Luxury tea London’s latest drink trend

Top end tea is becoming increasingly trendy among London’s upmarket hotels and restaurants as chefs and sommeliers explore the diversity of styles and food-pairing possibilities.

Nadeem Lalani. Picture credit: Bloomberg

While tea is an integral part of British culture – the UK consumes 165 million cups each day – the majority is drunk with milk and made with low-grade leaves.

However, London’s Lalani & Co is seeking to change the way tea is treated by working closely with the capital’s leading hotels and restaurants when it comes to sourcing the best possible teas, and offering advice on how to serve it.

Set up by three brothers, the company has already encouraged a number of London outlets to champion tea consumption, as well as work with Riedel to select a suitable glass for drinking tea.

“It’s a really exciting time for tea now,” said Nadeem Lalani, co-founder of the company, in a discussion with the drinks business at Sake no Hana, where Lalani sencha teas are served in Riedel Pinot and Cabernet “O” glasses alongside sushi.

Spring picked Okumidori Cultivar Sencha 2012 at The Modern Pantry in Riedel Pinot O glass. Photo credit: edibleexperiences.com

Continuing, he noted the emergence of “a contemporary British tea culture” stemming from a fusion of wine and tea appreciation in which tea is sipped slowly from stemware and enjoyed with a range of foods in leading London outlets.

As an example of this new trend, Nadeem cites Brown’s Hotel, which is now serving a range of Lalani teas in Riedel “O” glasses selected by Jameel Lalani, Riedel and a panel of sommeliers, alongside handmade tea ware pieces designed by British ceramic artist Billy Lloyd.

Nevertheless, Nadeem also records the prevalence of poor quality teas in top London hotels. “It’s true that lots of hotels are using catering grade tea bags and charging a huge mark-up,” he told db.

In his many meetings with leading restaurants and hotels he notes either an enthusiastic response or a complete lack of interest when it comes to elevating the quality of tea on offer.

“Some chefs and sommeliers understand that tea is a provenance-based, seasonal product, but then, with others, we’re asked, ‘what’s the price?’ and that’s the end of the discussion.”

Lalani & Co Makaibari Grand Reserve Darjeeling 2012 at the Modern Pantry in a Riedel Pinot O glass. Photo credit: edibleexperiences.com

Establishments that have listed Lalani leaf teas aside from Brown’s Hotel include restaurants Hibiscus, Hakkasan, Sake no Hana, Gauthier Soho, Bubbledogs and new Peruvian restaurant Coya, as well as Trishna, Zuma, The Modern Pantry and Kempinski.

“The market is changing and the public are crying out for a more artisan dining experience and London is the capital of tea consumption, so now is the right time for hotels and restaurants to be introducing seasonal tea libraries,” remarked Nadeem.

In terms of the benefits of tea drinking, he stressed that tea is tax and duty free, packed with anti-oxidants, and, after a tea flight with food, the diner is left feeling alert, but not wired.

“Tea is a contemplative drink, it is not a fix like coffee, and you should drink tea as slowly as wine,” he commented.

Over the following pages are a handful of top sources for tea:

Big Island Tea Garden, Hawaii

Newly-planted tea bushes at the Big Island Tea Garden

Nadeem Lalani describes Hawaii as “a very exciting area for tea” and the Big Island Tea Garden as the source of the finest tea in Hawaii and “some of the finest tea on earth”.

LaKyrsiew Tea Garden, India

The LaKyrsiew Tea Garden

LaKyrsiew uses tea grown in the forests of Meghalaya, just south of Assam in North-east India from a “fascinating tea garden” according to Nadeem.

The garden has been organic since its foundation in 2001 by a husband and wife team who split their time between India and London.

Makaibari

Makaibari tea garden

Described by Nadeem as a pioneer of organic and biodynamic tea growing, Makaibari is located at Kurseong, Darjeeling in West Bengal, India.

The leaves are plucked under the light of a full moon, and the tea bushes are grown as part of a biodiverse permaculture rather than the monoculture of most tea plantations.