New Darjeeling Teas Introduced to The Savoy’s Afternoon Tea menu
The Savoy and its official tea partner JING, are launching three new Darjeeling teas onto the Afternoon Tea menu, served in The Savoy’s Thames Foyer.
Assistant Thames Foyer Manager and Savoy tea ambassador, Thomas Wickens, recently joined representatives from JING on a trip to Darjeeling in India – a famed tea origin, known for producing the ‘Champagne of teas’. The ‘Organic Darjeeling First Flush’ is one of three rare teas selected to feature on the menu, a supremely fragrant blend with honey and floral tones.
JING Excellence at origin competition judging day
This tea recently won JING’s inaugural Excellence at Origin competition for Darjeeling 1st Flush, beating 16 other entries. A panel of experts judged this First Flush from Seevok Estate to best capture the very essence of the Darjeeling terrior and the craftsmanship vital to First Flush production.
Darjeeling origin
Also launching and entirely exclusive to The Savoy are the ‘Darjeeling Second Flush Moonlight’, a new style of tea with a complex fusion of syrupy sweetness and florality, that is being produced in Darjeeling from Margaret’s Hope Garden and the ‘Darjeeling Second Flush Muscatel’. Coming from Castleton Estate, this tea is warm and comforting with dried fruit notes, which have been masterfully extracted by the firing of leaves.
Seeyok Estate Leaves
These chosen teas are definitive examples of three distinctive styles of Darjeeling tea, all varying in flavour that have been meticulously selected to complement the Afternoon Tea offering. Indeed, each tea pairs perfectly with each afternoon tea course: The First Flush with the savouries; the Second Flush Moonlight with the Scones and the Second Flush Muscatel with the sweet pastries.
For this menu, Tom Wickens and the expert team at JING have worked closely with Executive Pastry Chef, Daniel Pearse and his team to ensure that each cup of tea is as integral to the afternoon tea experience as the food offering, accenting and drawing out the subtleties of each delicate sandwich, signature cake and imaginative pastry. Every cup is brewed at the optimum temperature, with careful balance of the ratio to water infusion time to ensure a perfectly balanced and satisfying infusion to elevate the experience.
Tom Wickens commented;
‘We are extremely excited to launch this partnership with JING. It marks the beginning of our new Afternoon Tea concept, and truly solidifies The Savoy as serving the best teas in London’. Both JING and The Savoy champion exceptional provenance. In addition to the new teas sourced from the finest tea gardens in Darjeeling, India, JING sources single origin tea directly from the tea gardens of Taiwan, Japan, China and Sri Lanka. JING believes that single origin teas deliver the most authentic drinking experience as they capture the true craftsmanship, local culture and the individuality of each tea garden’
The teas served at Thames Foyer are all at their optimum, owing to JING’s commitment to freshness and selecting the very best teas from each origin each season.
The Savoy team has been given in-depth training by the specialists at JING and deftly guide the drinker through the menu suggesting pairings based on the flavour profiles of the teas and the guests’ pallet preferences or a desire to explore.
As a precursor to the entire experience, guests are offered a cold tea infusion to cleanse the palate and guests can also add a glass of Louis Roederer for an additional £10 or £15 for a glass of Deutz Rosé.