Internet celebrities “brewing tea around the fire”: 500 yuan per person, how long will this middle-class lifestyle be popular?

A simple coal stove, an ordinary kettle, oranges, peanuts, and chestnuts around the stove. During the Spring Festival, many people began to DIY the most popular "cooking tea around the stove" at home. A complete industrial chain has been formed for "cooking tea around the stove". Is it a consumption outlet or an IQ tax? Let's take a look.

Since autumn and winter, "cooking tea around the fire" has become one of the most popular lifestyles for young people after camping, land surfing, Frisbee, and skiing. As of now, there are more than 740,000 notes about cooking tea around the fire on Xiaohongshu, and the number of views of related videos of "cooking tea around the fire" on Douyin has reached 4.74 billion times. The hobby of young people has created another wave of entrepreneurial opportunities, and businesses with a keen sense of business have launched "cooking tea around the fire" package services.

Data from Dianping.com shows that since November, the number of searches for the keyword "brewing tea around the fire" has increased 11.7 times year-on-year across the country. Among them, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Changsha and other places have the hottest online sales.

The consumption boom has spread northward to Beijing. According to Tech Planet, there are more than 1,000 merchants in Beijing that provide stove-cooked tea services on Dianping.com. A complete industrial chain has been formed for stove-cooked tea, and upstream coal stove teaware merchants have also doubled their sales.

Like frisbee and camping, the business of brewing tea around the fire is essentially a kind of appearance economy and internet celebrity economy, so the price is naturally not too low. The per capita consumption price of "brewing tea around the fire" in Beijing is between 100-500 yuan.

A staff member of a popular store told Tech Planet that the stove-cooked tea set meal without meals is 298 yuan per person. If meals are included, it is as high as 498 yuan. Another store with a relatively high rating is also expensive. The person in charge of the store told Tech Planet that the store has three sets of packages to choose from, with prices of 476 yuan/2 people, 328 yuan/person, and 438 yuan/person.

This is where the controversy comes from. Many netizens complained that the price of making tea around the stove, which is often several hundred yuan, is actually enough to buy a complete set of stove tea sets. Making tea around the stove is just a way to collect IQ tax. In addition, the continuous carbon monoxide poisoning incidents in various places have accelerated the decline of this internet celebrity economy.

Is the trend of brewing tea around the fire, which is popular among young people, an emerging consumption trend or just another short-lived IQ tax?

1. The new middle-class atmosphere of "cooking tea around the stove" is popular

Last year, "mulled wine" was popular, and this winter, "cooking tea around the stove" is popular. In the autumn and winter of 2022, the number of young people taking photos and checking in about cooking tea around the stove on social media increased sharply. A few friends sit around the stove, boil a pot of tea, and roast chestnuts, persimmons, rice cakes, peanuts, sweet potatoes and other snacks. It is exquisite and artistic, full of fireworks, showing the good times and a sense of relaxation.

There are even strategies on topics such as taking photos, copywriting, and ingredients for making tea around the fire. The new social method attracts young people to try it out. A consumer who has experienced making tea around the fire told Tech Planet that many afternoon tea shops offering tea around the fire have emerged in Beijing recently, and she and her friends had a tea around the fire not long ago.

The store is not big, but it is decorated in an antique style with a good environment, especially suitable for taking photos. The store is very popular, and reservations must be made in advance on the mini program. No "airdrops" are accepted. The double set meal is 298 yuan. As for tea snacks, there are several kinds of tea to choose from, and the baked goods include oranges, sweet potatoes, chestnuts, red dates and other fruits and dried fruits. The experience and cost-effectiveness are good, and "many friends around me have gone there to check in."

The trend of brewing tea around the fire has become popular, and merchants have welcomed a new round of revenge consumption. A staff member of an online celebrity store told Tech Planet that the store does not accept reservations and needs to queue up on site. There are many people who go to brew tea around the fire, and the store is basically full in the afternoon. The store has been holding activities recently and is super busy.

The owner of another fireside tea shop told Tech Planet that their shop opened in May last year and added a fireside tea package around New Year's Day this year, which includes a bar, catering, and fireside tea. Most of the shop's revenue now comes from fireside tea, with about 10 tables of customers every day. The fee for 2 to 4 people is 268 yuan.

