An exciting brew from a 150-year-old heritage
Tom Aikens
Promising ‘something for everyone’, replete with a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Masterclasses with brunch and high tea, Tea Streets , Tea Theatre and so much more, the Ceylon Tea Festival promises to ‘brew’ a different cuppa from August 11 – 13 at the Asylum Courtyard of the Independence Square, the Mount Lavinia Hotel and the Cinnamon Grand.
The country’s first ever luxury food, drink and leisure festival centred around our most prized premium export- Ceylon Tea, the event is a fitting tribute to the 150-year-old saga of this celebrated beverage. While Michelin starred chefs Tom Aikens and Jason Atherton will be pairing Ceylon Tea with premium ingredients and the best of local vegetables, foodies can also have a taste of the ‘Tea Street’ in true Bohemian style. With planters’ talk, theatre performances by Mind Adventures and music thrown in, the festival offers a selection of free and ticketed events to choose from.
The need to connect our premium ‘Ceylon Tea’ with ‘Sri Lanka’ was what propelled Neela Marikkar, the advertising and PR personality to conceptualize a fully-fledged festival around Ceylon Tea. “The international millennial generation has no idea that Ceylon Tea comes from Sri Lanka,” notes Neela, co-founder and Director of the Ceylon Tea Festival for whom cherished childhood memories of tea estates offered inspiration in abundance. Today Neela lobbies for a ‘younger audience’ to rally round our tea, globally acclaimed for its health properties as well. “Coffee has taken that platform across the world. I believed that by creating a unique luxury tea tourism product for the country we could re-ignite interest in this wonderful brand.”
The event also aspires to bring Sri Lanka into spotlight as a hot spot for ‘tea tourism’ going beyond the cliches of sun, sand and the sea, being conscious of the new generation of travellers seeking more authentic experiences. “Food and drink form an intrinsic part of this,” observes Neela. From five-course dining made possible by Michelin star chefs to high tea prepared by our own Chef Jerome from Asylum along with Chef John from Cafe Kumbuk, Chef Nimal from Sugar Bistro , to name a few local connoisseurs, Ceylon Tea Festival is to offer gastronomic delights of a different kind. Restaurateur Jesse Aston will be curating the street food experience at the Arcade Independence Square.
One of the main objectives of the initiative is to inspire both local and internationally renowned chefs to opt for Ceylon Tea as a preferred ingredient in their culinary delights and popularize it via their restaurants, TV shows and online forums. “We want to create a global appeal for Ceylon tea at a gastronomic level, which will compliment the efforts made by the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the tea trade in positioning Ceylon Tea as a premium brand internationally,” says Neela.
Jason Atherton: Turning his expertise to tea
Capitalizing on the country’s 150-year tea romance which is embedded in the socio-economic climate of the nation through ‘imaginative means’ is the need of the hour asserts Neela. The Tea Festival is an ambitious step in this direction and they hope to make it an annual event both in Colombo and in the hills. “Several changes have impacted this premium product which has over the years seen a decline in its global market share. In the short-term, we want to make Ceylon Tea youthful, relevant and exciting to the new global consumer who is constantly on the move, is mobile-centric and looking to reconnect with authentic and traditional experiences,” says Neela adding that part of the exercise is to help explore the many facets of Ceylon Tea beyond its traditional hot beverage roots and into epicurean adventures.
It is also a move to rally the local tea and plantation industry around a national event that will help to reinforce the industry and sustain it for the future. Helping ‘re-establish Ceylon Tea as the preferred brand for the fast evolving modern generation of consumers and developing the tea tourism product in the country, are the long term objectives.
Applauding the Sri Lanka Tea Board for being very supportive of the cause, Neela also acknowledges the other partners including the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association, Sri Lankan Airlines and Sri Lanka Tourism authorities for being optimistic about the long term objectives of the initiative. While the star chefs on board this year are already looking forward to visiting the plantations, meeting the workforce and exploring and learning about Ceylon Tea, three more Michelin star chefs have already lined up for the next year, points out Neela who urges everyone in the industry, from the estates to the tea brands and the leisure industry to rally around the Ceylon Tea Festival to make it a long term success.