example, that Chinese green tea should
steep for three minutes at a temperature
of 170°F, while black tea needs three-to-five minutes at 201°F. Who but the most
fastidious tea drinker knows that oolong
tea requires water temperatures of 175°F,
and white tea is best at four minutes of
steeping in 185°F water.
The fact is, coffee is much more forgiving
than is tea, says Simrany. “There are so
many mistakes you can make when you
serve tea. Still, there are few items more
capable of producing profit in a restaurant
than tea.”
Colt & Gray, a fine-dining restaurant in
Denver, opted to improve its tea service
in October 2010, and began with a taste
test, settling on the Denver-based Teatulia
brand. “I think it’s key that the dining
experience carry all the way through a
meal, and that it includes your coffee and
tea service,” says Parker Ramey, manager
at Colt & Gray. “We chose Teatulia
because its teas are sustainable, flavorful
and their presentation is great. They come
in wonderful boxes, and guests can open
jars containing loose-leaf teas, smell the
aroma and get a sense of how good the
tea is before they order it.”
rectangular plate, accompanied by a metal
preheated teapot and a preheated cup and
saucer. Colt & Gray offers seven flavors,
the most popular being Earl of Bengal and
lemon grass. Ramey says the restaurant
uses Teatulia teas for iced teas and in
three of its cocktails, too.
At The Steeping Room in Austin, Texas,
the full-service restaurant sells 100 loose-leaf teas by the pot, priced between $3.95
and $5.95, depending on the grade of
tea selected. Diners can choose from a
menu that includes everyday teas, such
as Moroccan mint, rarer oolongs hand-processed in Taiwan, chocolate crunch tea,
coconut tea or goji berry white tea.
“Tea is the focus of our restaurant,
and everything on the menu is meant
to be paired with tea, or is a dish that
comes from a tea-drinking culture,” says
Emily Morrison, general manager. The
menu features a list of teas available,
with a description of each one, and
tea is served in a ceramic teapot with
cherry-wood coasters and an Asian-style teacup. Mock tea-based cocktails,
tea freezes and chais are among the
other tea-based drinks available at The
Steeping Room, beverages that are fun,
festive and a little unusual.
Tea isn’t the main source of profit at Stephan
Pyles in Dallas, either, “But we definitely
don’t take any losses from it,” says Pantea
Pourabbas, restaurant manager. The fine-dining restaurant offers a selection of eight
teas ranging in price from $8 to $12. The
mostly loose-leaf teas come from Sri Lanka,
China, India, South Africa and Japan, and
are served in glass teapots, with lemon and
sugar on the side. “We have many guests
ordering tea, particularly the green tea and
the sunset rooibos,” Pourabbas says.
When you’re ready to dwell on your
restaurant’s tea offerings, take a long look
at the quality of tea you’re serving, Simrany
suggests. “If you’re serving a regular
commercial brand, consider switching to a
loose tea and making a whole experience
out of it by using a glass teapot.”
Loose-leaf flowering teas will begin to
unfurl when they meet boiling water, in a
process known as “the agony of the leaves.”
Watching that occur is both enjoyable and
fascinating for guests.
SERVED WITH STYLE
The teatime interaction between servers
and diners at Colt & Gray has an effect
on other diners, who notice the display
and begin requesting tea at the end of
their meals, too. But the choice of tea is
just the start of the experience. Once a
guest places an order, the tea—priced at
$3.50—arrives in a pyramid bag made
from corn silk. It is served on a long,
“Tea is not our main moneymaker, but
the margins on tea are higher than
they are on food, and it is tea that
drives people into our restaurant
initially,” says Morrison. Up to
85% of guests order tea or a tea-
based beverage, and they do so
year-round, even when the mercury
soars past 100°F.
