Whether you are a tea time tenderfoot or a serious sipper, we know that making a tea selection for your new business can be a daunting task. Tea sure has become quite the brew in Australia and it is simply not enough to just stock your regular English Breakfast and Earl Grey tea, along with a plain Peppermint.

What Customers Are Looking for in Tea

Most Australian tea drinkers expect to find something a little more interesting these days on a retail shelf or on a tea menu at a cafe (especially if they are paying $4-$6 per pot). We also know that the Australian tea drinker has become quite discerning and knows the difference between a good and a bad cuppa. Stocking and serving high-quality teas has become really important.

Four Tea Types

Before you even think about making a tea selection, it is important to know the basics when it comes to tea. Technically, “tea” is everything that is made from the tea plant- Camelia sinensis. There are four types of tea including Black, Green, Oolong and White. These four types are all made from the tea leaf but processed in different ways to produce distinctly different brews.

Herbal Blends vs Traditional Tea

“Herbal teas” on the other hand are infusions made from all plants other than the tea plant. Herbal teas can be made from the roots, flowers, leaves, berries and fruits. The BBTC range is a mix of traditional & oriental teas, blended herbal teas and tea lattes which are plant-based brews that can be made with your choice of milk.

We believe that the best way to make your selection is by requesting a sample pack so that you can try the teas yourself. Don’t forget to follow our brewing instructions on how to make the best brew.

To make the process a little easier, we also have some guidelines below and some suggestions on what we know work best in different settings. 

Suggested Cafe Menu

The tea movement in Australia is strong in recent years and statistics are showing that people are drinking less coffee and more tea. Further to this, the tea segment that is growing at the most rapid rate is green and herbal teas indicating that people are becoming more health conscious. So, with this in mind, having a broader tea offering can help you to capture the non-coffee drinking market and also those people in the afternoon who may not be reaching for their second cup of coffee and looking for a tasty and healthy alternative. We believe that getting your tea menu right can help to increase your overall beverage sales. Keep in mind also that tea is such a profitable tea service solution only costing a cafe 15-20 cents to make a pot. Below are some of our suggestions with a nice mix of traditional, green and herbal teas featuring on the menu.

• English Breakfast
• Earl Grey
• Chai
• Green
• Ginger Zing
• Digest or Peppermint
• Calming
• Spice Dream
• Buddha Tears
• Immunity
• Consider also Glow, Detox, Fortify and Tummy Tone if your cafe has an organic, health and wellness focus.

Suggested Spa Menu

We all know what it’s like in the busy lives we lead to enter the zen-like space of a spa. Sometimes it’s just so hard to switch-off and be in the moment. Tea can help us to be present, relax and unwind to get the most out of our treatment. Serving tea on arrival in a spa demonstrates an immediate duty of care to the client and is such an easy and cost effective add-on to make the whole experience a real treat for your client. We recommend our blended organic herbal tea range for serving in spas that have a focus on health and wellness.

• Energy
• Calming
• Digest
• Immunity
• Detox
• Glow
• Ginger Zing
• Tummy Tone

What teas should you stock in a retail setting?

Making a selection of teas to stock in your retail setting can also be quite a task- what will your customers be looking for?

Consider the demographic in your area and the types of customers you will have. If you are serving the tea, consider stocking these teas for customers to purchase for use at home. Serving the teas provides a great opportunity for your customers to sample the range and for you to make a sale. We know that you will sell more if your customers have had the chance to taste them.

Below are our best selling teas in the retail setting. These are unique Byron Bay Tea Company blends that offer a point of difference to many regular teas.

(Retail Boxes)

• Energy
• Calming
• Digest
• Immunity
• Detox
• Chai
• Buddha’s Tears
• Tummy Tone
• Dandylicious
• Fortify
• Spice Dream
• Consider Glow and Nursing for a spa or retail store that has an organic, health and wellness focus.

High Tea Menu

A High Tea featuring cakes, sandwiches and scones and other sweet treats is traditionally complemented by an Earl Grey tea- a lighter black tea with a citrus twist. Our Early Grey features the natural essential oil of Bergamot (not the flavouring) giving it a clean, crisp citrus finish. As an extension of the traditional High Tea and to cater for the changing tastes of the tea drinker in recent years, we would always recommend offering a green tea option and a couple of herbal teas. You may also like to consider preparing the teas as Iced Teas as a Summer High Tea option.

Here are some suggestions-:

• Earl Grey
• Green Tea- Sencha green tea, Buddha’s Tears, Jasmine or Energy.
• Herbal Tea- Calming, Immunity, Digest or Ginger Zing.