New premium tea line from Lipton

by Nicole Weston, Posted Sep 19th 2006 @ 1:32PM

There are some coffee shops that have a wide variety of teas, usually loose-leaf, in addition to their selection of coffee and espresso drinks. On more than one occasion, I have seen customers become irate when trying to order tea, insisting that they "just want tea" as the girl behind the register gently tries to explain that there are, in fact, many kinds of tea. The shops should just keep a stash of Lipton teabags in the back for these types of customers because that is the generic tea that they are most often referring to. It is a tea that they have grown up with, though they often know little about it.

The mindset that there is but one type of tea is changing and the tea-drinking population is developing a newfound appreciation for different types of teas. As a result, even Lipton is coming out with some variety.

Lipton's new Pyramid Line comes in pyramidal bags and uses a blend of long-leaf teas and pieces of fruits for flavor, as well as to sweeten the drinks a bit for the tasters. Judging from the flavors - White Tea with Island Mango and Peach, Green Tea with Mandarin Orange, Red Tea with Harvest Strawberry and Passionfruit, Vanilla Caramel Truffle, Bavarian Wild Berry Tea, Black Pearl Tea - the company is trying to make the premium teas sound appealing, avoiding potentially intimidating words like rooibos (the red tea).

Suggested retail prices are low, much lower than most premium teas, so it's possible that a few drinkers of just "tea" will branch out and try them. Or, at the very least, acknowledge that they exist.

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Filed Under: Trends, Drink Recipes, New Products
Tags: black tea, drink, drinks, hot drink, lipton, loose leaf, new product, pyramid, pyramid line, tea, teas

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-19-2006 @3:34PM peggy said... i am an avid tea drinker, and while i applaud lipton's try at broadening the palate of the consumer, i'd love to see them improve upon their regular line. oversea, their tea is on par with brook bond and pg tips etc... but here we get weak and bland black tea. tea blends and herbals are good, but give me a good cuppa anytime!
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9-19-2006 @4:18PM Tulio said... Just like coffee. It is going to take us americans some time to acclimate to something that other countries have had for years.

True I don't like starbucks, but they are educating most americans on coffee.

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9-19-2006 @11:03PM Bruce Dearborn Walker said... I would like to see them put out a line of quality loose leaf teas; no bags, and certainly no pieces of fruit or odd bits of flavoring. Good quality tea can stand on it's own. This doesn't sound like premium tea, it sounds like generic blends with flavorings so they can brand it "Lipton."

I've had Lipton made for the overseas market, it is acceptable, but frankly, tea is so inexpensive that the very best is in reach of most Americans pocketbooks, barring the occasional thousand dollars per pound Darjeeling or such, which pricing is pretty much a publicity stunt. I get about a hundred cups per pound and pay ten or eleven dollars a pound for excellent quality loose leaf Assam; I bought a quarter pound of Estate Darjeeling once for about $25, it was good but not necessarily 'better' than other Darjeeling I have paid ten dollars a pound for.

I bet this stuff is way more expensive than called for, but some Americans will ignorantly pay it thinking that it is better. This sounds like just another marketing ploy.

Rant, rant.
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10-18-2006 @3:01PM Matt said... While the black pyramid Teas are awesome, the white with island mando and peach flavor has a poultry aroma with a hint of bongwater. I.E. It isn't very good. Stick with the black pearl, my new fav....
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