San Francisco likes Ku Day Ta
Date: July 13th, 2009
By: Michelle Thai
On June 14th, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) invited Ku Day Ta to an exciting event entitled East West Eats in San Francisco. Bee-Bee (the owner of Ku Day Ta) and I had the great honor of serving hundreds of guests alongside some of the Bay Area’s most renowned restaurants like Betelnut and Urban Tavern. We were also able to take this opportunity to network with talented chefs, meet celebrity chef, Martin Yan, and share our knowledge and passion for tea, all while supporting the new generation of journalist.
The event featured fourteen amazing restaurants like Butterfly, Crutacean, Le Colonial, Living Room Events, Namu, all of which served a few of their delicious menu items. Beverages were provided by Chang Beer, New Zealand Winegrowers, Mekhong, and of course Ku Day Ta Tea Lounge! Because Ku Day Ta is not yet well known in the bay area, Bee-Bee and I were surprised and absolutely delighted at the popularity of our tea tasting table. Accompanying any guests’ “Ahi Tartare” (Ponzu) or “Beer Braised Beef Tongue with Mushrooms” (Poleng Lounge) would be a cup of our Silver Needle, Dragon Pearl Jasmine, Silk Formosa Oolong, Black River Mountain Pu-Erh, or Blueberry Rooibos.
I remember a middle-aged woman coming up to our table exclaiming, “Everyone is raving about your tea, so I just had to come over!”
Our 250 cups ran out quickly—perhaps an hour or two into the night. I can vividly recall three Asian women returning more than four times to refill their cup of Dragon Pearl Jasmine. And another lady refilled her cups of Blueberry Rooibos more times than I could have kept track of. In addition many guests ended up coming back over and over again until they have tried every tea. After we ran out of cups for the third time, guests were fetching wine glasses to drink our tea!
While the wait staff were scrambling to bring us more cups, I spoke to many guests about tea and discovered that many of them drink tea only occasionally. However, after telling them about the health benefits of tea, the differences between caffeine in tea versus coffee, and after sampling our teas, many were asking if we have our teas with us to sell that evening. Unfortunately we didn’t bring any of our retail items, but we were able to generate a lot of interest in tea as well as our store. Throughout the event many promised to stop by Ku Day Ta when they are in Milpitas, some even requested that Bee-Bee open a Ku Day Ta in San Francisco!
As I busied myself by brewing tea and talking about its health benefits, Bee-Bee spoke not only to curious attendees but also to many journalists and food professionals. “We already had one executive chef from a famous restaurant interested in having Ku Day Ta create a custom blend unique for his restaurant,” says Bee-Bee. “We are also planning on discussing our tea as an ingredient in cooking and baking. It is still in the works.”
When the event was coming to an end, every table was gathering their items and closing up their area, except for us. Our table remained very busy until the very last minute. “At the end, most people camped at our table, as the ‘finale’ beverage,” says Bee-Bee. “We were the last table to clean up, because the guests kept drinking our tea. I was happy that it was more successful than I expected.”
Overall this event was a fantastic opportunity for Ku Day Ta to get its name out into the public and to share our knowledge and passion for tea. “Our goal was to position Ku Day Ta in San Francisco, gain exposure among journalists and celebrity chefs,” said Bee-Bee. “Also, we wanted to take this opportunity to introduce the idea of using tea as an ingredient for cooking and baking.” The popularity of our tea, the guests’ interest and curiosity in our products, and their positive feedback, reiterated to us that we reached our goal for the event. Not only that, but we proved that evening that our quality teas and our trend-setting style—Ku Day Ta—easily and comfortably fits right next to the bay area’s most successful restaurants.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Well written post. I’m glad to see that Ku Day Ta is getting the word out about its tea, especially to journalists and food professionals. Good luck!