Does the Cozy Tea Around the Stove Trend Rival Street Coffee?

Brewing tea around a stove has become a winter social trend among young people in China, following camping and frisbee. Chengdu alone has about a thousand teahouses offering the service. Customers light charcoal, brew tea, and roast oranges, chestnuts, and peanuts, either at teahouses or outdoors with their own tea sets, and the topic draws heavy traffic on social platforms.

The trend traces back to the Song Dynasty, and Yunnan has its own fire pit roasted tea tradition. Growth in the new Chinese-style tea beverage industry and rising health awareness fed the revival. Reactions split: some see relaxed winter time, others call it conspicuous consumption. Coffee knowledge platforms read it as a changed image of Chinese-style tea.

Following the camping and frisbee trends, brewing tea around a stove is becoming a new social craze among young people in winter. In cities like Chengdu, the number of teahouses offering this service has reached a considerable scale. Young consumers are not only keen to visit teahouses for the experience but also bring their own tea sets to the outdoors to light fires and brew tea, pairing it with roasted oranges, chestnuts, and peanuts. On social platforms, related topics have massive view counts and note numbers, with posts ranging from tea brewing recipes and techniques to equipment selection in abundance. The rapid growth of the new Chinese-style tea beverage industry, combined with rising health and wellness awareness, has provided fertile ground for this trend. Some enjoy this relaxed winter time, while others question it as pretentious and conspicuous consumption. From the perspective of the professional coffee knowledge exchange platform Coffee Workshop, this phenomenon reflects young people's全新的 understanding of the image of Chinese-style tea. For more specialty coffee beans, follow Front Street Coffee.

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After camping and frisbee, brewing tea around a stove has suddenly risen this year, attracting a large number of young consumers to teahouses. Some young people even bring their own tea sets to outdoor tea houses to personally light charcoal, brew tea, and roast oranges, chestnuts, and peanuts along the way. This craze has added a new option to the social methods of contemporary young people.

According to media reports, a teahouse in Chengdu has recently been packed with customers brewing tea around stoves. After the camping trend, as temperatures drop, more and more young people are inviting friends to brew tea around a stove together. This emerging way of drinking tea is gradually becoming popular, and many cities in China have set off a new wave of winter consumption. Currently, there are about a thousand teahouses in Chengdu offering tea-brewing-around-a-stove services.

In fact, the trend of brewing tea around a stove can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, and Yunnan also has a traditional fire pit roasted tea. Compared with the past, the biggest difference in today's tea-brewing-around-a-stove is probably the higher demand for photogenic presentation. Besides the teapot, the plating of pastries, fruits, and snacks is also key to creating the atmosphere, and some people even place a lamp on the table for decoration.

Data shows that as of now, the views of topics related to brewing tea around a stove on the Douyin platform have reached 1.79 billion , and there are over 60,000 related notes on Xiaohongshu, with related products numbering 5,400+ . Searching this keyword reveals a wide variety of posts, from tea brewing recipes to techniques, to equipment selection and comprehensive guides, with netizens showcasing their skills and organizing everything clearly.

Consumers' continued enthusiasm and the spread on social platforms are undoubtedly key factors in the popularity of brewing tea around a stove. In recent years, the continuous rise of new Chinese-style teahouses has also played a significant boosting role. According to iResearch's "2021 China New-Style Tea Beverage Industry Research Report," the market size of China's new-style tea beverage industry is expanding rapidly, and young people's fondness for new Chinese-style tea is deepening, making them more willing to spend at new Chinese-style teahouses.

As new tea beverages become a popular trend, young people's enthusiasm for pure tea is also quietly reviving. Coupled with the growing emphasis on health and wellness, brewing tea around a stove not only meets health needs but is also very suitable for photogenic moments. After all, today's young people place great importance on social value, and exquisite posed photos, elaborate rituals, and leisurely vibes are all ways to express their personal preferences.

The traditional image of Chinese-style tea is slowly being broken. It is no longer just a wisp of steam from a thermos or a row of porcelain cups in a meeting room. Its overall temperament is no longer middle-aged and steady but has become lively and interesting. This actually reflects a shift in young people's perception of Chinese-style tea, giving it a different kind of vitality.

Facing this trend of brewing tea around a stove, some feel, who wouldn't want to take time to experience this comfortable life? Gather a few friends, one stove and one pot of tea, roasting persimmons and flipping rice cakes, eating dried fruits and drinking tea—such a relaxed winter time is the ideal way to open the winter season.

Of course, some think it is merely pretentious. Going out for tea with attention to outfit and photos is probably not really about the tea. Like camping, brewing tea around a stove carries a hint of conspicuous consumption, and the high price means they won't go. What do you think?

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.