Tea or Coffee???

[Simple_Graduate]

http://www.businessworld.in/SEP0406/market.asp

Generation-X is all about trends. With the coffee culture catching up, there is a sudden rise in the number of coffee shops, especially in urban India. Today, there are around 500 Barista and Café Coffee Day outlets across the country. And the loser in the hot beverages segment has been good old tea.
In 2003, consumption of coffee was about 20 per cent less than that of tea. Since then, however, there has been a gradual decline in tea consumption. Last year, it went down by 5 million kg from 239.31 million kg the year before. Now the tea industry is fighting back.

It has opened two flanks against coffee. First, it is trying to counter the cafes with swanky retail outlets, the so-called tea bars. Second, it is coming up with a variety of flavours for those who want something different from the standard stuff.

Notice the array of specialised teashops in bookstores or even in coffee shops. Take Cha Bar in Oxford bookstore, an Apeejay Group initiative, or Tea Centre, a stand alone store in Mumbai, or Passion Tea’s ‘Passion My Cup of Tea’. They are all driven by the single goal of ‘making tea drinking a special occasion’. Priti Paul, director, Apeejay Surrendra Group, which owns Cha Bar, explains: “We are primarily a tea drinking nation. With the changes in lifestyle, we no longer offer the same beverage when guests come over or we go out. So, we need to make tea drinking an an occasion by itself.”
Says Dilip Singh, manager, Tea Centre: “We wish to give customers a pleasurable and classy experience, hence a special shop and over 200 variants, which one won’t find anywhere else.” More importantly, tea companies are fighting back with more variety, better ambience and more style. You just need to read the menu at the Char Bar in Oxford Book Store. It has 67 varieties of tea on offer. There is even a ‘cutting chai’, the staple tea you get on the streets of Mumbai.

The sudden shift in the tea-selling environment has changed the way companies look at their tea business. Be it Tata Tea, Brook Bond or Lipton, all are trying their hand at variants. “The no-mess way of drinking tea is becoming more popular,” says Sangeeta Talwar, executive director (marketing), of the Rs 486-crore Tata Tea. The company is planning to launch tea bags with Indian and fruit flavours. With flavoured tea, teabags, tea vending machines, iced tea and special tea bars, companies are focusing on reintroducing tea as a trendy social beverage, making it an urban contemporary experience away from the dhabas.

Much of this increases the ‘fun quotient’ of tea, helping it connect with younger people. More importantly, it also helps push up margins. So, the same cuppa, which would cost you Rs 5 from a roadside chaiwala, comes for about Rs 50 in plush new teashops. Whether it is enough to take on the might of coffee, especially after the Starbucks of the world come in, is not clear. But, for now, it is giving tea much-needed appeal among the Gen-X.

So which is it? Tea for me.

[JGuru]

Sometimes Tea, sometimes Coffee. Sometimes none!!

[QwertyManiac]

I drink all 3, Mornin Milk, Afternoon Tea, Night Coffee

[Sourabh]

wow, nice topic. Makes me recollect the ad campaign's which went on a not so long ago on tele. 'Definitely, a tea drinker' or something on those lines.

For the records, I am a proud tea drinker. Coffee is OK, for a change. Tea is always the preferred beverage. A few weeks back, there were these small pin-up's on many restaurants in Mumbai telling about the health benefits of tea under a public awareness campaign by the Tea Board of India or something. I dont recollect the url of the website, would update it when I hit that spot the next time!

[led_shankar]

waaah! what a nice friendly debate!

Hmmmmmmmmm
High quality tea is the best, but anything below that is trumped by coffee

@qwerty: ew what is your pic supposed to be?

[QwertyManiac]

its Poring from Ragnarok

[Vishal Gupta]

At morning : Tea
After taking bath : Tea
At evening : Tea
At night (Before dinner) : Tea

[go_gamez]

i love lemon ice tea..and cold coffee ..in collg everyday..and at home its tea all the way !!

[blueshift]

i m definately a tea drinker but not more than 2 cups per day.

[SolidSnake]

Tea at home and Coffee in office.

[ravi_9793]

i wil prefer Tea...becoz it is less harmful.

[drgrudge]

I love Coffee. In fact my mom makes great coffee that we were made to love coffee. One thing that's not good about coffee is that if it's not made good, then you'll not like it. Tea on the other hand, even if it's made OK, we can still have it.

I like Coffee flavours and varieties like Cappuccino, frappé or cold coffee. I love them more than the iced tea or the lemon tea. Coffee IMO is suave, Svelte and posh.


By the way, I've added a poll.

[freakanomics]

Guys.....i doubt this is the weirdest question ever posted in a forum.....any way it is good that people are so imaginative......my say is coffee......tea is boring for me.......i mean just for me.......A CUP OF COFFEE ON A COLD MORNING IS THE BEST WAY TO START A DAY/////

[led_shankar]

@Dr Grudge: Thanks for not putting any silly (can't decide)/(I like both) options in the poll

And @thread originator: totally repping yopu for this poll (I've just come for the horrifying "national language" poll)

[praka123]

I Love Tea(chaaya!).but more in kerala like me drink sharja shake

[led_shankar]

50-50



very nice!

Lets hope it stays that way

[Vyasram]

is there an option called none. i drink cocoa milk

also add another option "i do not drink milk" for peta guyz

also a funny website www.milksucks.com

[mAYHEM]

Tea when its hot and Coffee on cooler days.Hot Coffee tastes better in winter.
So its 60:40

[crack_head]

Coffee

[Sykora]

I don't mind tea, but given a choice between the two, I'd probably come down on coffee.

[led_shankar]

Originally Posted by Vyasram

is there an option called none. i drink cocoa milk

also add another option "i do not drink milk" for peta guyz

also a funny website www.milksucks.com

You do not need milk for coffee/tea

I have coffee absolutely black

[mediator]

Cofffffeeeeeeeeeee......anyday anytime! Neways there shud be an option like Juice "Ganne ka juice or musaamii ka or whateva". I wud have voted for that. When I was in Thailand I used to have Juice only instead of coffee in the morning and at any other time....but just sometimes coffee to save my bones!!!

[drgrudge]

Hm.. no other options will do. Tea or Coffee. No other choice, choose btw this two.

[led_shankar]

^

Thank You

[Vyasram]

Originally Posted by led_shankar

You do not need milk for coffee/tea

I have coffee absolutely black

but it doesn't taste that good

[led_shankar]

^

I like it

well, actually you get used to it....
__________
Plus: tea without milk, but with lemon juice is very nice.....hai my mouth is watering
=9

[ilugd]

doesn't matter. Anything that is hot and brings me out of my computer's monitor radiation induced daze is ok.

[led_shankar]

^

ooof horrible thought

but i recommend black coffe especially for you ilugd

[TechGuru#1]

JUNIOR HORLICKS for ME!

[praka123]

Anyone there drinkin' Kashmiri shirchai(Salt Tea)?
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/faqs/chaikash.html