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cause of the typical matching of ‘green and red’, technology to supplement the tea drinking
we chose Dahongpao (Red Rope Tea).” BASAO space.” In BASAO’s design philosophy, all their
team told us. As a representative of Fujian Rock works are the different interpretation of mod-
Tea, Dahongpao is a type of Oolong with strong ern specialty tea, – being tea leaves, tea bags,
flavor, enough to balance the sweetness of milk cold brews, chajito or tea ice cream – in line
products in ice cream. With coffee, chewy bub- with their expectation of “one brew in a life-
bles and an upside-down “dropped” cone, the time”. Before going online, BASAO took 7 years
drink reached a higher stage of texture. to refine its supply line, setting their foot in
core tea production areas from Nepal to Japan
Localized Modernity and from Wuyi Mountain to Ali Mountain.
With about 40 tea gardens as partners, it even
“This ‘innovation’ has been practised in set the same picking and processing standard
Hong Kong, but this time, we brought back a for tea leaves and tea bags.
different flavor.” Rooted in Xiamen, BASAO “The only difference (between tea leaves
took a courageous step to set up an offline store and tea bags) is the way to drink. The quality
in Hong Kong, a metropolis where modernity shouldn’t give way to convenience.” In their
and tradition coexist and conflict. With opinion, it is better to live in the present, in-
avant-garde efforts, BASAO replied to the stead of defining what a good life should be.
It starts with the moment challenge of “modernizing specialty tea” with Within the short time of enjoying a cup of tea,
one can find back the inspirational moments
its own answers. In its tenth anniversary, it
of taking a set of exquisite came back to its birthplace to launch a new that blurred by fast urban pace, and remember
store. “The urban tea lifestyle derives from
the details they have neglected. This is the “true
tray and hand-made cups. tradition but emerges to a more fashionable essence”, which hides behind an exquisite tea
bag and decoded by the 3 brewing factors: time,
look. We don’t want to limit tea with the tra-
ditional way of hot brew, and we will also add temperature and water.

Wellness and Frost Version of Tea Hongyu stood out because of its unique tonality.
Mindfulness Tea-flavored ice cream is not very uncommon, as
In the tourism realm, it is known that Andaz Matcha and Oolong tea flavors are frequenters of
The urban tea lifestyle
never toes the line. As a luxury hotel brand of freezers. Different from these common teas,
derives from tradition
but emerges with a Hyatt Group, Andaz is named after an Urdu word Hongyu presents a special mix of cool mint and
more fashionable look. meaning “ego style”, delivering an innovative rich cinnamon, showing a clear layer of flavors after
interpretation of urban lifestyle in London, New simple brewing. With cold cream, it gives a feeling
York, Tokyo, Seoul and other cities. The branch like an afternoon zephyr caressing a leaf.
in Xintiandi, Shanghai, even removes the bound- In less than a month, BASAO brought its
ary of architecture space, parking a dining car in tea ice cream to Two-hand DIY Market, the sec-
the middle of the hotel plaza. During the Mid-Au- ond station of its summer parade. In mid-July,
tumn Festival, the rich aroma of fresh pork under sinister sunrays, Lefor KAFFE was ready
mooncakes left the car and white collars working to set up its new store. Its friendship with BASAO
nearby and even online visitors were taken aback. heated up, offering a packaged creation of tea,
For sure, the dining car in Andaz Xiamen is coffee and ice cream.
not from Shanghai, but also a destination created “Our inspiration came from our greetings
by Andaz. Sugar Pavilion, its all-day MIX social in the market. The owner of Lefor KAFFE came
canteen which has inherited the fashionable and to our stall with a transparent can to take some
modern gene, joined hands with BASAO to pres- ice cream. We joked with him, ‘Just pour a bit of
ent “Riyuetan Hongyu Black Tea Ice Cream”. coffee in and you will have a cup of Affogato’.”
“As the Food and Beverage Director in this Then the cooperation followed, but the idea of
Andaz comes from Taiwan, the neighbouring prov- “Dropped Ice Cream” was decided at the last
ince of Xiamen, we feel it meaningful to choose minute. “We instantly decided on the partner for
Taiwan Tea.” BASAO team said. The Riyuetan their SOE called Watermelon Champagne. Be-

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