Specialty Tea Shops On the Rise

W

hen the health benefits of a certain food are touted on the news, it stands to reason that some people and some businesses will try to benefit from that. Such is the case with Starbucks and its new Tazo tea store, as well as other places like  The Bourgeois Pig Cafe in Chicago, IL, which boasts 75 different kinds of loose-leaf tea. Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins even plans to open his own tea house in Highland Park, Illinois. Needless to say, tea is on trend right about now.

Even Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan is opening a tea shop, called Madame ZuZu's.

Starbucks' shop will offer over 80 varieties of tea priced by the ounce, which normal Starbucks stores don't do. The bar will also sell the standard iced teas and lattes, but now people will also be allowed to make their own customized blends to take home in pouches or brew on the spot.

Holly Hart, a spokeswoman for Starbucks, said, "It's very much about personalization and interaction and immersing yourself in all things tea. It's not going to be the typical grab-and-go experience."

She likens the new store to what wine tastings look like, "Where you're standing up, sipping and talking about the flavor profile. That's what this store will look like," she said.

All though the company is only working on one store right now, which will be in Seattle, we'd be lying if we said we didn't expect them to open more locations.

Corgan's shop will be up and ready to go just in time for the start of the Ravinia Festival season, and is said to be a 1930s-style Chinese tea house and will be called Madame ZuZu's. It'll be interesting to see what the place is like.

As for the health benefits, tea has long been touted as a "health food," but more recently, studies have been done to show that different kinds of tea offer different benefits. For example, green tea's antioxidants may interfere with the growth of some cancers, prevent your arteries from clogging, and reduce the risk of neurological disorders, while black tea may reduce the risk of stroke and may protect the lungs from damage caused by cigarette smoke. While we think that last one sounds like a bit of a stretch, it's worth a shot.

White tea is said to have the most potent anti-cancer properties, while oolong tea is said to lower cholesterol.