8 Top Tea Trends For 2023
1/ Sweet Heat Teas
The next big thing for 2024 is predicted to be Sweet Heat Tea, which might sound complicated, but the reality is these teas are pretty straightforward. They’re a combination of fruity flavour profiles (sweetness) blended with spices to add heat – flavour fusions like mango and habanero or agave, natural lime juice and jalapeño are rapidly gaining traction among younger tea drinking segments.
2/ Tea Cocktails and Mocktails
Tea based drinks are fast becoming a staple of trendy bars worldwide, especially with less and less people drinking alcohol during a night out. Quite simple tea blends offer a greater variety of options when it comes to construction non-alcoholic drinks, and for that matter tea makes an excellent base ingredient or addition to many of our favourite cocktail and mocktail formats.
(Image by @foodbymars on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/glass-full-of-green-tea-3j2MJ3eOLcs)
3/ Ready-to-drink Teas (RTD)
There’s been a shift toward healthier beverage alternatives in recent years and that has in turn sparked a growing interest in the various combinations of teas, leaves and flavours, spurring on the growth of RTD tea categories. A growing number of consumers are switching, preferring to enjoy their daily caffeine intake from tea rather than coffee, a trend that has particularly resonated with younger consumers who traditionally favoured coffee. Flavours include ginger and mint, lemon and chamomile, honey and lemon, matcha green and turmeric. The possible combinations are endless.
4/ Tea Subscriptions
With the increased online shopping trend, alongside the fact that people are more concerned about the provenance, origin and quality of the food and drink they consume, the rise in tea subscriptions is a slowly emerging thing. It’s an opportunity to highlight the provenance, sustainable production and ethical sourcing of tea, including how these base ingredients are grown and harvested, as well as whether a fair price is being paid to sustain the growers and their families. Things that will continue to become more and more important to the average tea drinker when it comes down to their buying decisions.
5/ Tea Re-imagined
There has long been an upsurge in the demand for quality teas, this also includes herbal, green and more orthodox black teas particularly Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiris, which are largely driven by people’s desire to consume healthier drinks. The overall demand for functional food and drinks that contain enhanced health benefits is on the steady increase, especially as consumers experiment more with natural ingredients, such as ginseng and turmeric to boost the health benefits of their teas – think matcha and kombucha.
(Image by @laarkstudio on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/clear-glass-mug-with-green-leaves-9T5FvfnmH_k)
6/ Enhanced Tea Menu Options
The customer across the board are demanding that high quality teas are served in cafes, bars, and restaurants they frequent. Tea aficionados are no longer satisfied with just a couple of standard tea choices, they now require that the venues they frequent provide extensive menus. As a rule, they want to enjoy the experience of brewing and loose leaf provides this, allowing venues to serve more expensive and more unique tea blends across the board.
7/ Mood Enhancing Teas
Many consumers are now choosing to add herbs to their teas, specifically ginseng, turmeric chamomile and ginger as they do their best to create drinks that will help improve mood, motivation and memory. We are all now acutely aware that eating plants is good for our health, and it seems that there are a few that have added benefits that slot into this category.
8/ Tea Pods
Just like their coffee cousins tea pods are on the rise… providing both a convenient and virtually mess-free way to enjoy a cup of tea any time of day. With each individual pods providing a single-serve of your favourites teas -just the thing for busy individuals or very impatient tea addicts, especially as the perfect cuppa is now no more than a button press away!