In the previous part of this article, we tried to explain why a static description is not very well suited for a beverage as diverse as tea. And as an alternative to the static description of tea, it was proposed to use a dynamic description, which details the characteristics of the drink obtained as a result of using different brewing modes. So, how could such a description look like?
If you do it in text, it will turn out to be large and difficult to comprehend. Therefore, a dynamic description of tea needs high-quality visualization. We sketched a couple of pictures, built on different principles, just to clarify the idea.
The first option is “triangles”, the vertices of which contain information about the parameters of tea brewing; inside each triangle the main characteristics of the resulting drink are listed. Triangles can be connected, as in our example, but this is not necessary, and not always possible. The number of triangles can be different, it all depends on the number of interesting modes of tea brewing.
The second option is a chart table made for a fixed ‘dry tea to water volume’ ratio — 56 cells, each of them indicates the most striking characteristic of the drink obtained when brewing tea at a certain temperature and with a certain infusion time. The most successful combinations of brewing modes can be highlighted in this table in color, this will increase its informative value.
These two options for dynamic description of tea, despite their presentable appearance, have obvious drawbacks. First, the creation of such descriptions is very laborious. Secondly, in such an overloaded form, consumers do not need them. Such or similar ways of describing tea can probably be used in professional work with tea, but are not suitable for its commercial description.
In order to make the dynamic description of tea readable and attractive, it must, first, be shortened, second, structured, and third, aestheticized. The first two tasks are easy to solve.
1. Shortening. Despite the fact that any tea can be brewed in different ways, only a few brewing modes have actual consumer relevance. They can be systematized according to brewing traditions (ping cha, gongfu cha, Turkish, Russian, etc.), according to consumer characteristics of the resulting drink (strong tea, light tea, iced tea, etc.), according to the situation (home brew, office brew, ceremonial brew, etc.), and all. Here you can fantasize, because creating a consumer-friendly dynamic description of tea is essentially creating an advertising product.
2. Structuring. The most obvious way to structure the dynamic tea description is to visually link the brewing method with the description of the resulting drink. In the above examples, the table is a less advantageous variant of such structuring, and “triangles” — a more advantageous one.
3. Aestheticizing. The solution to this problem depends on where and how the dynamic tea description will be used. For example, we use these circular patterns to accompany our tea galleries.
This diagram describes five modes of tea brewing: optimal, light, strong, cold and multiple infusions (re-steeping). One mode — one circle, which indicates the brewing parameters and the main taste characteristics of the resulting drink. Additional tips and tricks can be placed next to each mode circle if desired. The optimal brewing mode is placed into a bigger circle.
A commercial dynamic description of tea can, for example, look like this.
In the variant pictured above (this is a description of the two teas comprising a gift set), the number of consumer relevant brewing modes is reduced to three (home brewing, Chinese traditional brewing and cold brewing), and each of the brewing modes is illustrated and provided with a short text explanation. It turned out, in our opinion, very consistent. First, the tea lover is thus informed that tea is versatile and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Second, this information is presented in small chunks and is well structured. Third, in addition to the tea itself, the buyer of such a gift set receives an additional and full-fledged information product. And finally, fourth, a booklet with a dynamic description of tea, being, of course, an advertising material, allows the consumer to feel like a researcher and a professional.
Of course, the above options for the dynamic description of tea are not the only possible ones. But they illustrate the main advantages of dynamic tea description.
First, a dynamic description is more complete and accurate than a static one. Second, it can look very credible and consistent; it can become a guild attribute of tea professionals. Third, the design of dynamic tea descriptions is impossible without the consolidated work of tea tasters, not only professionals, but also amateurs. And finally, fourth, dynamic descriptions can become a promising information basis for automating the brewing of tea.
Olga Nikandrova & Denis Shumakov. Teatips.info. 2021