Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf hints at growing demand for gourmet tea
Following the trend of beer microbreweries and premium coffee, interest in superior tea is growing steadily. According to the director of tea at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, customers across its 850 outlets are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to choosing their brew. More specifically, customers seem to focus increasingly on the quality of tea itself, rather than on the health benefits, a feature mostly responsible for the sector's growth in recent years. Drinkers are keen to know where the tea is grown and how it is harvested and processed. Furthermore, there may be a deeper shift in lifestyle that is causing this newfound interest in tea. People prefer to take time to enjoy the process of drinking tea in order to unwind and socialize. For many, superior tea simply does not fit the intense on-the-go way of life.