2.75 billion views, why has “Drinking Tea Around the Fire” become the top trend this winter?

This article mainly analyzes the historical origins, reasons for its rise, and future investment prospects of the "cooking tea around the fire" phenomenon. It is recommended for people who want to understand the "cooking tea around the fire" phenomenon.

Modern people's lives always need a sense of ritual to embellish them. Seasonal changes and festivals will become memorable events. From the first cup of milk tea in autumn to hot roasted sweet potatoes and sugar-fried chestnuts, from the mulled wine that became popular last year to the hot milk treasures in early winter this year, food always witnesses people's commemorative activities.

The all-time hot milk and mulled wine (Photo source: Xiaohongshu)

In welcoming the cold winter, a steaming hot "cooking tea around the stove" has become a standard this winter. When the cold quietly arrives, whether it is chatting in the courtyard with a few friends or sitting around the table with family, "cooking tea around the stove" has ignited people's enthusiasm for winter with its simple tea sets, rich and diverse ingredients and warm and comfortable atmosphere, and has also become a new way of socializing this winter.

Up to now, the topic of "brewing tea around the fire" has been played 2.75 billion times on Douyin, and the related topic of "brewing tea around the fire" on Xiaohongshu has been viewed by nearly 12 million times. Netizens' enthusiasm for brewing tea around the fire continues to grow, and the peripheral products derived from "brewing tea around the fire" are also stimulating everyone's consumption.

Views of “cooking tea around the fire” on Douyin and Xiaohongshu

1. The traditional practice of “boiling tea around the stove” was quietly picked up by people

Some people say that the way of drinking tea around the stove, boiling tea, originated from Yunnan's "fire pit roasted tea". The fire pit is an important activity place in Yunnan. People's cooking, boiling water, weddings and funerals, worship of gods and food culture are all directly related to the fire pit. Thus, a fire pit culture was formed, and the roasted tea culture also developed accordingly, becoming a special folk custom of ethnic minorities in some parts of Yunnan.

A Huotang roasted tea shop in Kunming (Photo source: Xiaohongshu)

There is also a saying that can tea originated from Gansu and parts of Shaanxi. Pour water into a can and place it on the stove. At the same time, roast red dates next to the stove. When the water boils, add tea leaves, roasted dates, longan, rock sugar, etc. into the can and drink it while it is cooking.

Can Can Tea, which is popular in Xi'an (Photo source: Xiaohongshu)

In China, the history of tea is long, and "brewing tea" is a long-standing skill that has been popular since the Tang and Song dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty, the tea saint Lu Yu systematically described the whole process of brewing tea in the fifth chapter of "The Classic of Tea" "The Fifth Brewing". Su Shi, a famous poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, also wrote the famous poem "Don't think about your homeland when meeting old friends, but try new tea with new fire."

In recent years, new Chinese tea drinks have become very popular. Many Chinese tea brands have continuously innovated in quantity and quality, which not only allows tea drinks to re-enter the lives of the general public, but also allows people to understand tea culture and feel the charm of Chinese tea. In this development process, "tea" has also continuously evolved into new forms. Roasted milk tea, flower and fruit tea and other tea drinks continue to meet the tastes of modern people. The popularity of "cooking tea around the stove" has added a touch of color to the new Chinese tea drinks. Many stores have opened up their minds and set up a special "cooking tea around the stove" product line to attract many people to experience it.

Therefore, people either choose to check in at a teahouse with an atmospheric "tea-making around the fire" after get off work, or buy relevant utensils online and operate it themselves, immersing themselves in this leisurely time and savoring the leisurely life of returning to nature.

2. Why is “brewing tea around the fire” so popular this winter?

Compared to whispering in a coffee shop before, office workers this winter prefer to sit around the fire and chat. This cozy scene and the warm fire complement each other and have become the favorite of many young people. The reason why people are so keen on "cooking tea around the fire" is not only a sense of ritual, but also inseparable from the following reasons:

1. Seek freshness and heal your body and mind

Different from brewing and mixing tea, which are quick ways of drinking, brewing tea requires slow cooking over low heat. The tea leaves used for brewing tea are also durable, so if you don't have a lot of time, you can never sit in front of the stove for a long time. Regardless of the method, brewing tea around the stove is not really for drinking tea or eating snacks, but for enjoying the relaxation of sitting around the stove and experiencing a fresh lifestyle.

The pace of life has sped up along with the rapid development of society. For many people, a day is often awakened by a cup of quickly brewed coffee, and then they enter a period of high-intensity work. This state of life continues day after day. Sometimes they are eager to change the status quo, but because of the epidemic, they cannot go to the faraway places they want to go, so they can only find a new place near home.

