Hong Kong’s leading hotels capitalise on the sparkling tea trend

Hong Kong has always been a testing ground for trendy new products, and hotel-branded sparkling teas are the latest innovation taking off in the city.

In Hong Kong, tea has always been a beverage staple, and the rise of young teetotallers in recent years has left the market open for sparkling teas to muscle in on territory traditionally dominated by wine and beer. A number of local brands, including the likes of Saicho and Mezzanine Makers, have entered the market in the last decade. Now, hotels are following suit.

Both the Kadoorie family’s The Peninsula Hotels and the Kwok family’s The Royal Garden hotel, the hospitality division of Sun Hung Kai Properties, have substantial resources to invest into proprietary products.

Boasting captive markets of loyal customers and hotel guests frequenting on- and off-site outlets, both hotel groups can leverage products — such as tea they already sell — by tweaking them to appeal to younger markets.

This perfect storm resulted in both Peninsula Merchandising, the retail arm of The Peninsula Hotels, and The Royal Garden launching branded sparkling teas in May.

The five-star The Peninsula Hong Kong — the group’s flagship property — introduced a 750ml rosé sparkling tea for HK$358 (£33.98). Guy Riddell, managing director of Peninsula Merchandising, is the mastermind behind the new offering, as well as a number of the group’s other proprietary releases. Along with the rose green tea ‘rosé’ and Dongding oolong ‘cuvée’, Riddell spearheaded Peninsula-branded limited edition Scotch whiskies.

The Peninsula’s sparkling teas came about after a years-long gestation period consisting of much trial and error. “Our early tasting sessions mixed soda water with tea — not very nice,” he laughed. “We spent a year testing several rounds of blends to find the right balance between fruit and tea, as well as the right level of sugar and effervescence. The final result has a clean, crisp, refreshing taste that leverages one of our pillar products.”

Riddell believes that sparkling tea ticks the box for a growing number of consumers looking for alcohol-free alternatives, particularly among Gen Z, while retaining the celebratory ritual of popping a Champagne cork.

Sparkling tea aligns well with the hotel’s heritage and identity. “We spent almost a year looking at trends and how to grow our brand,” Riddell said. “The Peninsula represents heritage, luxury and gifting on a premium level. On the beverage side, we have been famous since 1928 for our afternoon tea — a real Hong Kong icon. Our lobby was the first in Asia to serve traditional afternoon tea and we continue to sell a lot of tins today.”

Along with the hotel’s popular oolong, The Peninsula Cuvée blends its Bi Luo Chun and Darjeeling with apricot. The Peninsula Rosé combines sweet rose notes with Yu Hua green tea leaves and cranberries.

Since May, Peninsula Merchandising has introduced both flavours across all of its greater China and Tokyo hotel outlets plus off-property restaurants such as its boutique cafes and The Repulse Bay. In June, the hotel group launched a 375ml version for guestroom minibars and gift baskets.

Riddell has also organised upcoming activations with mixologists in order to highlight the sparkling tea’s ability to provide “a good base for cocktails and mocktails”.

The Royal Garden flagship hotel for Sun Hung Kai Properties in Tsim Sha Tsui has similarly introduced its own Sabatini Ristorante Italiano-branded sparkling tea. It is available within its hotel outlets as well as its off-property restaurant Sabatini in IFC Mall across Victoria Harbour. Available in 375ml bottles, restaurants list the brew for HK$198 (£18.62).

Enrico Ho, assistant director of food & beverage with The Royal Garden, revealed that the sparkling tea concept was initiated by general manager Jenny Chan. The final product was brought to life in just three months with the help of aerated drinks manufacturer Mindful Sparks. “As she cannot tolerate alcohol, she always found it frustrating to toast with a glass of water,” Ho explained. “She knew about sparkling teas, and wanted to develop a proprietary brand.”

After testing different tea leaves sold through The Royal Garden’s boutiques, Earl Grey was selected as the beverage’s base. For international positioning, the tea was branded as a Sabatini product with the Roman restaurant brand exclusive to The Royal Garden in Hong Kong.

The Royal Garden’s sommeliers were instructed to recommend sparkling tea the way they would fine wine. In just one month, Ho saw that its uptake was not limited to his original target market of professionals seeking non-alcoholic alternatives during power lunches.

“We had a group of children with their parents to celebrate a birthday,” he said. “Kids love to mimic adults. Several bottles were popped and everyone cheered by clinking glasses. It was a real grown up occasion.”

The hotel now plans to launch a 750mL edition later this year.

By Rebecca Lo