It’s fair to say that Starbucks has brought good quality coffee to the
masses (a dubious proposition, but good enough for now). So why
hasn’t the same happened with tea? What’s so inherent about coffee
that means that it has been able to spawn a whole slew of bars
dedicated to it - whereas tea-focused bars don’t seem to exist. The
concept of high-tea is alive in the poshest of hotels. But where to
get an interesting cup of tea on the high street? On any high street
for that matter?

I read a very interesting article in the New Yorker sometime ago
talking about the difference between mustard and ketchup, and that
with the introduction of Grey Poupon in the USA the mustard market
started to become heavily segmented. But ketchup - nobody’s managed to
do it.

McDonald’s has been selling cheap burgers for years - and in the last
few years we’ve had an explosion of “posh burger” joins, Gourmet
Burger Kitchen and Hache to name but two. Apparently Burger King are
about to have an £85 burger that they’re due to launch, and no doubt
it will sell out really quickly. So for burgers it works.

Think Kentucky Fried Chicken and Nando’s - for fried chicken it worked.

Walls and Haagen Dazs - ice-cream managed to do it.

But for tea - it’s not happened yet.

Anyone want to take up the challenge for the humble cuppa? I’d love it
if you would! Interesting green / white / black teas, chai, even BoBo
milshakes (wiki it, they’re delicious if you can find them), arabic
mint tea. Hey, I’ve even had a stab at the menu!