Spoilt for choice
Easy Way Tea’s mission is to be the most loved and valued tea beverage brand in the world.
I'm very much a foreigner to the EasyWay drinks so thanks to the Marketing Manager Katheryn Lui for contacting me to be part of a tasting panel to sample 3 new Floral Series flavours. I visited the Wynyard Station shop and while waiting for the samples to be made I quickly realised how popular this shop was and I assume all other EasyWay shops as well. There was a constant parade of customers who seemed to know exactly what they wanted and I likened it to how people focus on getting their coffees in the morning with little time and patience to satisfy their craving. The efficient and friendly staff were busy at work making up all the numerous combination requests with ease and diligence.
My first sample drink was the rather sweet Roselle Lemon Blended Ice which I slurped up with one of the thick straws which instantly gave me a stinging brain freeze — I didn't realise at the time I should have perhaps used the thin straw, lesson learnt now. The second drink was the Roselle Lemon Green Tea which I preferred — refreshing with a nice balance of the Green Tea although still quite sweet. The Osmanthus Black Tea was an interesting flavour which I'm not sure if I liked or not. The osmanthus crushed petals gave a slightly gritty texture but was less noticeable in the Osmanthus Blended Ice version. The Chrysanthemums Honey Green Tea was the least sweet and my least favourite out of all the drinks with a noticeable taste of the tea tannin. Flower petals sat at the bottom and my first suck of the straw pulled up a whole flower bud but it's probably because I was using the thick straws. The sweeter version of Chrysanthemums Blended Ice was more palatable for me.
After sampling the 6 drinks I was given the opportunity to have 4 of them made up again to take away back to work for further testing. The Roselle Lemon Blended Ice gave a few colleagues brain freezes as well for drinking it too fast but was quite popular. The Roselle Lemon Green Tea was well received and even though I didn't quite like the Chrysanthemums Honey Green Tea it did have its fans being not too sweet — I think it might be an acquired taste and it grew on me a little bit. With the myriad of combinations and flavours on offer I found the menu quite overwhelming as a first time visitor but I'm sure after time it's one of those places where you begin to decide on a regular favourite drink that satisfies your taste buds — it reminded me of Barry Schwatz's talk on 'The paradox of choice' which I recommend everyone find the time to watch. For me there certainly isn't any easy way of working out what I'd order or what I'd actually like so this taste testing has given me a better idea of how it all works.
Other visits to EasyWay:
• 15 Mar 2011 – ‘Fruit Pulp Party’ Taste Test
• 10 Jan 2011 – ‘Floral Series’ Taste Test
• 15 Mar 2011 – ‘Fruit Pulp Party’ Taste Test
• 10 Jan 2011 – ‘Floral Series’ Taste Test
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Lots of menu choices, Refreshing taste, Interesting flavours, Lots of locations
CONS: No seating at this shop, Watch out for brain freeze from Blended Ice drinks, Uses a lot of plastic packaging, Not sure about the sugar content and if all flavourings are natural or not
WORTH TRYING: Roselle Lemon Green Tea
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3 new flavours made 2 different ways each
Roselle Lemon Blended Ice
Menu — so many combinations to choose from I'm not sure where to start
Take away tray of 4
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