I have a fair-trade tea company that works to create incomes for Southwest Indians (...and income for myself I should add -- if I'm lucky! -- tho I am not a Pueblo or Navajo Indian).
Here are my questions:
#1 Do Brits go for Chai?
#2 Do you think most would prefer Green Tea to fruit teas or chai?
#3 What flavors make Brits jump and down with glee?
Mint?
Peach?
Jasmine?
Mandarin?
or...?
If you're from another country across the big blue Atlantic I'd love to hear your opinions too.
I really would appreciate your opinions of what you think most people are enjoying.
When I go to the US, I see a lot of people buying Chai at Starbucks - here in the UK Starbucks does sell it but no one ever asks for it. For one thing, I bet most people don't even know what it is.
Hobbes is right about the fruit/green/chai order. The other thing, talking about Starbucks, that doesn't sell here but does in the US, is the concept of green tea as the base of unusual concotions (green tea caramel frappuccino or whatever).
Mint and jasmine are very popular tea flavours (if I may be so bold, mint is not tea though). Jasmine is drunk particularly at Chinese restaurants, and perhaps less popular at supermarkets because supermarkets don't sell it as much as mint tea. Peach and mandarin are not at all popular for tea - which does not mean they wouldn't be if they were offered.
In the past 3-6 months, supermarkets have started to sell rarer teas, like white tea and green jasmine tea. I don't know what the quality of these is, but it's at least making such teas better known. It was probably a big deal for the supermarkets to put them on the shelves given how much shelf space has been allocated since the beginning of time to the standard teas.
I'd be interested in hearing from Europeans - I know in Paris for example, they have many really good specialty tea shops. In the UK, these are becoming more commong (Tea Palace, Tea and Postcards, and more specialty teas appearing in tea shops in places like the Cotswolds).
Ha ha that's funny, peppermint, camo, jasmine, etc., are the usual additives ...even to cheese!
I spend a bit of time in the Southwest and green chile is put into everything ~ and I kid you not! Bagels, jellies, you name it (and of course cheese).
Thanks for answering my question.
HobbesOx> 1. It's sold as a novelty item in most coffeeshops. I never see
Thanks for your great answer. Yes, I do hear supermarkets have given loads of shelf space to the usual teas since the beginning of time.
What a nice website you have ...and great teas! Have you ever thought of putting your loose teas into pyramid teabags -- not the teabags like PG Tips has but the nylon see-through ones? Since people like the convenience of teabags is seems a good step for someone like you who has great loose teas?
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