Episode 10: The flavours
Let’s talk about flavours. How did the team come up with their original four flavours for the launch of the store? And how do they keep coming up with new flavours?
The experimentation with flavours started last year in SuAh and YuSung’s apartment’s kitchen, where they were perfecting their signature drinks. They wanted to start with drinks which were colourful and caught the attention of the customers (after all, you first eat with your eyes), and which were classic bubble tea flavours.
When the Got Tea team started serving their products at the events, they had narrowed down to a couple of flavours: Caramel Brown, Classic Black, Desi Chai, Santara Sparkle, Strawberry Sparkle and Green Matcha. Most of the flavours did well, except for Desi Chai.
This was a surprise to the team, who thought this would be a safe flavour. They assumed that a good chai would attract people to try this new experience of a bubble tea. But they quickly realized that people weren’t a big fan of cold chai, and neither did they like their chai messed with (so, no bubbles, just plain old chai).
When they decided to open their store, then, they decided to let go of the chai and go with a bolder flavour – Taro Purple. I personally don’t like taro – it is too thick, and the taste doesn’t work for me. So, I think this was a big risk. But it paid off – people were fascinated by the purple drink and loved the flavour too! This prompted the team to start experimenting with flavours and challenge themselves.
The team decided to start with just four menu items (Classic Black, Green Matcha, Caramel Brown and Taro Purple), and slowly started building up their menu. They wanted to introduce new flavours every month. They introduced Strawberry Blossom and Strawberry Sparkle in their second month, to see how the market responded to fruity flavours. The first new flavour of 2021 was Tropical Thai, a strong tea with bold flavours with a distinct orange colour.
The next two flavours that were introduced – Seoul Sesame and Scarlet Jamong – were inspired by Korea. The black sesame drink is a popular drink in Korea, and the team wanted to bring a slice of Korean flavours to Got Tea. They found the drink to be popular among those that enjoyed the Taro Purple.
Scarlet Jamong was earlier envisioned as an orange-flavoured drink, but YuSung switched it up, inspired by his favourite drink in Korea, a grapefruit, honey and black tea concoction. But instead of using syrup, the Got Tea team went for fresh fruit, upgrading the drink and giving a fresh twist.
The team hopes to keep expanding the menu, adding a flavour every month, to ensure there is something for everyone’s taste buds. The team is working on snacks that go well amazingly well with bubble teas – look out for updates on Instagram!
What is your favourite flavour? How many have you tried? Head over to B-6 Market in Safdarjung Enclave to try a new flavour!
This journal is an ongoing series tracing the story of Got Tea, the latest bubble tea store launched in India, located in South Delhi. Want to know what happens next? Stay tuned – new episodes come out every week!
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