We had a tea afternoon in The Smoke House with Johnnie the bartender and Andreas Aufmkolk, the Regional Director of Ronnefeldt Asia Pacific.
It all seemed a bit pompous until we opened the door into The Smoke House and were welcomed by the team from Exclusivitea. The teas used in the cocktails and mocktails for the afternoon were laid on the counter showing their scent, colour and shape.
Ronnefeldt is a German tea company that has been run by the family since 1823. Sourcing their tea from all over the world, the brand is constantly coming up with high-quality blends. “We may not be the largest tea company in the world,” admits their press release, “but we’re probably the most passionate and the most innovative.”
(Johnnie in action)
As an active member of the German tea industry, Ronnefeldt monitors the control of residual pesticides by collecting and evaluating results from the tea in a data-sharing system. The transparency of this system ensures that the teas from the member companies are in compliance with general safety levels, and in case of contamination, they’re able to trace it back to its source.
The Teatails
We started with a refreshing berry tea in crushed ice – the only teatail that uses berries and flowers without tea leaves. It was refreshing and exactly what we needed after our walk under the hot sun. The teatail party was accompanied by light bites by the house kitchen.
As we all know, tea needs brewing in hot water to extract the flavours from the leaves. Each teatail is a concoction using one tea blend that has been brewed and cooled, then used as one of the ingredients in the recipes to complement its flavour with other ingredients. To enjoy the tea’s distinctive flavour, it’s still best served in a pot using the usual method.
Conservatory Punch
Courvoisier VS, Bacardi Carta Blanca, Citrus, Morgentau Tea, Spices, Curacao.
After letting it stand for half an hour with Morgentau Morning Dew Loose Green Tea, strain the mixture and add ice.
Straits of Tea
Bols Genever, Lemon Juice, Irish Whiskey Cream Tea.
A truly heart-warming autumn concoction based on Genever, also known as Holland Gin and Irish Whiskey Cream Tea
Silver Tea Cobbler
Hendrick’s Gin, ginger wine, cucumber, Pai Mu Tan
This cobbler-style cocktail combines cucumber gin with the pleasant and refreshing fragrance of Pai Mu Tan Tea
(Johnnie mucking about)
Jasmine Passion
Jasmine Gold, passion fruit juice, Elderflower
Inspiration for the creation of new flavours comes from the unexpected combination of jasmine-scented tea, passion fruit juice and elderflower.
Halcyon Days
Moroccan Mint, pear purée, ginger infusion, mint
The mint nuances of Moroccan Mint mix perfectly with pears
This mocktail might not sound terribly appealing at first, but it’s one of the most refreshing drinks we’ve had, and it tasted different from what we’d usually expect of a green drink. The pear flavour blended subtly with the tea and mitigated the mintiness you’d usually expect from Moroccan Mint. That said, we didn’t get to try the tea on its own to find out once and for all whether it’s the concoction that does the trick, or if they just use a milder tea.
We loved the fact that Johnnie was creative with his tea cocktails. We wouldn’t have minded drinking the tea with the usual scones and pastries but this was another way to have a tea