Just how hot is this humble drink now? Going by the growing number of boutique tea houses, trendy artisanal brands and cool millennials giving it a stylish makeover in Singapore, it’s the new coffee. Keng Yang Shuen reports on why you should be making it your next cuppa.
Call it the third wave of tea if you will, today, the traditional brew is no longer consumed by your parents’ generation or as a quotidian coffee shop drink. In recent years, there has been a slew of independent outfits, restaurateurs and foreign players getting onto the tea scene.
Kenny Leong, a tea consultant and freelance writer, credits the rise in visibility to TWG Tea, the Singapore-based success story that first came onto the luxury tea scene in 2008, but has since expanded to more than a dozen territories globally. With its savvy blend of marketing and design – tin canisters recall that of Old World trade products and cafes done up like English tea rooms – the brand modernised tea drinking and made it into a lifestyle.
Since then, there’s been a glut of brands entering the market. Juan Tea, Antea Social and Camellia are the newbies, all launched within the last year (and to be available online next month: Kindred Teas), with each putting its own spin on the brew.
Some focus on the health aspect. Camellia, helmed by Yau Nga Kwan, specialises in loose leaf black and oolong tea sourced from farms in the Wuyi Mountain region. According to Afrose Parveen, a nutritionist with Eat Right Nutrition Consultancy, loose leaves contain higher concentrations of catechin – a plant-based antioxidant that’s been linked to lower risks of heart disease, cancer and diabetes – than tea bags.
This story is from the May 2017 edition of Female Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2017 edition of Female Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Glam Rocks
Lying At The Heart Of Celine Beaute, The First Cosmetics Line From The House Of Celine, Is A Decidedly Romantic Notion: That Makeup Should Be A Luxurious Ritual.
mother!
FOR AN EDITION CENTRED AROUND NOSTALGIA, HOW COULD WE NOT HEAR FROM THE ONES WHO'VE SEEN THEIR RESPECTIVE INDUSTRIES CHANGE OVER TIME? SIX RENOWNED AND BELOVED CULTURAL AUTHORITIES IN FASHION, DESIGN AND CULTURE IN SINGAPORE SHARE WHAT THEY'VE LEARNT, WHAT THEY MISS AND WHAT WHAT KEEPS THEM GOING.
the art of reflection
DICTIONARY.COM DEFINES NOSTALGIA AS \"A WISTFUL DESIRE TO RETURN IN THOUGHT OR IN FACT TO A FORMER TIME IN ONE'S LIFE, TO ONE'S HOME OR HOMELAND, OR TO ONE'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS\". KENG YANG SHUEN ZEROES IN ON FIVE SINGAPORE ARTISTS INTERPRETING THIS OFTEN-INTANGIBLE QUALITY AS WELL AS THE NOTION OF TIME AND MEMORY ONLY TO EVOKE POIGNANCY, CURIOSITY AND EVEN PLENTY OF LAUGHS.
thank you for the memories
GEN Z IS OFTEN SAID TO BE A NOSTALGIA-INFATUATED BUNCH. THE SIX DIGITAL NATIVES FEATURED HERE LIVE UP TO THAT REPUTATION WITH THEIR COLLECTION OF CLOTHES, ACCESSORIES, TOYS, OBJECTS AND MORE THAT DATE BACK TO A TIME IN WHICH THEY WERE GROWING UP OR IN SOME CASES HAVE NEVER EVEN LIVED THROUGH. PAIGE BOON GETS THEM TO OPEN UP THEIR ARCHIVES AND ABOUT THEIR LOVE OF YESTERYEAR.
Super Natural
Who Better To Tell Us More About The N°1 De Chanel Revitalising Eye Serum - The Latest Addition To Chanel's N°1 De Chanel Skincare Collection That Promises To Give Peepers A Fresh, "Wide Awake" Look-than The Maison's Doe-eyed Ambassador And Face Of The Line, Minji Of Newjeans?
THE INITIATIVE: new bahru
EVEN BEFORE IT'S SET TO OPEN OFFICIALLY NEXT YEAR, NEW BAHRU HAS BECOME THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT AND VISITED NEW LIFESTYLE DESTINATION WE'VE HAD IN DECADES FOR ITS AMBITIOUS CONCEPT: A SOPHISTICATED CULTURAL PLAYGROUND TO DISCOVER AND SUPPORT MADE-IN-SINGAPORE CREATIVE BUSINESSES SPANNING F&B TO FASHION. HERE'S WHY ITS SUCCESS MEANS A WIN FOR ALL.
THE INITIATIVE: proud spaces
FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY IN SINGAPORE HAS A PERMANENT, PHYSICAL SPACE WHERE ITS MEMBERS CAN HEAD TO ANYTIME OF THE YEAR TO SEEK BOTH ADVICE AND SOLACE, NETWORK, ATTEND ACTIVITIES THAT EDUCATE AND EMPOWER THEM, AND EVEN STAGE THEIR OWN.
THE INITIATIVE: lucky hall
FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS OR SO, THIS UNUSUAL SET-UP HAS BEEN GIVING YOUNG CREATIVES A LEG UP IN ORGANISING THEIR OWN EVENTS (INDUSTRY ADVICE, SERVICES AT CONCESSION RATES, ZERO RENT). SOON, THE CURTAINS WILL COME DOWN ON IT. HERE'S WHY IT REMAINS THE MAIN EVENT.
THE INITIATIVE: alt-gps
ZACHARY DESKER BELIEVES THAT SINGAPORE'S UNDERGROUND MUSIC SCENE SHOULD BE A TOURIST ATTRACTION. HE TELLS US WHY AND HOW HE'S MAKING THIS HAPPEN ON HIS OWN TIME AND DIME.
THE INITIATIVE: the fruit basket
DRAG AS AN ART FORM HAS BEEN UNDERGOING A CULTURAL RENAISSANCE IN SINGAPORE RECENTLY.