Celebrating Tea Appreciation Day with Dilmah Tea at Sheraton PJ

A few weeks ago, we were invited to a Tea Appreciation Day hosted by Dilmah Tea at Sheraton Petaling Jaya. We heard of Coffee Day but didn’t know that there is a Tea Appreciation Day. The International Tea Day has been around since 2005 in most tea producing countries.

To understand more on the Tea Appreciation Session, Dilmah invited Mr Edwin Soon who is a Sensory Evaluation consultant and Oenologist to share with us the origin of the tea and the science of the flavours.

We know only a few types of tea and they are Chinese tea variants and the Japanese Green Tea. From the presentation of Edwin, we understand more on the origin of tea and also the types of the tea. Most Chinese tea is Black Tea while the Japanese Green Tea is Green Tea.

The Black, Green, Oolong and White Tea are made from the same Camellia sinensis plant. The difference is how the tea leaves are cured and prepared.

Here are some of the fun facts of the Tea types:

White: wilted and unoxidized;

Green: unwilted and unoxidized;

Oolong: wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized;

Black: wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidized

We also learn about the history of tea and how it started its influences from China to USA. How the tea trading in the past created the Opium War and how the British introduced tea farming in Cameron Highlands.

Tea plants at different elevation and climate will produce tea leaves with different flavours and most high quality tea plants being cultivated up to 1,500m above sea level. For example, our tea farms in Cameron Highlands.

It is interesting to know that Sri Lanka is one of the top producers of premium tea in the world and Dilmah Tea is rated as one of the best tea in the world.

For the Tea Appreciation Day, we had afternoon tea pairing session. This is our first time having an afternoon tea pairing session.

For starter, we had lamb curry puffs paired with Dilmah The Original Earl Grey. This quintessential English tea is strong in flavour and complements well with the spicy lamb curry puffs.

Next, it the Salmon Maki Roll Sushi with Dilmah Green Tea Jasmine Flower. This is pretty common as we usually have green tea with sushi in Japanese restaurants.

The Hi-Tea set comes with Ratatouille turnovers, spinach and cheese quiche and smoked salmon canapes. The bite size pastries are tasty and complements well with the tea.

For desserts, we had Pandan Sweet Pancakes with corn custard. The roll spring looking pancake is paired with Dilmah Pure Chamomile Flowers Tea. This tea is ideal for me as it does not contain any caffeine and you can enjoy this even at night. If you have caffeine intolerance like us, Dilmah Pure Chamomile Flowers Tea is the best for you.

Lastly, we had Chocolate Brownies paired with Dilmah Moroccan Mint Green Tea.The Dilmah Moroccan Mint Green Tea is light with minty after taste and it complements well with the thick and strong flavour of chocolate brownie.

Overall, we enjoyed the Tea Appreciation Day with Dilmah Tea at Sheraton PJ. We love the storytelling by Edwin Soon to understand more on the origin and history of tea. It was a fun afternoon high tea with friends like KY and Sharon around and we enjoyed the afternoon tea pairing with Dilmah Tea. Thank you Dilmah for inviting us for this tea food pairing session.

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