Gulfood 2023: Innovative 'Tea in Citrus' brings fruity notes to the everyday cuppa

Fruit tea just got a complete makeover with Tea in Citrus — probably the most elaborately created cuppa ever.

Vietnamese company Fresh Juice Tea was awarded the Best Beverage Product award during the Gulfood Innovation Awards this year — and for good reason. Unlike traditionally–created fruit tea, this particular tea is like no other in the market.

“Fruit teas are traditionally made from mixing tea with dried fruits, but JuicyTea is not the same, it’s an innovative product where the tea is soaked with the fruit juice,” said Helene Singh, key account manager at Fresh Juice Tea.

Explaining the process for producing 'Tea in Citrus' in detail, her colleague Paloma Stein, key account manager, said that the amount of fruit used is 10 times the tea.

“We use, for example, 1kg of tea and 10kg or fruit in the production. Ginger, for instance, is cut into small slices and is then mixed to allow it to release the juices, and is then left to soak with the tea leaves,” she explained, adding that it’s important that every tea leaf is soaked with the juices. The ginger and tea are then separated before drying and then mixed together again with fruits and herbs for a more intense flavour.

But the process does not end here. The tea mixture is then stuffed into cored oranges, which come from the highest mountains of Vietnam, and they are then baked in an oven, explained Stein.

“Through the baking process, the oranges shrink to half their size, in the process releasing their citrusy orange flavour into the tea. A few drops of natural oils like lime, orange or bergamot are also added,” she said.