On the eve of The Ashes, the iconic Carlton & United Breweries' Victoria Bitter has released a new... tea.
VB is calling on cricket fans to put down the English Breakfast and pick up what can only be described as a true Aussie brew. The limited-edition tea has the beer's Super Pride Hops mixed with black tea leaves. Only available online (and sold out when Food & Drink Business last checked) the tea apparently features "the distinct aromas and taste of Victoria Bitter, matched with all the qualities you'd come to expect of a premium cuppa".
Victoria Bitter marketing director, Chris Maxwell, said: “We know how much Australians love cricket, and the long hours and sleepless nights they put themselves through whenever there’s a series in the UK. So, we wanted to reward their hard work in supporting Australia by creating the perfect alternative to English Breakfast to sip on."
VB Tea has zero alcohol and is $10 from the beer's website.
Meanwhile, research by Roy Morgan has found more than half of Australians (56.1 per cent) drink at least one cup of coffee a week, 47.6 per cent drink tea and 12.5 per cent drink hot chocolate.
Pre-boomers (born prior to 1946) are big consumers of hot coffee (67.3 per cent) and hot tea (59.9 per cent) but consumption really drops off for younger Australians with under a third of Generation Z (born 1991-2005) drinking either hot tea (32.3 per cent) or hot coffee (30.5 per cent) in an average week.
Roy Morgan CEO, Michele Levine, said: “Over 15.2 million Australians drink hot drinks including tea, coffee or hot chocolate in an average week and coffee which is now drunk by 11.5 million Australians pips tea on 9.8 million as the most widely consumed hot drink. A relatively minor 2.5 million Australians also drink hot chocolate in an average week.
“Over the last four years coffee has grown its weekly market from 10.5 million Australians in 2014 by over 1 million whereas tea is now consumed by just over 300,000 more than four years ago.
“The ‘iced’ varieties of both tea and coffee are enjoyed by relatively miniscule markets of Australians in comparison. Just over 1.1 million Australians drink iced coffee (5.6%) and 1 million iced tea (5%) in an average week.
“An analysis of who drinks these beverages reveals there are significant differences between the average Australians who like a hot cup of coffee or tea and someone enjoys a cool iced tea.
“Although consumers of both hot tea and iced tea are more likely to be women than men, the average hot tea drinker is likely to be prosperous, well-educated and living in an older household from which the kids have moved out."
