Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
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MORE THAN CONVENIENCE Continued from page 33 tisane brewed from the South African red bush. "It's naturally free of caffeine and very low in tannins, which helps make it a beverage the whole family enjoys." For Herbal Mist Teas, the differentiating factor is that yerba mate is the base for all its offerings. "Yerba mate is a wonderful natural stimulant, and it's becoming more and more popular in North America," says Piagesi. THE FRESHNESS CONUNDRUM While it may be necessary to have a translatable hook in order to make it in the ultra-competitive RTD tea world, it takes more than a marketing angle to find long-term success. The proof is in the bottle, and if a tea doesn't taste good, consumers won't buy it a second time. Jage says that with more and more companies looking to cash in on the profitable RTD tea world, it's more important than ever to know how to identify quality products—and quality is often directly related to freshness. "Look for when the product was brewed, how it was brewed and what the added ingredients are," he says. "Look for a shorter shelf time, fresh brewed versus concentrate and minimal added ingredients." While it may be impossible for an RTD tea to deliver the same taste as a freshly brewed cup of tea, quality-minded manufacturers are trying to maintain freshness as best they can. At Gizmo Beverages, Apodaca says the company's closure offers a window to preserving the drink. "With many RTDs, you either load them with preservatives and sugar and sodium, or you have a very short shelf life and your product suffers quality 34 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com