Taha Bouqdib and Maranda Barnes know luxury. Even before they started TWG Tea in 2008 in Singapore, they were strategizing with the big guns of extravagance. The entrepreneurial duo didn’t create tea – it has existed for centuries, with 15,000 cups drunk every second. But it’s the way in which they are putting the world’s oldest and most mundane brew in the spotlight that makes their brand so valuable, opulent and strikingly irresistible.
Housed in TaiKoo Hui, on the same level as the likes of Tiffany and Dior, TWG, which stands for The Wellness Group, is doing to loose-leaf tea what a haute couture fashion designer would to raw fabric. More than 800 single-estate fine harvest teas and exclusive blends are painstakingly handpicked. Stored in flamboyant artisan tins on wood-paneled sliding walls that surround hardwood tables, the brews are gently concocted on an old-fashioned tea counter by trained connoisseurs, accompanied by fine bone china and an 18-karat gold teapot.
For those buying rather than drinking onsite, a mere 50 grams, measured on vintage brass weighing scales, can cost anything from RMB60 for an English breakfast to a staggering RMB1,420 for the yellow tea variety, grown on a misty, high-altitude mountain range in the depths of China and harvested on one day a year with golden scissors. Like fashion, every season is celebrated with a new collection, including a myriad of fine accessories to complement the product line.
If the attention to aesthetic detail is already making you swoon with desire, the tea-infused gastronomy will surely send you over the edge with lust: lavish sets for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner are on show, as are trendsetting cocktails and freshly made tea-based pastries (RMB45), scones, jelly and ice cream. TWG Tea’s macaroons (RMB18), lined up behind glass counters like colorful jewels, whet the palate with flavors like Moroccan mint tea and Camelot tea and praline.
Fresh bread, baked daily with tea leaves, is served with the gourmand salad (RMB120): tender roast chicken accompanied by juicy tomatoes, cucumbers and a mesclun salad with ripe avocado and white sesame tossed in Blue Pavilion tea-infused vinaigrette. The lobster timbale (RMB200) is a deep sphere of marinated lobster and avocado sprinkled with coriander and chives, then drizzled with a to-die-for Love Me tea-infused vinaigrette. The trio of mini burgers (RMB180) is an indulgent selection of foie gras, chicken and beef paired with shallot confit and fresh apple chutney. Crunchy herb-crusted salmon (RMB180) is exquisite and melts in your mouth with every chew.
Accompanying this, try the dulcet rose (RMB80), a pinkish mocktail of lychee juice and Bain de Roses tea; the prestige (RMB100), a tall flute of sparkling white wine with cinnamon notes from the Singapore Breakfast tea; and desserts like creme brulee (RMB70).
With a deft twirl of an immaculately polished teaspoon, TWG Tea has stirred up the most decadent tea emporium in the city.
Price: Approx. RMB150-200
Who’s going: Tea-loving gastronomists, taitais out on the town
Good for: Elegant outings, business tete-a-tetes
// Listing.
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