ORGANI C MERCHANT

TEA TASTING GUIDE

p r e mium he r b al t e a f r ee o f additives & flavo uring s l o c a lly mad e

C A I C N O A CE RG RTIFIED O Tasting Guide

Hosting an in-store Tea Tasting is a wonderful way to engage your customers. Being both visually appealing as well as aromatically enticing, it attracts clientele to trial something new and linger longer all the while collecting a few more things for their shopping basket.

We have held countless tea tasting at events, expos, fair and market places over the past years. From this wealth of experience we have put together the following points. We hope you find them helpful.

1. The necessary equipment

To start with you will need clear a small space approx. 15cm X 25cm. This will allow you to set up the following elements:

1.1 The set-up

+ Tea Warmer

Our and tea warmers are ideal for making, presenting and serving the tea. When using a glass teapot customers can see the colour of the brewed tea (finished product).

We offer a superb set-up which consists of a T42 Teapot and a Tea Warmer, to keep the tea at a perfect temperature for a couple of hours.

• Scent Pots

In order for customers to be able to experience the tea with all senses, we recommend you set out one of our signature scent jars, respective to the tea you’re serving. Alternatively you can place a few teaspoons in your own small dish so your clients can see, smell and touch the herbs.

• Shelf Talkers

Customers will often want to know more about the tea, its ingredients and health benefits. Our carefully curated shelf talkers contain information such as the taste, ingredients and health benefits. This allows your clientele to make an informed decision about their tea selection. We recommend placing the shelf talkers in front of the smell pots.

All above items are available from our online ordering system. 1.2 Additionally you will need:

• Water • A kettle to boil water • Teaspoon • Tea light candles (1 candle per pot is typically enough for the whole day) • Trash bag / Bucket - for used sample cups • Organic Merchant loose leaf tea

We can provide complimentary samples serving approx. 2-4 x T42 tea pots worth of tea. These complimentary samples are available from our online ordering system. The quantity is limited to 1 per order, but if you require more stock no worries, just contact us before placing the order.

Sample Cups

Committed to being a sustainable business, we use and recommend the following Biopak Biocups. Both are biodegradable and commercially compostable.

• 4oz bio-paper cup for hot service - http://www.biopakshopau.com/4oz-paper-cup-leaf Carton of 2000 $98.30 + gst + shipping

• 30ml bio-plastic cup for cold use - http://www.biopakshopau.com/30ml-clear-cup Carton of 3000 $94.80 + gst + shipping

Some stockists host tasting daily or weekly and the above cartons serve them well. Alternatively we can provide the 4oz bio-paper for cost price of $3.85 per sleeve of 50 cups until you gain insight into individual requirements. These cups are available in our online ordering system in the category ‘tea tasting’.

The BioPak cups are just a recommendation, you can of course source samples cups from many other distributors. 2. How to brew the tea

2.1 In general

Most Organic Merchant teas are brewed in the following manner:

1-2 heaped teaspoon per cup - 100°C boiling water - Infuse for 4+ mins (taste to see whether strong enough)

When using the T42 set-up: • Place 2-3 heaped teaspoons into the glass . • Fill the jug section with boiling water. • Then, carefully lower the infuser into the jug, being mindful to go slowly as not to displace the boiling water. • Allow to infuse for a minimum of 5 minutes before removing the glass filter and discarding the used tea leave.

You can of course leave them in for a bit longer, anywhere up to 30 mins, to get a more fulsome flavour. Step-by-step guide with pictures: https://organicmerchant.com.au/product/t42-teapot/

2.2 Exceptions to the rule

Please follow the link below to have a look at our detailed guide on how to make the perfect cup: https://organicmerchant.com.au/how-to-make-loose-leaf-tea/

Please note: The instruction on the back of the packaging are just general instructions on how to brew the blend. Experiment with brewing temperature and time to find your personal sweet spot that you believe your customers will love. 3. Further Support

Most stockist set the tea tasting station up and allow customers to self-serve providing assistance as and when needed.

Not only are we dedicated to deliver a premium quality product, but we also love to support our stockists in every way possible. With your tea tasting event in mind, we have prepared the following items to further support you and your staff.

• In-store poster

We can provide ‘OM Tea Tastings - In store today’ poster. This can be placed in the window or in a high traffic area for the day to highlight the event to passers by.

• Post cards

Informative post card with further information about the range to better inform your clientele.

• Social media collaborations

Let your community know about your up-coming event.

If you let us know when you have arranged for your tea tasting event to take place, we will include a boosted post for you in our social media communications. If you have any suitable in-store images, please submit them to [email protected]. Alternatively we can use in-house images.

• Product educational sheets

To support your staff in assisted sales and answer some frequently asked questions, we have prepared Product Education Sheets for all our blends: http://bit.ly/info-about-OM-tea

These A4 sheets contain information such as ingredients, therapeutics and health benefits as well as other interesting facts.

They are purpose built to be printed and put in the staff room as an educational tool, so that together we can share the love of healthy herbal medicine and share the experience of wellness with all those who enter your stores. For further information or inquiries about hosting a Tea Tasting Event, we welcome you to contact us directly.

0412 354 054

[email protected]

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