Picking Teas For Your Cafe
Before planning your menu, decide how much of a focus you want your tea lineup to be. If you simply want to have a representative offering without taking up a lot of space behind bar, we suggest having a core lineup of around six (6) teas that hit all of your main tea categories: caffeinated, caffeine-free, fruity, spicy, minty, unflavored/traditional.
But, if you want to be known as the local source for a variety of tea, your menu will have to be more extensive, at least 12-15 teas. Start with a core menu that hits the categories listed above but add additional teas that compliment your other menu items.
Feel free to add teas or make changes! Ultimately, the most important thing is that your menu reflects your café/customers and you are excited about it. Here are a few core menus but check out some additional tips at the bottom!
MENU #1:
- English or Irish Breakfast - black tea
- Sweet Cream Earl Grey - black tea
- Peach Pie - black tea
- Morning Glory - oolong (grapefruit, cantaloupe)
- Durban Chai - spicy herbal
- Garden Mint - herbal (mint, lavender, rosemary)
MENU #2:
- Assam Jamguri
- Ginger Twist - black tea, ginger, orange, vanilla
- Blackberry Bergamot - black tea
- Honeymint - green tea w/mint & flowers
- Nocturne - herbal (chamomile, lemongrass, rose)
- Uber Tart Infusion- herbal (cranberry, hibiscus, gorgeous fuchsia color)
MENU #3:
- Yunnan - black tea
- Earl Grey - black tea
- Victorian Cream- black tea, lavender, vanilla
- Jasmine Silver Tip - green tea
- Durban Chai - spicy herbal
- Peppermint - herbal
- If tea is a major focus for your cafe, consider including one or two from our Top Shelf collection.
- If tea is not a main focus, be sure choose teas that are easy to brew on bar - ones without particularly stringent brewing requirements (like the ones listed on the menus above!)
- Have at least a couple of seasonal offerings.
- Work on creating signature tea drinks that your customers can only get from you!