Let’s begin this conversation by pausing to share in a brief sensory experience. Have you ever walked into a space and as you open the door, your senses are hit with the most delightful scent? You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it’s lovely—complex, slightly floral, a little earthy. Perhaps you even detect a hint of sweetness, like honeysuckle.
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Let’s begin this conversation by pausing to share in a brief sensory experience. Have you ever walked into a space and as you open the door, your senses are hit with the most delightful scent? You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it’s lovely—complex, slightly floral, a little earthy. Perhaps you even detect a hint of sweetness, like honeysuckle.
You take a deeper breath to fully experience and enjoy the smell when you sense that you’re feeling calmer. Tension that you carried into that space starts to disappear. Soothing, tranquil thoughts take over your mind, and your whole body starts to unwind and relax.
Now imagine that smell is not just a fragrance wafting around the space but something that you can ingest, taking this sensory experience from smell to taste and touch. As you bring a cup filled with the most wonderful scent to your lips and take a sip, you feel the aroma filling you from the inside out. The warmth from the cup travels from your fingertips to your hands, up your arms and into your chest. You take another deep breath and bring your body to a new level of tranquility with a relaxing and audible exhalation.
Now, isn’t that the experience you want to lead with when clients come through your doors? And, let’s be honest, it’s become a given that spas will offer guests something to drink. Everyone knows that water plus cucumbers equals “spa water;” it’s literally in the name!
So, how can you elevate your beverage game and offer something that accentuates the calming spa experience without breaking the bank, something that can be executed simply or elaborately? Equally important, how can you provide something that is truly healthy? Look no further than your spa’s very own personalized tea bar.
The Nutrition of Tea
It can be difficult, even downright impossible, to sift through all the noise and marketing about different drinks to find ones that are truly healthy to offer your clients. Is it a collagen drink? A detox juice? A beverage cleanse? These options tend to be incredibly expensive and have little to no scientific evidence to back up their claims.
Luckily, when it comes to tea, we have mountains of research that show just how good it is for us. And it’s a win-win: Tea is all natural (a trendy buzz word these days) and comes at a fraction of the cost compared to many other options.
So, what it is about tea that makes it so good for us? First, and perhaps surprisingly, tea does not contain a lot of nutrients. Tea naturally has no calories, fat, sugar or protein, making it a refreshingly light offering. However, it is rich in polyphenols, a group of chemical compounds that are naturally found in plants. Polyphenols are antioxidants that help keep our bodies healthy and aid in preventing damage to our cells, which can otherwise increase risks of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. You may have heard of polyphenols in other foods like red wine, dark chocolate and berries.
Studies show that all tea has polyphenols, so any option will be an excellent little antioxidant boost for your guests. Research also shows that green tea often has higher levels than black or oolong teas. Naturally caffeine-free herbal teas also contain polyphenols, but amounts will vary depending on where the plant was grown.
Additionally, the process of decaffeination can change polyphenol levels. During the process of separating the caffeine from the tea leaves, some of the polyphenols are destroyed. This goes for decaf tea powders, teas and bottled tea drinks. (To clarify, decaffeinated is different from naturally caffeine free.)
But what about caffeine? While people might initially think decaf tea is the only option for ensuring a calm experience, it’s true that caffeine impacts people in different ways—so you may want to offer both. While some may get jittery, others like a little boost to make them feel invigorated. Still, others are not at all impacted by the effects of caffeine, especially in the lower doses found in tea (as compared to coffee).
To get a better idea, check out the average amount of caffeine in an 8 ounce cup of several different beverages:
- Coffee: 95 milligrams
- Black tea: 50 milligrams
- Green tea: 30 milligrams
- Oolong tea: 40 milligrams
- Decaffeinated black, green, oolong tea: trace amounts
- Most herbal teas: caffeine-free
The Sensory Experience
Hopefully the sensory exercise in the beginning of this article demonstrated that tea can also be a sensory experience. There is an array of aromas and tastes to choose from, and you can even change the temperature depending on what sort of experience you want to convey. Cold tea on a hot summer day can literally and figuratively chill someone out. Conversely, a hot beverage in winter warms the soul.
Unlike some other beverage services, making and offering tea is really a no-brainer. As with most things, the cost will depend on how far you take it. If you want to get fancy, you can create a tantalizing tea bar stocked with a variety of beautiful, clear glass jars filled with exotic plants, flowers and herbs from around the world—sure to visually entice the senses.
Tea also has a long shelf life, which is great from a cost and storage perspective, and the preparation process is simple. Just follow the instructions on the package, because each type of tea is steeped at a different temperature for a different amount of time to pull out optimal flavors. To deliver the maximum health benefits, brew it on location to maintain optimal freshness.
Avoid purchasing expensive bottled teas or those containing added sweeteners, and steer clear of additives such as sugar, cream or milk, as they can reduce the polyphenol content of the tea. For the greatest health benefits, serve it plain and infused with added fruits, herbs or spices, like a bit of vanilla or cinnamon to mimic sweetness. Some fruit-flavored herbal teas already have a naturally sweet taste, so added sweeteners aren’t even necessary.
Tea is the most popular beverage in the world after water, so rest assured that whatever you offer will be a crowd pleaser. Something as simple as a tea bar actually hits so many marks on your client’s checklist—healthy, refreshing, soothing, experiential—that it’s almost a requirement!
Leigh-Anne Wooten, MS, RDN/LDN, FAND, is the founder and chief nutrition officer of Behind the Label, LLC (www.behindthelabel.biz). She has a master’s degree in nutrition science and is a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