In the past two years, camping and trunk markets have become very popular. This is a reflection of people's "giving up the far and taking the near" to adjust their body and mind. It also shows everyone's pursuit of new things, and "brewing tea around the fire" is no exception.

A creative poster of a certain merchant (Source: Meituan)

The appearance of brewing tea around the fire on social platforms reminds more people of the leisurely time when they could sit around a pot of hot tea and some snacks in the yard of their hometown for a few hours. Therefore, choosing a tea room to sit around the table with family and friends and chat, feeling the atmosphere of life, has become a good choice.

Therefore, rather than saying that young people today love tea, it is better to say that people enjoy the atmosphere and scene of making tea, as well as their own relaxed and comfortable state, as well as the feeling of being healed physically and mentally when making tea around the stove.

2. Offline experience, online sharing

Retro tea sets, rich snacks, and exquisite presentation of dishes can be easily photographed and receive many likes. Many netizens are also attracted by these exquisite and comfortable photos, and then they are in high spirits and have an ingenious gathering with friends. They then post the exquisite photos online and spread them among various social media, thus forming a repetitive cycle of online and offline promotion.

Exquisite sharing on Xiaohongshu (Source: Xiaohongshu)

Merchants have also grasped the "little thoughts" of young people, and set up scenes of brewing tea around the stove that are either exquisite or simple, placing exquisite stoves and teapots, and pairing them with colorful snacks, creating a good visual effect.

In teahouses in Hangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and other places, once the fireside teahouse was launched, it attracted many netizens to come and check in. Some Internet celebrity teahouses even require reservations a week in advance. People mostly want to get together to chat and take photos. These Internet surfing experts publish their works on different social media and gain a lot of traffic. This online and offline real-time linkage model has jointly promoted the fireside teahouse to people's vision.

Netizens from all over the country checked in and gathered around the stove to make tea (Photo source: Xiaohongshu)

3. Flexible scenarios and controllable costs

In addition to going to offline stores, many people choose to cook tea around the stove at home. They buy the stove and tea sets they need online, place them in their yard or on the rooftop, prepare snacks such as oranges, red dates, persimmons, and peanuts, invite friends and family to chat, or read a favorite book alone, and enjoy the tranquility of the moment in their own spiritual pure land. Compared with the noise and crowds in the store, this scene arranged by one's own heart is more popular.

Family version of brewing tea around the stove (Photo source: Xiaohongshu)

In addition, from the required materials, it can be seen that the cost of brewing tea around the stove is not high. Compared with the expenses in offline stores, preparing materials at home is cheaper and the quality of the ingredients is more guaranteed. You don’t have to be limited to the few ingredients provided by the store. You can choose whatever you like, such as sweet potatoes and chestnuts, ham, and meat skewers. You can also add things to the tea according to your own wishes. Isn’t it wonderful!

3. Can investing in “brewing tea around the fire” meet expectations?

The feature of "cooking tea around the fire" is well-loved by people and continues to attract investors. But is "cooking tea around the fire" a track worth investing in? Can the economic value it generates meet investors' expectations? How long can this warm fire that comes with winter burn? This is a question worth thinking about.

1. Create a "fireside" business model, and let merchants show their strengths

While brewing tea around the stove has become popular among people, many businesses have also smelled business opportunities and used various methods to create surrounding areas for brewing tea around the stove.

For example, brewing tea around a stove makes many people feel at home, so merchants mainly sell retro and old stoves and tea utensils;

The old stove posted by netizens (Source: Douyin)

According to the mapping of traditional cultural mechanisms in social speech activities, some offline stores have launched set meals consisting of persimmons, peanuts, etc., which means "good things are happening" to meet people's pursuit of beautiful visions.

Some businesses have launched peripheral products such as calligraphy works, art works or exquisite ornaments to help consumers create a corresponding atmosphere. Based on the diversity of peripheral products, they try to build a supporting industrial chain around "brewing tea around the fire" to further expand the economic value and obtain higher profits.

Looking at the development laws of culture and economic markets, it is not difficult to find that the "fireside" business model has demonstrated the characteristics of strong inclusiveness and social attributes, and has been endowed with special emotional value.

"Roasting around the fire" can be made into any form of product, and any food and utensils can be prepared in the form of "roasting around the fire". New forms such as "roasting around the fire", "cooking wine around the fire" and "hot pot around the fire" have been created to shorten the distance and interact intimately, setting off a new trend on social platforms and providing conditions for the formation of the "roasting around the fire" industry. As people's consumption upgrades, the industry's profits are also rising.

