TEMECULA, Calif.
Diane Walden, an expert blender, retailer and tea wholesaler is determined to pick up the pace when it comes to making good tea by shaving hours off cold brew methods and minutes when making tea lattes.
Walden, who invented the VelociTeaTM brewer with her husband Vern, says, “We developed the brewer because of our experiences in the industry and seeing the interest and growth of specialty beverages in fast food and QSR chains.
“I truly believe this technology can disrupt and open up tea retail and foodservice tea,” she said, adding, “The VelociTea can do everything from hot to iced teas, to lattes and other specialty beverages by brewing infusions by the cup in 1 minute or less, providing freshest taste with no waste.”
The single-cup unit takes up 7 inches of counter space and requires only a 120-volt outlet.
The brewer avoids messy batching and stale-tasting iced tea, with no more bags hanging in hot water, she said.
Here’s how it works: Unlike brewers targeting only specialty coffee and tea shops, the VelociTea makes it easy for fast food chains to use their existing bags or sachets and expand their tea offerings from the standard black and green to an unlimited number of options, by replacing batch brewing.
“It also brews loose tea for the specialty market,” she said. The brewer delivers stronger infusions than traditionally steeped tea in a quarter of the time.
Restaurants and cafes understand that customers simply don’t have the patience to wait 5 minutes for their tea to steep. The solution has been for blenders to use finely ground teas that infuse quickly, but that sacrifices quality. The resulting tea quickly stales as beneficial compounds oxidize and aroma dissipates.
VelociTea is the first quick-brew by-the-cup tea brewer designed to work for the fast-food and QSR markets, said Walden, who discovered fine tea in the early 2000s. She and a partner opened their first retail tea company in 2004, expanding to three locations in Southern California resort areas. She and Vern operated the California Tea & Coffee Brewery from 2008 to 2012 and continue to sell loose leaf teas online.
California Tea & Herbal is seeking to sell the IP through reps who share their longstanding background in the beverage industry, said Walden.
To learn more contact her at [email protected]