London - The unique characteristics and aromas of some of the world’s rarest tea varieties have been matched with 10 scenic British destinations in an unusual new guidebook that includes sachets of the brews for readers to taste for themselves.
A 22-page book titled Brewed With A View, which launched recently, was a year in the making with more than 500 varieties of tea tasted by experts from Dragonfly Tea to find the best cuppa for each location. Eight of the 10 teas are so rare they cannot be bought from shops.
The locations, each beautifully photographed with the addition of a man enjoying a cup of tea sitting in a yellow armchair, were selected with help from the British Guild of Travel Writers.
Dragonfly Tea managing director Patrick Busse said the project aimed to highlight the beauty of tea and the tranquility associated with enjoying it through serene places in Britain.
“In the East, tea was drunk by monks and they would often take it to beautiful places to drink it where there was a beautiful view. And they would experience these exquisite moments of slowness and tranquillity, which we thought was a core part of tea history.
“So we started to think about ways in which we could bring that back and make it relevant to people living and drinking tea in Britain.
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This is the first time I’ve seen a guidebook like this – it could be the only one in the world.”
Brewed With A View is available initially online for £17 (about R320).
BREWED WITH A VIEW
l Glamis Castle Angus, Scotland: Notoriously the most haunted place in Britain – has been paired with Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling leaf tea. The estate which produces this fine Darjeeling is still said to be visited by the ghost of the plantation owner’s daughter, who died tragically young.
l Chinatown, Liverpool: One of the most impressive Chinatown gates in the UK stands testament to the influence of Liverpool’s merchant roots – and is still bustling with life and colour brought by China tea traders centuries later. The leaves of the bright, delicate Dragon’s Well green tea are shaped by hand and heated in a wok to achieve its fresh flavour.
l Kingly Vale, West Sussex: Among the oldest living things in Britain, the tangled branches of Kingley Vale’s legendary yew trees evoke the ancient tea gardens of Yunnan Province. Said to be the birthplace of tea itself, this fertile region in South-Western China is home not only to tea trees over 30m tall and 1 000 years old, but also to the old-growth tea bushes that produce Golden Yunnan’s long, soft leaf buds.
l Leadenhall Market, the City of London: This Victorian-era temple to commerce and British industry is usually buzzing with suited city-workers, but grounded with a contemplative air when matched with Eastern Beauty. Famous for being Queen Victoria’s favourite tea, the luxurious rich flavour of the exclusive Taiwanese Oolong matching perfectly with the ornate and sophisticated building.
l The Japanese Garden in Tatton Park, Cheshire: The harmony and organised beauty of Japanese gardens inspired the creation of this precious sanctuary after The Great Exhibition of 1910. The flavour of Gyokuro green tea, also known as the “Dew Jewel” of Japanese tea gardens, similarly develops through painstaking process, which involves the practice of shading tea bushes shortly before harvest to develop their colour and taste.
l Kibble Palace, Glasgow: This magnificent glasshouse, host to an annual orchid festival, has been teamed with an exquisite Orchid green tea. Jade Orchid petals are added by hand to green tea leaves to delicately scent them, elevating the taste with sweet opulent notes, just as the sweeping dome of the palace elevates the spirits of thousands of visitors every year.
l Wast Water, Lake District: Arguably among the few places in the UK where you can feel closest to heaven, these breathtakingly majestic peaks have been paired with an exceptionally rare Silver Needle, a white tea so prized that it was reserved for the Emperor’s sole enjoyment. It is grown at a dizzying altitude mirrored by the ancient rocks and sweeping pinnacles of the Lake District, and gathered during a short period once a year when the tea buds are covered with a fine white down.
l Ashdown Forest, East Sussex: There was only one candidate to perfectly suit a view of the iconic Poohsticks Bridge, favoured spot of AA Milne’s honey-loving bear. Wild Honeybush grows wild in South Africa and is characterised by a soft honey scent: with a sweet charm that could have been lifted straight out of the Hundred Acre Wood.
l Glengoyne Distillery, Strathclyde: Dark, intriguing and carefully aged – words apt for the leaves of the remarkable Black Pu’er, and not just the whisky, in the case of this pairing. Black Pu’er is the only tea that undergoes a fermentation process, which adds earthy complexity and deep, fascinating dimensions to rival any whisky including that produced at this famous distillery.
l The Roman Baths, Bath: Familiar to many, the rejuvenating power of this ancient site has been lauded since the days of the Roman Empire. Big Red Robe oolong tea is imperial in its own right, hailed as a life-saving elixir during the Ming dynasty. After the tea made from these bushes revived the Emperor’s sick mother, it was ordered that they be wrapped in expensive red cloth, in honour of their restorative qualities.
Daily Mail