Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tea culture is far from dead...


... but it is taking a pounding and is on the retreat for now.

According to a new Reuters article:

'tea has little appeal for Asian youth who don't have the patience to wait the 10 minutes it takes to brew tea in the traditional way.

"I don't have any time or relevant tea culture," said Becca Liu, a 25-year-old college graduate in Taipei. "I'm more curious to know how to make coffee," she added.'

'Younger drinkers prefer canned tea, powdered tea, soft drinks and coffee. They increasingly refer to traditional tea as "old people's drink." '

This echoes some points I made in a previous blog article Are you a coffee or a tea person? especially about why coffee is ascendant and tea is in decline.

Although tea culture is far from gone, it has to do something to make it hip and youthful again.

"Determined to restore tea to its exalted status in Asia, tea lovers are trying to repackage tea as a funky new-age brew to a young generation more inclined to slurp down a can of artificially-flavored tea than to sip the real thing."

As the article goes on it hits on a good point. Tea promoters should probably be stressing the supposedly healthy properties of tea (coffee is also touted every once in a while for its healthy properties).

"In Japan, a new tea line is winning fans among young Japanese with its claims to reduce body fat, while a South Korean brand called "17 Tea" is popular for its claims to blend teas that cure a host of ills."

This linking is certain to make weight conscious girls take a glimpse but what about the boys???

1 comment:

John Naruwan said...

Taiwan has been awash with all manner of "diet" and "health" teas as long as I've been here. The latest idea is that by drinking a certain brand of tea called "切油" (hope that's written right!) you will be able to eliminate the oil in the greasy food you've just consumed. The adverts are careful not to make this an overt claim. People in the ad are asked their opinion about it and they all say they feel that it does work. Sneaky. It's actually quite dangerous if you think about it. All these people continuing to eat greasy food thinking that a few swigs of tea afterwards is going to help them lose weight or perhaps spare them an early coronary/ stroke.

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