The popularity of brewing tea around the stove is, to some extent, in line with consumers' yearning for free social interaction and the atmosphere of fireworks. The above-mentioned boss said that after the epidemic was relaxed, people were more willing to go out and relax, and in the cold winter, they especially needed things with the atmosphere of fireworks. Brewing tea around the stove, where three or five friends get together to brew tea and chat, is particularly full of the atmosphere of fireworks.

In her opinion, the biggest advantage of their store is the location, which is located at the foot of the old Beijing Imperial City. You can see Shichahai Lake across the street, Baita Temple on the right, and you can also enjoy the sunset. It is quiet in the bustling city, and has a special atmosphere.

Teahouses, camping restaurants, resorts, and businesses targeting the fireside tea-making business have almost all caught up with this wave of dividends. Beidaihe Resort Rongsheng Kanglv Aka Town also launched the fireside tea-making business before the Spring Festival. The resort combines the characteristics of hot springs and focuses on private hot spring tea-making.

Amy, a staff member of the resort, told Tech Planet that since the launch of the fire-cooking tea package service, about 100 sets have been sold.

In her opinion, why is brewing tea around the fire so popular? It is because this method, from form to content, is more in line with the psychological needs of modern people. In terms of form, it is very literary and has elements of Zen meditation. It also meets everyone's expectations of healing the body and mind and staying away from the complexity after the epidemic.

In terms of content, the visual impact of brewing tea around the fire is very direct, combining various elements of retro, nostalgic, and literary and artistic elements. The way of gathering around the fire, tea, and various baked goods can allow everyone to fully relax and socialize in a literary and artistic way.

2. The B-side of the internet celebrity economy: an IQ tax for pretentiousness?

Cooking tea around the stove has not only effectively boosted the offline economy, but also created a new incremental market for the online economy. JD.com data shows that the search and transaction volume of related products on the platform have increased by 4 times month-on-month in the past half month, and the tea stoves sold by many brands are in short supply. However, while becoming popular, cooking tea around the stove has also faced various doubts.

The most common complaint from consumers is that the price of fire-cooked tea is high, which is suspected of being a scam and a tax on intelligence. According to Tech Planet, many fire-cooked teas are priced high. In a 6,000-square-meter greenhouse camp in Beijing, the threshold for fire-cooked tea is very high, 298 yuan per person, and a minimum order of four people is required. In addition, the camp has a time limit, and the usage time is from 1pm to 5pm.

The 298 yuan set meal only includes a cup of black tea, as well as peanuts, red dates, chestnuts, longans, and oranges. In comparison, the price of other fire-cooked tea shops is about 100-150 yuan per person. The price of fire-cooked tea in this camp is nearly twice as expensive.

When asked about the advantages of the store, the camp staff said that the biggest feature of their camp is the green grass. There is no green grass site in Beijing now, and theirs is the only one, and the grass is real. The green grass element is more prominent than the food and tea snacks, which means that consumers are paying more for the environment and atmosphere when they cook tea around the stove.

Another store with a high rating on Dianping.com charges 476 yuan for 2 people to cook tea around a charcoal stove, or 238 yuan per person. The store staff said that in addition to the 476 yuan set meal, there are also 328 yuan per person and 438 yuan per person set meals to choose from. If you use a private room, you need to pay a room fee of 120-180 yuan, and the price varies from room to room. The usage time is limited, and the default is 2 hours.

In order to increase the average customer spending, merchants who cook tea around the fire have begun to work hard on the packages. Various roll-up scene environments, roll-up equipment, roll-up tea products and baked goods, roll-up photo taking functions, increase the service premium space. The above camp has added steak, lamb chops, seafood and other meals to the basic package of cooking tea around the fire, and the price after the upgrade package is 498 yuan/person. Some merchants have also launched Hanfu immersive tea around the fire to increase service pricing.

The price is not proportional to the experience, so negative reviews and complaints followed. Some netizens left a message on the homepage of the Weilu Zhucha shop, saying that the experience was too bad, "a pot of tea, some peanuts, some red dates, it was uncomfortable to sit, it was crowded, three people spent more than 800 yuan, and there was a time limit, it was a waste of money", "if you exceed the time limit, you will be charged 180 yuan per hour, the cost performance is very low."

Many netizens said that cooking tea around the stove is just a one-time deal. Because the sweet potatoes are not cooked, the oven and the baked food are at risk of explosion, and the baked fruit is not delicious, its function is only to take pictures and post to WeChat Moments.