Barbecue and hot pot around the fire (Source: Internet)

2. Beware of blindly following trends and avoid being swept up in the hype

Offline, some teahouses and new-style tea shops seized the opportunity of "cooking tea around the fire" to quickly launch related products and supporting services. At present, tea shops in major cities have launched products of brewing tea around the fire. Through various channels of publicity, they have attracted many netizens to check in and have gained a certain degree of popularity on social platforms.

However, only a few shops are active in people's vision. Most of these shops already have a complete product line, so adding a new product will not cause a big fluctuation in the overall revenue. As long as they grasp the industry trend and quickly launch products, they can stand at the forefront. But if you blindly follow the trend and invest blindly when you see "cooking tea around the stove" is popular on social platforms, you are likely to be swept away by the traffic and be unable to get off the tiger.

Stores around the stove for making tea (Source: Meituan)

According to a survey by Sina Technology, although cooking tea around a stove is very popular on social platforms, the actual experience of consumers in offline stores is not good. The heat is difficult to control, and inexperienced people can easily burn the ingredients. Since most people just want to try it for fun, they will not come back to make repeated purchases.

In addition, offline stores have many restrictions. Since carbon monoxide poisoning is easy to occur indoors, the venue for the fireside tea is limited; the season is relatively strict, and it can only be done in autumn and winter; it is necessary to prepare charcoal fire, ingredients and other trivial things, which requires high manpower and material resources... It is not an easy task to operate "cooking tea around the fireside" offline.

Warm reminder for "brewing tea around the stove" issued by Guangxi Disease Control

At present, although the popularity and traffic brought by "brewing tea around the fire" is huge, it will inevitably fade with the change of seasons and the emergence of new things. How long this "Internet celebrity" can last depends on the market.

3. E-commerce gameplay, a game of rapid monetization

On platforms such as Douyin and Taobao, relying on people's attention to brewing tea around the fire, merchants either quickly launch products related to brewing tea around the fire to increase sales, or use the popularity of brewing tea around the fire to attract fan traffic.

Taobao trend of the topic of brewing tea around the stove (Source: Taobao)

Teaware and tea brands are the most popular. Various anchors sell products that can be used to make tea around the stove in their live broadcast rooms, introduce their teapots, teacups, and a variety of tea varieties to the audience, and even "smuggle in" coffee, milk drinks and other brewable drinks.

A store’s Douyin live broadcast room (Source: Douyin)

Different brands have different resources and fan bases, and the effects of bringing goods are also very different. Some small brands are small in size and low in popularity, so the number of people in the live broadcast room is not ideal, sometimes even only a few dozen people. However, some well-known brands or accounts have achieved good results in this competition by relying on their own existing resources.

Some bloggers who already have a fan base have also caught up with the craze of brewing tea around the stove. They set up a stove in the live broadcast room, lit the fire, created a fireside chat with fans, and recommended good products to everyone. In this kind of live broadcast room, the blogger has a higher stickiness with fans, the distance is closer, the communication is more intimate, and the recommended products are easy to plant in the fans. Therefore, these bloggers naturally achieve the purpose of bringing goods in the process of chatting with the audience.

Xiachu Chen Shier's Douyin live broadcast room (Source: Douyin)

In any case, brewing tea around the fire is destined to be a game of quick cashing in. Perhaps this winter, brewing tea around the fire can set off a huge wave, but as the seasons change, people's attention to brewing tea around the fire is destined to gradually fade away. Therefore, it is key to act decisively when the industry emerges and to act quickly when it can be cashed in.

IV. Conclusion

The climate this winter seems to be particularly cold, but the steaming hot pot of tea can always make us feel warm in the cold. No matter whether the stove is delicate or rough, as long as the fire is lit, the fragrant tea seems to add some interest to the ordinary days. People see their expectations for life in the reflection of the fire - it may be a hearty conversation with a friend they haven't seen for a long time, or a reunion dinner with family amid the sound of firecrackers during the Spring Festival.

Maybe you just want to start the winter "ritual" by "making tea around the fire" as in previous years; maybe you just felt the excitement of the fire on your mobile phone screen, and then you became more determined to yearn for the fireworks. Whether it is a merchant or a consumer, making tea around the fire gives us an opportunity to encounter warmth.

Author: Tian Jianing

Source: WeChat public account "Cultural Industry Review (ID: whcypl)"