Tea Cocktails Create Holiday Buzz

This is an excerpt from one of my World Tea News articles. To find out more about my freelance writing or to ask me about writing copy for your tea business, please contact me at vee at veetea dot com. Thank you.

Trend-setting bars, hotels and tea rooms are going beyond the classic hot toddy with innovative tea cocktails. Meanwhile, alcohol-free tea “mocktails” are gaining ground as festive alternatives to cocktails. World Tea News investigates to get you ahead of the curve on this trend, just in time for the holidays.

Money Matters

It’s no wonder customers pick tea cocktails and mocktails with names like Black Market Manhattan and Silk Road for a sense of adventure and a hint of the exotic. While their enticing names and descriptions, as well as unusual ingredients and combinations, make them exciting menu additions for regular customers, it’s their profit margins and ability to draw new customers that make them increasingly popular amongst tea room owners.

Dawn Cameron, owner of NYC’s Sanctuary T, said tea cocktails make up about 20 percent of her overall sales (including food), and 60 percent of cocktails sold are tea-based. She said sales of tea cocktails, priced at $12 each, have doubled since Sanctuary T opened in August 2007. Master mixologist Benoit Cornet said the company’s profit margin for tea cocktails is on par with hot teas, which retail at $4-6 per cup.

Chris Cason, Tavalon’s co-owner, has worked with companies like Hotel Gansevoort and Absolut Vodka to develop tea cocktails and serve them at events like Fashion Week and the Grammys. He said they attract new (often young) customers who wouldn’t normally drink tea, then convert them into regular traffic. At present, about 10 percent of Cason’s wholesale revenue is from teas used for tea cocktails and mocktails, and he expects that number to grow rapidly in the next three to four years. Cason added that until tea cocktails are readily available, establishments can continue to charge premiums for them.

Amy March, co-owner of Austin’s The Steeping Room, said their non-alcoholic tea mocktails retail at $3.75 each and comprise about 5 percent of total sales (including retail and food). March said tea mocktails have a loyal following, and about one in three customers order them. They also have a strong word-of-mouth draw for new customers, especially amongst the youth market, said March.

Soon, you’ll be able to read the remainder of this article on my portfolio site, Copy & Taste.