A Cup of Culture

In July, tea lovers were invited to experience the wonderful and fascinating world of tea and its endless varieties of flavour, aroma and colour at a special event for owners and their families at Four Seasons Private Residences Bangkok.

To ensure the pop-up tea room would be an enriching and interesting event, Country Group Development brought in a range of rare speciality teas from Sri Lanka. Guests were invited to participate in workshops and listen to talks organised by Malou Tea Atelier to learn more about this ancient beverage, its production and the culture that has been created around it all over the world.

To give people a true appreciation of these fine Ceylon teas, guided tastings were held during the event, with the additional option of learning to pair tea with pastries and cold cuts. This allowed participants to fully engage in the experience and flavours of fine tea.

All the teas brought in for this exclusive event came from famed estates that have a long, proud history of producing rare teas, including teas from the estates of Mr. Bernard Holsinger, one of the best known and most established growers and producers of fine Ceylon Teas in the world.

Mr. Holsinger has close to 50 years’ of experience in the tea industry and began as a planter in 1967. Having since held the position of general manager at Active Plantation Management and also acted as manufacturing consultant for Forbes & Walker, one of Sir Lanka’s leading tea broking houses, he is well versed in the finer details of this ever evolving industry.

Produced in small quantities and crafted by hand, Mr. Holsinger’s teas are ranked among the finest and most aromatic teas on the planet and highly coveted among connoisseurs and aficionados. One of his specialties, Ceylon White Leaf Balls, is a very rare tea made from hand-picked leaves. The silver tips and medley of dark to very light green leaves are hand-tied into delicate balls that release a strong aroma of floral and honey notes.