Time for Tea

The International Wine & Food Society and Hong Kong Society are delighted to announce the launch of the publication of the 2024 IWFS Monograph – Tea. The book is authored by Will Battle, who has 20 years experience in the tea trade, is a trained tea taster and has authored The World Tea Encyclopaedia: The World of Tea Explored and Explained from Bush to Brew. He will be leading the event and signing copies of the monograph.

We are partnering with Fortnum & Mason on this exciting and unique event. It will be held in their new state-of-the-art food and drink studio on the 3rd floor of their flagship London store.

With the increasing global interest in no and lo-alcohol drinks, it is a good time to delve back into the world of tea. Tea’s popularity is growing around the world - flights are being offered in top-end restaurants (alongside wine lists). Sparkling tea is even being sold by the bottle.

Tea also shares a number of similarities with wine. The tea plant takes 3-4 years to be productive, natural yeasts play a part in the production process as does the careful cellaring for some styles. There are as many varieties of tea as there are terroirs that grow it.

Will Battle will describe the development of the tea industry and different tea making processes, then guide us through the pleasure of sampling the following drinks:

• A sparkling tea

• An English Breakfast tea with some CTC (cut, tear and curl) inclusion

• a first flush Darjeeling

• a second flush Darjeeling

• a light Oolong

• a current spring crop green China tea

• a Pu Erh

Light nibbles from Fortnum & Mason’s Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon menu will be provided.

Join us: it's time for tea! Places are limited so please book early.

The member price ticket of £36.00 is for IWFS members and Hong Kong Society members. IWFS members will receive a complimentary signed copy of the monograph. Additional copies will be available for participants at £10.00 per copy.