Homage to Tea
Oil on Canvas, 12"/20"
©2002 Gavin Spielman
• Sold
Contact
*As seen in Newsweek Japan
The Green Tea-ing of America
By Lee Danuff
Gavin Spielman stopped drinking coffee five years ago. "I was getting
panic attacks from coffee," the 32-year-old artist remembers. Spielman
had enjoyed green tea since he was a teenager and often drank it when
he went out for Japanese food. "I found green tea was the one thing
that helped me wean myself off of my daily double-shot espressos,"
he says, "and I've felt good ever since." Nowadays green tea
has become practically an obsession for Spielman. If he's traveling,
he makes sure to carry his own green tea bags for fear that he won't
find any to his liking. And if you peer into his kitchen cabinets, you're
sure to find at least 50 boxes of various tea bags--plus a whole lot
of loose-leaf tea. He's even created an oil painting called "Homage
to Tea" to show his admiration for the beverage. "Green tea
leaves me with a clear head and a less anxious feeling," he says.
For centuries, Japan and China have been touting the benefits of green
tea. But it's only been in the last decade that researchers in the West
have finally begun to take notice. And while you might not find as many
varieties of teas in your average American kitchen as Spielman has,
they're no longer the rarity they used to be. Studies suggest that active
ingredient in the tea leaves--polyphenols--produce antioxidants that
could possibly stave off cancer, help you lose weight or even give your
skin a healthy glow. Says Beverly Clevidence , photochemical expert
at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, "Antioxidants aren't
needed to survive, but they might help us against chronic diseases like
cancer. Isn't it worth it to give it a try?"
The answer from many Americans these days is a resounding "yes."
In a country where people are always searching for the "next best
thing," green tea seems poised to lay claim to the title. Says
Barbara Graves from The Republic of Tea company based in Novato, California:
"We've seen household penetration of green tea rise from 2 percent
to 24 percent in a matter of three years (from 1997-2000), and it might
even be 30 percent now." And half of the people buying the tea,
she says, are drinking it for health reasons. According to The Tea Council
of the USA, since 1992 green tea sales in the U.S. have increased tenfold,
from $20 million to $200 million today. Green tea has affected nearly
all categories of the food and beverage industry and beyond, showing
up everywhere from the average local convenience store to green tea
treatments at the hottest spas. Musician Moby opened up his first tea
salon in New York City last year. Experts say you need to drink about
4 -5 cups a day to reap the antioxidant benefit, but for whose who don't
want to be bothered, Nutrisystem has developed green-tea gum and mints
that they claim have the same effectiveness as drinking the tea itself.
Marianne Novelle, owner of the trendy T Salon in Manhattan, believes
that green tea is part of the whole trend toward health consciousness:
"You just don't run out of yoga class and have a coffee,"
she says. "You are going to have green tea." She also suggests
that a love of things Asian may play a part in the boom. "People
are buying Japanese furniture and creating Zen gardens in their houses.
Japanese green tea may be the next step." Jody Rudman , owner of
Tempest Tea in Dallas, agrees. "People come in because they think
they should be drinking green tea because of all the publicity, and
then they get hooked on the taste." Rudman usually starts her customers
out with bubble tea; a Taiwanese favorite that incorporates tea with
tapioca pearls, and then helps them work their way up to traditional
green tea.
Yet the big question remains: is green tea here to stay or is just another
fad? Beverage consultant Ben Zaricor votes for "here to stay."
Even giant Coca-Cola is looking into the green tea market, he says.
"This isn't a marketplace that is going away. It's getting stronger."
And yet, he also admits it's definitely got to have more of a "cool"
factor--including better marketing and advertising--to sell it to the
younger set. Also, experts concur that many Americans think basic green
tea is too stringent. To make it more palatable to American taste buds,
big beverage companies like Snapple, Arizona Beverage and Tazo (found
at your local Starbucks) add citric flavors to their green teas. But
as Heidi Kothe-Levie at the chic, and very popular, Ito En tea shop
in New York says, "People are much more educated now. The more
blended teas they drink, the more traditional teas they want to taste."
Now, she says, customers ask specifically for traditional Japanese green
teas.
Whether it's a long-term trend or a flash in the pan, Spielman is glad
to see so many teashops popping up all over his downtown neighborhood.
"I'm just happy that green tea is on the rise," he says. Apparently,
so do many other Americans.
General Editor
Newsweek Japan
251 West 57th Street | New York | NY | 10019
|