Dhiraj & Priti Arora, Co-Founders of Karma Kettle, (https://www.karmakettle.com) share their predictions about what’s big for Tea in 2021
Karma Kettle is a specialty tea company that prides itself on being one of India’s finest tea blenders. The brand offers an expansive selection of thoughtfully-crafted teas and tisanes designed to rejuvenate the senses and elevate the mind.
- Eco-friendly sustainable packaging
2020 brought about a further awakening in the need to move towards a more sustainable future. 2021 will see tea companies actually begin rolling out eco-friendly sustainable packaging – biodegradable teabags, muslin tea bags, improved packaging in paper tins and removing plastics from outer packaging.
- Wellness teas and Organic chais
The wellness industry witnessed a surge in 2020 and this trend will continue into 2021. In India, the market will see more organic tea varieties being introduced. Customers are now more educated than ever before and don’t mind spending more for organic varietals of tea.
- Cascara blends
Cascara or ‘husk’ in Spanish is the pulped dried skin of the coffee cherry. This tea is very low in caffeine (80-100 mg/l), which is almost 1/5th of the amount in coffee and lower than many other teas. Cascara is delicious – it has notes of stone fruit, caramel, hazelnut and rose hip. This tea is ideal for those who are either sensitive to caffeine or do not like the taste. We see this tea becoming very popular in the New Year.
- Cold brews
Cold brew tea is made by infusion only, so the caffeine is almost half of what it would be, if tea were boiled in a regular manner. It is easier on the stomach, and also has a cleaner, less bitter flavour. We see cold brew teas gaining further popularity in 2021.
- Cooking with tea and tea cocktails
Although cooking with tea and incorporating tea into cocktails has been very popular in the West, it’s a slowly-developing trend in India, which we believe will really catch on in 2021. This is in part because of how versatile tea is, complementing our 5 senses and working well with so many different cuisines.
