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style tea drinks,” says Liu, “or it is more than different flavors. “The Chengdu Three-Can-
that. Our target has been specialty tea drinks on Ice Swirl is inspired by a local tradition-
and specialty coffee since the very begin- al snack. We have refined the ingredients,
ning.” As of now, QUCHASHAN offers 12 choosing glutinous rice made from the na-
white-labeled and 6 black-labeled teas. The tive rice seeds produced by the Dong people
Pu’er tea, black tea, green tea and matcha in the mountains because their cultivation
used in mixed drinks are high-quality mate- methods have not changed for thousands of
rials selected and tasted by the team which years.” says Liu. “Many of the quality natu-
personally visited the place of origin. Their ral ingredients are not even well known to
quality is ensured by the dual inspection of the locals, and all we can do is to use some
tea gardens and QUCHASHAN, and some of our product lines to let more people know
come with a great brew index which local about these flavorsome goodies that are
tea farmers feel proud of. hidden in the mountains.”
Compared to those newcomers who go What’s more, QUCHASHAN offers
back to sell tea because of the popularity of some cold brew tea that “only adults can
foam tea, QUCHASHAN maintains a consis- admire”, welcoming every experienced tea
tent attitude towards tea leaves: using a drinker to test the high quality of the leaves
traditional brew method, selling tea leaves and pure intention of the team.
from their place of origin, and inheriting the
flavor of Chinese tea. That’s why they design
a tea drink menu suitable for customers of
all ages, trying to mix tea with milk, juice,
alcohol and other elements.
Fresh milk tea is a pure crash between
tea and milk. Born in a time when creamer
was the main flavor of milk tea, “We tried
all the milk we could find in the market and
experimented with many recipes, in order
Tea drinks to taste Never stop in some twenty years In 2006, the powder tea drinks – once to present nice milk tea made of fresh milk.”
good, naturally, can not the dominant choice in street stalls for stu- After that, they have also devoted such a
be separated from the passion to testing the water for brewing.
source of good tea The year of 2000 kicked off a new cen- dents – started to stagger due to questions on Now, every store is equipped with a scien-
leaves. tury and a new millennium. For Liu, it was a the nutrition of popular vegetable fat powder.
pivotal starting point. In that year, he and Therefore, QUCHASHAN replaced creamer tific purification system for water exclusive-
ly for everyday brew.
Wang Yu founded the tea drink store QUCHA- with fresh milk. In 2008, milk tea temporar-
They have also taken into account the
SHAN (宜北町), a 20-square-meter space ily faded away among Chinese consumers who
consumption characteristics of youth for
loaded with the then-popular bubble tea and advocated brewing tea by oneself, making tea
novelty and easy recording on social media,
a rest zone for customers. In 2022, the team bags and flower-fruit tea a common item on
designing a series of drinks with landscape
with the brand-new name of QUCHASHAN shopping lists. In this context, QUCHASHA
patterns. Taking cues from traditional Chi-
has gone beyond the limit of the original stall added traditional iron pot brew into its stores,
nese ink paintings, different selected ingre-
shop, evolving as a local brand with 16 inde- inviting its customers to have a sip of culture.
dients such as black sesame, fragrant gluti-
pendent stores. “During the 22 years, we have After 2010, the brand went beyond Guizhou
nous rice and matcha are mashed together
been working on how to make the brand more and passed Chengdu and Chongqing to learn
with ice cubes. The process draws out gra-
popular,” claims Liu in his retrospect. customs in Southwestern China and collect
dient layers, stacking up lines more poetic
Though 16 is not a huge two-digit num- detailed market feedback. They developed
than tiger stripes, resembling natural scenes
ber, it is heavy upon the shoulders of Liu and new ideas about store type and bar counter
like Danxia landforms, reflections in lakes
his team. QUCHASHAN was born in the youth design, and also explored more extensive
and clouds in mountains. The series of Hand
of the post-80s generation and childhood for possibilities of tea drinks.
Shake, Bubble Hi and Ice Swirl all comes
the post-90s. Despite the coming and going
of its peers, the brand has always stood here Good flavor from locally sourced from everyday food of the Southwest. The
while the young customers became adults. materials latter one is innovated from the ice syrup,
a Guiyang snack, with unique stories in
Engraved in the design of product, menu and
store is the life memory of these generations. “We don’t take QUCHASHAN as new-
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