Change in consumption attitudes:
The rise of tea today is due not only to its conformity to the requirements of youth. There are also great changes going on in the larger victual environment, providing a hotbed for growth. Taking canned oolong tea for example, this was brought out as early as eight years ago by local businesses copying the fashion for oolong tea in Japan, but it unexpectedly flopped at first.
Bob Yeh, managing director of the Meta Advertising Company, which handles the account for Shin Shii oolong tea, analyzes the reasons for failure at that time: First, Chinese who had long been accustomed to taking their tea hot could not immediately accept cold tea. There was a traditional belief that "tea left overnight produces poisons. " If tea is left to steep for a long time, it creates tannic acid, which causes the arteries to contract and makes digestion difficult.
Today businesses use the latest soft drink technology, extracting the tea juice, killing germs with high temperatures, then using vacuum packaging. Without oxygen, the tea will not be able to produce excessive tannic acid.
Next came the problem of the attitude of consumers. "At that time we did a survey and discovered that the most important thing for consumers in choosing a drink at that time was the taste, with the least concern about health and nutrition," continues Yeh.
Nevertheless, " over a long period of time carbonated drinks began to lose their novelty in both taste and status, and were no longer so attractive to the main consumers of soft drinks," points out C.C. Lin, chairman of Rosa Foods Company, which saw the changing trends three years ago and got involved in the market.
Now we are in the middle of an awakening of consciousness about health and nutrition, bringing consumers around to more natural products. A series of medical studies has shown that tea contains a great deal of vitamins and minerals, and that tea can lower cholesterol and reduce the risks of cancer. Modern people are also concerned about getting overweight, so tea, with a lower sugar content (and often no sugar at all), is seen as a health drink.
There is one young mother who, besides milk, only buys canned black tea to give to her thirsty youngsters when they go out. "I feel better about giving them this than those sicky-sweet, over-stimulating drinks," she explains.
Back to the countryside:
Health factors aside, there is also a certain warmth to the idea of tea.
A taxi driver draining a can of oolong tea with gusto says that "it reminds me of that pot of bitter tea Dad used to take with him when he went out to work in the fields."
"Traditional food products can easily bring on nostalgia, " believes Lin Ko-shen. "Localization " is the trend in food products, leading to a flood of traditional products in contemporary packaging on the market. It's not just tea--other "new " favorites include "eight treasures" congee, papaya milk-hakes, and white gourd tea.
In recent years, with growing prosperity, some people in Taiwan have seen tea as something of a status symbol, competing to buy expensive teas and even forking over tens of thousands of NT dollars for a few ounces of some champion leaf. Even ordinary consumers are now more inclined to buy the purer and more refined "high mountain tea. " This has led to a phenomenon of new land for tea being developed at increasingly high altitudes, which in turn severely affects soil and water conservation.
Further, Taiwanese favor spring teas and winter teas, which have a better flavor because of the chill in the climate, while summer and autumn teas are shunned. This uneven consumption pattern leads to concerns about waste of tea. After the rise of the black tea shake and packaged teas, lower altitude teas and left-overs from the marketplace have found a new home.
Missing out on the beauty of the tea ceremony:
From delicate and delightful little tea pots to easy opening cardboard and aluminum containers, from the enjoyment and serenity of the tea ceremony to the variegation of the bubble tea varieties, tea certainly has taken a tumble from its perch on the pedestal. It has become a casual part of daily life. Inevitably, there are those who feel regret about this new culture.
Chou Yu, who was at the forefront of the tea house trend in Taiwan with the Wisteria tea house, argues that although tea beverages may win out in terms of convenience, the joy in steeping tea oneself is in seeing the dried up tea leaves uncoil in the boiling water, bringing a kind of release from daily life as well as inspiring quiet and distant thoughts. "You'll never understand this feeling by drinking those fast-food teas," he concludes.
Despite this, from cola to coffee to oolong tea, at least we can say that in terms of soft drinks, young people have "come home."
[Picture Caption]
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A nice open space and low prices make "bubble tea" shops more accessible to the average guy, attracting young people in particular and drawing them back to the world of tea.
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After some modern repackaging, traditional Taiwanese teas like oolong and paochong are making a name for themselves in the intense battleground that is the local soft drink market.
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Packaged teas can be bought and consumed on the run, while you only have to yell "bring it on !" when you're thirsty. Come on partner, sit down and have a tea.
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Whether the container be a delicate little teapot in the hands of a literati, or the big aluminum household pot of yesteryear, tea never fails to evoke some nostalgia. (Sinorama file photo)
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It's all tea just the same, but in the hands of young people it becomes as diversified as the mixed drinks at a bar. It's a whole new future for tea!