This morning I read an article by Jacob Jeber, son of Phil Jeber of Philz Coffee. If you haven’t heard of Philz yet, you probably will very soon. They just received a huge infusion of venture capital from people who normally invest only in technology, people like top executives in companies such as Yahoo. These folks are based in the Silicon Valley/Bay Area, but now, with pockets full of growth money, are planning to expand across the country.
In this article, Jacob talked about what is referred to as the waves of coffee. The first wave he mentioned was the Folgers and Maxwell House generation wave, then the Starbucks and Peets wave, and now the third wave . . . small artisan, hand-crafted roasters and coffee houses, in which Philz is often included. He differentiated Philz by pointing out several unique selling propositions they have: paying after you order from a personal barista; not offering any espresso or espresso drinks (many told Phil he was an idiot when he told them his intention to leave out espresso); and one or two more, such as not allowing customers to add their own condiments, but rather having the baristas pour in the real, heavy, (some guess high-fat) “manufacturing cream” and adding the brown – yes, brown – sugar and letting the customer taste it to make sure it meets their specifications.
It made me think about the waves of tea. For this, I would include companies like Lipton and Tetley in the first wave, Celestial Seasonings and Yogi’s for the second, and the third wave would be tea brands like Teavana, Argo, and Adagio which combine a store and/or cafe concept in a contemporary environment, unlike traditional tea-houses.
In the last few years, tea brewing technology has made possible what may become yet another wave, wherein the method of brewing tea will play a large part in future concepts, even though some already have commercial by-the-cup brewers in a test store or a few selected stores.
So, what will distinguish one from another as more and more tea-houses open across the country and the world? What will be the next truly revolutionary (not a simple copycat of what’s hip) concept, the one people really do get excited, emotional, loyal, and fanatic about? What innovation will bring to tea the likes of Philz Phanatics?
Charles Cain said here years ago that the Starbucks of Tea would be Starbucks, and, as usual, Charles was right. Starbucks bought Teavana and they are adding the cafe concept to some test stores and plan to roll it out. But where is the next concept that will be absolutely new, fresh, and unique? What will set it apart from the rest? Who will take a centuries-old beverage and turn their brand into a cult following, be it one store that’s talked about nation-wide, or an international roll-out? What will be the one the foodies blog about, the one the others in the business come to get a peek at, and ideas from?
Philz has figured that out, or stumbled on it. Of course, that’s after decades of tweaking and experimenting. Great things just don’t happen overnight. Phil, once an immigrant grocer, is about to become a national coffee icon. If you can figure that out with tea, you have found the pot of gold every tea company is looking for. I don’t think it’s happened yet. But I believe it will.
Images courtesy of the contributor.
Philz has not made it to Oregon yet. We do have a large number of artisan coffee roasters however. Interesting about the VC money as I see that as good news for the tea industry. It will be nice to get some of their money ear marked for tea.
From what I’ve heard about your tea brewing machine, I think it’s possible that this can be a factor that in the next wave of tea excitement. One of my frequent haunts for tea in Hood River is Ten Speed Coffee because most of my friends are coffee drinkers and love their coffee AND they offer Smith Tea so although I’d prefer to go to the one tea shop in town, I meet them at Ten Speed. I’ve taught one of the servers that the water they provide for all of the tea is just too hot for their green and white offerings. He now automatically provides me with a chaser of cool water to add to my filled cup of steaming water before I unwrap the tea bag and start steeping. So they got their brand of tea right but with your machine, they’d get the whole thing right. Also, with your machine, they’ll be able to make that final switch to actually using whole leaf tea vs the tea bag. I just don’t understand why artisan coffee shops and fine restaurants don’t get it. Is it laziness? They take such care and attention to their coffee and food, down to the ingredients, yet miss the boat when it comes to tea. I think the tea industry is too far along at this point to settle for sub optimal conditions.
You’ve definitely got me thinking Diane.
Hi Michele…you were into tea appliances years and years ago with your own project, so I feel we have a kinship there. Philz is heading for a number of cities, and I’m sure they’ll make it to Portland at some point. I haven’t personally tried it but I plan to.
Well, we finally got to Philz and the coffee was all we had heard it was. And the most friendly, ‘you don’t have to be cool to be here’ attitude by the baristas. Very impressed. Iced Mint Mojito..amazing, Ether, light cream, no sugar…my husband was over the moon.