Price-sensitive consumers have even started calculating the economic costs of boiling tea around a stove. Some consumers said that an electric ceramic stove, a grate, and a cast iron kettle can take care of everything with a one-time investment of 100 yuan, so why waste hundreds of dollars to pay an IQ tax to the merchants?

A questionnaire survey on brewing tea around the fire conducted by a university in Shanghai showed that consumers have a relatively positive attitude towards the business model of brewing tea around the fire, but their current satisfaction level is not high.

The internet celebrity economy seems to naturally carry the original sin of "IQ tax". Before there was Frisbee, and now there is boiling tea around the fire. The stigmatization is becoming more and more serious. Consumption behaviors of hundreds of yuan are interpreted as "affecting the arts", and the number of cases of failure of boiling tea around the fire is also beginning to increase.

While it has become extremely popular, it has also received mixed reviews. It remains unknown how long the life cycle of the internet celebrity economy can last.

3. It is difficult for brewing tea around the stove to become a new consumption outlet

The popularity of brewing tea around the stove continues to grow, and it goes beyond tea itself and continues to extend outward. Now everything can be brewed around the stove, such as brewing milk tea, brewing wine, and barbecue around the stove. New tea beverage companies are also quickly following suit. Nayuki's Tea's lifestyle collection store has also begun to test the business of brewing tea around the stove, launching two sets priced at 88 yuan and 168 yuan respectively. The main target consumer groups are white-collar workers and college students, aged around 25 years old.

Almost all merchants with offline business scenarios are using the marketing concept of brewing tea around the stove to attract customers to their stores. But at the same time, the limitations of brewing tea around the stove are gradually becoming apparent.

The window period for brewing tea around the stove is very short. The elegant experience of "green ants new wine, red clay stove" is usually seasonal, just like the middle-class sport "skiing". As the temperature rises, the stove will soon be "useless", leaving only two or three months for merchants to brew tea around the stove.

Secondly, it is difficult to repurchase. Consumers who have experienced brewing tea around the stove told Tech Planet that although the experience is good, they are unlikely to consume again. The internet celebrity economy that comes and goes quickly makes it difficult to form stable consumption habits. "Those stoves and tea sets purchased for brewing tea around the stove at home are also likely to be put aside."

The stove-cooked tea service can be a traffic-generating product, but it is difficult to become a revenue pillar for merchants. Many merchants said that their stores only have about 10 sets of stoves and tea sets to provide stove-cooked tea service, so it is difficult to scale up the business.

Merchants also agree with this. The owner of the Internet celebrity store said that she does not expect to make a profit from the fireside tea service, which is why they do not set the price so high. In her opinion, fireside tea is just an SKU launched by the store in a specific season. The store has a geographical advantage. Even if there is no fireside tea, there will be other consumption items. People will pay for it because of the unique geographical location.

Moreover, the location is both a success and a failure. "Because the store is located in the scenic area, it is not as close as the community store, so the repurchase rate of tea brewed around the stove is not too high."

In addition, the fire-cooking tea product may also form a relationship of increase and decrease with other products of the merchant. The owner of an Internet celebrity store said that people who generally buy the fire-cooking tea package will not consume alcohol or meals.

Amy, a staff member of the resort, also said that the repurchase rate of tea brewed around the stove is not high, and the merchants can only adjust the products and environment at any time. "Play in the sea in summer and soak in the sea in winter. The products must change the scene with the change of seasons. Without innovation, it is difficult to attract consumers."

The fireside tea-making, which is highly sought after by young people, is essentially still a product of the appearance economy, the internet celebrity economy, and the self-pleasing economy. It is in line with the consumption habits of young people to "pay for things that provide emotional value." For the industry, fireside tea-making may boost the sales of tea-related products in a short period of time, revive offline business, and promote traditional tea culture to a certain extent, but it is difficult to form a certain commercial scale.

As for the controversial issue of cost performance, it is actually difficult to simply use "worth it" to measure its value. It is indeed not a simple functional consumption, nor is it a rigid demand. In fact, its consumer group and the negative review group are not the same audience. He pleases himself, he complains, and both sides are at peace.

It's just that the safety issue needs to be taken seriously. Recently, there have been incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by boiling tea around a stove in various places. So, when boiling tea around a stove indoors, don't forget to open the windows for ventilation.

Author: Zhai Yuanyuan

Source: WeChat public account "Tech Planet (ID: tech618)"