Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/59523
same can be said about temperature and time, which are impor- tant variables that are always, well, varying. At Rishi Tea, our measuring approach is a little unusual. For a long time, tea recommendations have been measured in tea- spoons. But just as the specialty coffee industry has been placing more emphasis on gram weight across all brewing methods, tea has also migrated toward specific weights. In addition, many tea aficionados are now looking for a stronger, more flavorful cup. For consumers, that means the old teaspoon might not always cut it. Further, in traditional brewing lessons from origin and long-established tea-drinking cultures, locals often include an extra scoop of leaves "for the pot." This means measuring out a serving of leaves for each guest (let's say two in this example, and assume we're using teaspoons), and then adding an additional portion, bring- ing it to three scoops. The concept might seem a little odd to the new generation of tea drinkers, but the little bump in flavor is certainly pleasing. Thus, at Rishi Tea, we decided to just use tablespoons instead of teaspoons for many of our measurements. It's one of several challenges we face in brewing communication. Sarah Trench, foodservice manager at Adagio Teas, previously worked at Ineeka Teas; because that company offers teas only from the Himalayas, it could offer brewing guidelines that were applicable to all its teas. "At Ineeka, we said that all of our teas should be steeped as hot and for as long as possible," she says. "A few degrees or min- utes wasn't going to ruin the cup. Adagio's teas are from all over the place, so this strategy is not as easy to apply." HOW ARE YOU SAYING IT? Just as important as what you share is how you share it, which is conveyed through language and design. "There is a preconception about loose-leaf tea," says Jenny Kim, Rishi Tea's art director. "People think that loose-leaf tea is either too diffi- cult or requires lots of tools. It's a designer's job to break that preconception." Methods of doing that, Kim says, include using illus- trations referencing common types and shapes of vessels, such as pitchers, pots and kettles. This helps to quickly demonstrate what the consumer needs to facilitate the brew. In many cases, they'll realize in an instant that they actually have all the tools they need. "We also try to keep the instruc- freshcup.com April 2012 69 tions limited to four or five steps," Kim says. "More than that, and the consumer will start to think it's too complicated." As for language, Kyle Stewart of The Cultured Cup in Dallas says some teas require more detailed descriptors in the instruc- tions. "It's important to use the words 'level' and 'heaping' when using units of measure," he says. "Pai Mu Tan [a white loose leaf] is the best example of a tea requiring a specific and different amount of tea compared with the usual 'one teaspoon per cup.'" Waddington of TeaSource agrees that translation is an impor- tant practice in his cupping lab. "The [consumer] steeping sugges- tions will be a small range, with the ideal parameters being the continued on page 70