.

Perfecting Presentation
Refining a restaurant's tea presentation can also have a major impact on tea sales. New York City's French bistro, Camaje, is a case in point. Although chef/owner Abigail Hitchcock is a self-described tea-aholic who planned to offer tea in the restaurant from the beginning, she had to convince her partner to focus on the look of the service. "He was skeptical, but it turned out to be worth it," she says, because the tea service builds a buzz about the beverage. "The most exciting part of [the service] is the teapots because they are beautifully designed with a press in the middle. It definitely draws attention." The press pots, made by Bodum, also help sell more tea because they encourage people to overcome their unfamiliarity with loose-leaf tea. The presses turn an intimidating process into something fun and almost ritualistic, Hitchcock says.

   Suzanne Goin, chef/owner of Los Angeles' Lucques, uses the same Bodum press pots in her West Hollywood restaurant and sees the same reaction Hitchcock does, especially when her waitstaff serves attractive herbal infusions, like chamomile lavender tea. "It's so pretty that people take notice and ask what it is when they see it go by," Goin says.

   Part of a restaurant's tea program presentation is the tea menu itself, which Podreka calls a restaurant's single most effective selling tool because it helps customers understand exactly what they're ordering. Kaiser considers tea menus so important that he helps his customers write the descriptions for their teas. This kind of attention to detail allows the restaurant to treat tea as another integral component of a meal, and it provides an opportunity for a waiter to pair it with a main dish or dessert. The descriptions don't have to be overly fancy, but they should provide interesting details about the tea. The dessert menu at Camaje, for example, describes its Darjeeling as having a "nutty note, pronounced greenness and delicate disposition," while its Keemun is "renowned for its orchid bouquet and splendid red color." At the same time, "Colonille," a black tea infused with vanilla, has a full vanilla flavor and a deep red color.

Keeping Tabs on Your Tea
A final step in developing a restaurant's tea program is following up to make sure your plan is being carried out correctly and effectively. In addition to offering supplementary training sessions, Serendipitea provides a toll-free number for customers to call with questions about tea-related issues, no matter how simple or strange. Podreka and his staff have responded to questionas about everything from whether to serve tea or coffee first to debates over tea's caffeine content. The line is only manned during business hours, but the company answers questions left overnight on the next business day.

   Rishi also takes calls, answering a wide array of queries and helping customers resolve any problems that may come up with their accounts. Orr goes as far as playing mystery shopper, visiting her accounts to see how the waitstaff is executing the tea program. Then, if necessary, she follows up with suggestions for improving the tea service.

   Finally, in order for a premium tea program to truly succeed in a restaurant setting, it helps for both the supplier and the customer to have the right attitude-that is, pride in the final product. "Tea is an artisan food just like fine cheese, wine and other special harvest food items," Kaiser says. "Tea is the finishing point of the meal. If you take pride in the care of service and foods you offer the client, the service of fine tea will be the perfect complement to your efforts."

David Volk is a Seattle-based freelance food, travel and business writer. He can be reached via e-mail at david@davidvolk.com.