We have recently partnered with JW Marriott and Newby Teas to create what will be an exciting new menu concept for the hotels Park Room. The Park Room is a beautiful open plan space in the entrance to their Park lane flagship hotel that is utilised day and night by guests looking to enjoy both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. Naturally tea plays a big role in the service there and afternoon tea in particular is a guest favourite. This affinity with tea led to us being briefed to develop a hybrid menu of both non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks with each drink featuring one of the delicious teas from Newby. The philosophy behind the menu is that the guest experience, that is the appearance, taste and aroma of a given cocktail shouldn't differ whether the drink has alcohol or not. It is a concept that we originally worked on for the now closed Worship Street Whistling Shop back in 2016 and something that we feel is going to continue to be a trend through the next few years.
As with all projects, the development process begins with flavour and in order for us to fully understand the complexities of the Newby Teas we did a visit to their headquarters in Farringdon. The aim of the visit was to nose, taste and analyse a selection other core range with a view to understanding how best to apply the flavours and aromatics to cocktails. Consideration were given to preparation methods too. Should we cold brew, hot brew (and at what temperature). Should we ferment to turn into tincture. Newby Teas sommelier (?) William Sahaw was on hand to guide us through the process and production. The depth and complexity to the teas was fascinating with the production processes sharing similarities with the attention to detail of whisky cognac. Although the nuances in flavour are delicate and refined, there is a clear distinctive flavour profile created by regionality, oxidation, processing and brewing. So, we wanted to share our very basic tasting notes for the teas we tried. The proposed menu format is based on flavour and as such we analysed the teas in this way - breaking them down into flavour categories such as smoke, sweet, spice, fragrant and fruit.
SMOKE
Lapsang Souchong // Rich bonfire smoke, damp embers, wood spice and oak.
Smoked Grey // Lighter bonfire smoke with hints of citrus, in particular bergamot. A slight floral note prevails.
Pu-erh // Leather, dried fish and dried spice. Farmyard hay with orchard apples.
SWEET
Milk Oolong // Rich butter and cream caramel with delicate floral notes.
Ginseng Oolong // Orchid floral notes with a rich sweetness prevailing from the ginseng. Herbal green notes.
Oriantal Beauty // Amazing honey sweetness. Porridge oats drizzled with pine honey.
SPICE
Ceylon // Wood spice with a hint of lemon citrus. All spice with cinnamon and clove.
Genmaicha // Extremely nutty with a toasted character. A finish of sweet vanilla.
FRAGRANT
Silver Needle // Baked apple and rhubarb, Honey with honeydew melon. Rich and creamy on the finish.
White Peony // Cantaloupe melon with cucumber and a honey sweetness.
Blue Peak // Fresh cut green grass with peach
FRUIT
Darjeeling // Moscatel wine with rich tropical fruits including pineapple, mango and passionfruit. Sweet tobacco notes on the finish and wood spice on the nose.
Each of these flavours have been analysed and matched to create secondary and tertiary flavour combinations that accentuate the flavour profile of the base spirit or product. More to come on the development of the menu.