For our first online event 29 participants signed up and we received lots of positive feedback.

Sandbags were at the ready as there was flooding in Cologne only three metres away from the “Lokschuppen”. Fortunately, they weren’t needed which was a great relief.

After a brief overview of the programme, we watched the first film, recorded in Sri Lanka, of Dilmah tea plantations. Maître Rôtisseur Julia Komp, who is a qualified Tea Sommelier, introduced us to the world of tea.

A short film followed showing harvesting and processing of individual types of tea. The non-profit side of Dilmah was highlighted. The export of tea can support projects in India, for example sponsoring school fees for training children and young people.

Then the tasting began.

Four different types of tea were compared with each other. They were tasted and accompanied by sweet and savoury snacks prepared by Julia’s Patisserie.

Namely …
- lemongrass and ginger praline with green tea
- whole cardamom milk with oolong tea plus rose panna cotta with nut crumble
- dark praline filled with parmesan, cheese crackers with black tea
- cherry blossom praline with white tea

All the flavours of the snacks were perfectly matched to the individual teas. The highlight was the last combination. White tea is particularly valuable and therefore very expensive. Only the tops of tips are picked to be used.

All the teas required a different brewing time. There was a take-away for everyone with four small hourglasses welded together in a plexiglass block. Each filled differently to measure running times or two, three, four and five minutes. Nothing could go wrong with the preparation.

After the tasting, there was time to share experiences with each other in the chat.

Everyone agreed that it was a very entertaining afternoon.

Ulla Heyder
Bailli

Event photos: Julia Komp, Maître Rôtisseur
Tea plantation and processing photos courtesy of Dilmah Tea Estates