I am not a tea drinker. Then I stumble quite fortuitously upon t-Shakes. These unprecedented tea versions of frappucinos are encountered whilst perusing a unique and elaborate tea menu at Hilton Colombo’s Thorana Lounge. My curiosity is piqued. I inform Manageress Suramya that next time I’ll replace my usual coffee with this novelty.
Next time my usual barista at Thorana Lounge is replaced by taciturn young Janaka. Why? I’m informed I’m trying tea and Janaka is the expert tea sommelier. He shakes these extraordinary t-Shakes: Two enormous globes of vanilla ice cream teeter in chilled smoked Early Grey, spicy cinnamon or mellow vanilla tea whilst ice cream is whipped into the velvety Peppermint Refresher. I remark Janaka is marvellous. Suramya whispers, almost apologetically, that Janaka was gold medallist at Culinary Art last year.
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| Janaka, t somelier shows his prowess |
Janaka proceeds to win gold at Culinary Art this year. Suramya too.
I wonder why Colombo remains unaware and then am glad the Hilton doesn’t tapestry newspapers with self-glorificatory declarations. Or indeed importune me (as many establishments do) to write them an “advertisement” on A, B, C chef/restaurant/promotion, to be placed in X, Y, Z publications, compelling my constant explanations that I’m not some marketing manager, I write independent critiques, and exclusively for the Sunday Times.
And following my experience with the t-Shakes I think, “Hmm... this might be a fascinating story.”
I discover I’m at Sri Lanka’s only tea bar, The t-Bar, showcasing 31 teas designed by Dilmah for Hilton Colombo, including precious Ceylon Silver Tips and Jade Butterfly Handmade White Tea. I decide to arrest my coffee addiction to delve into Dilmah’s “designer” teas. Green tea with jasmine flowers and natural rosehip with hibiscus evoke sensations of sipping a garden.
If these teas bring in the outdoors then Hilton Colombo has gone all out with their Outdoors Hi-t, an astonishing concept that fetched Dilmah Tea Gastronomic Challenge- Top Gold at Culinary Art 2011 last weekend. Incidentally, Hilton won the most number of medals, 53 in total (including 28 gold medals) and was adjudged Best Regional Team.
Gold medallists Ayeasha Paiva (t Chef) and Janaka Bandara (t sommelier) unveiled the Outdoor Fashion Hi-t, this adventurous creation of Hilton Colombo’s Executive Chef Rohan Fernandopulle. It’s presented in a stylish tailor-made portable multi-task table comprising sliding compartments. This terrific contraption can be hired for elegant tea parties, tea picnics etc. Hot and cold drawers hold a teatime gastronomic extravaganza paired with 4 types of teas including set combinations like Italian Almond Teaccino, cheese, pumpkin & dry fruit flavoured with caramel tea on Italian nut biscotti, crème brûlé & amerina cherry or Acai berry & pomegranate tea fizz, berry tea perfumed foie gras mousse, white chocolate & passion tower... Fantas-tea-c!
Whilst Janaka is busy winning gold colleague Chamil explains how each category of tea (mild, medium, strong) is brewed to optimise flavour, fragrance and colour. For t-Shakes teas are brewed differently to counteract the chill factor. Ah, the mathematics of meticulousness!
Hearing of these precissive procedures I’m transported back to the pernickety of Paris. I’m further impressed by Hilton’s intelligent, informed staff, almost a rarity nowadays, and recall a grand London hotel whose “tea sommelier” proclaimed with no little swagger that Darjeeling was in China.
Chamil next reveals that they once brewed teas using timers now dispensed with given the staff’s degree of perfection. Indeed, the t-Bar takes perfection to another degree. The tea menu features tea and food pairing (akin to wine and food pairings), a practice prevalent in Japanese tea houses but not even in Paris’s fanciest salons de thé. So I’m intrigued. But I’m averse to hot tea and request ice tea substitutes. Suramya reels with horror worthy of a Parisian. Chef Rohan and Dilmah’s F&B manager Suren have carefully conceptualised and crafted a menu, executed with exactitude, to match flavours in food with notes in tea teased out at certain precise degrees and here I’m suggesting something so preposterous! As if their menu were some mix-and-match jumble sale.
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I defer to their precision and punctiliousness. After all, Hilton Colombo has a team of thinking chefs. Food for thought indeed! Intricately presented savoury dishes pair with subtle teas like Prince of Kandy served in dainty custom-made cups. Chocolate cake marries Moroccan mint tea and Italian almond tea courts crème brûlé. We’ve all had Hilton’s fabled ribbon cake but do experience it metamorphosed splendidly with a swig of vanilla tea. Of course, this will cost you Rs 600.
Because the menu’s food pairings are not duplicated during high tea. The London Ritz reveals people save all year for their legendary (and highly over-rated) afternoon tea. Hilton Colombo’s high tea isn’t quite so exorbitant. But splurge on this exclusive gourmet affair of à la minute sandwiches, troublingly textured delicate canapés, finger pastries of such frivolity (justifying Hilton’s Culinary Art Gold for Best Petits Fours) and crisp crêpes (sweet and savoury). An intimate selection perfected to a T is surely preferable to those straggling tea buffets with 500 items, mostly inedible?
When I recommend the exquisite Hilton offering to an F&B director at another 5-star he exclaims, “What, the Hilton has started high tea now?!” The gentleman clearly hasn’t done his homework for the Hilton introduced high tea to Colombo and their extensively-travelled chefs (Chef Rohan is currently in Russia at the Club des Chefs…) have now moved onto innovations to rival London’s latest. Chef Karu is already conceiving chic canapés of curried exotica. But that’s another story.
Meanwhile, the menu vacillates in vastitude from indigenous fresh ginger or lemongrass “Yara” tea (watch Janaka tumble tea Lankan-style in theatrical gold medal-winning performances) to sophisticated international t-Cocktails and t-Shooters including T-56 (Galle District OP1 tea, Irish cream, Grand Marnier). A killer shot that hits its mark. Cheers! Or should we say chai-ers?... |
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