WHETHER you like your drinks to-go or you like to take the time leisurely chilling with friends, these latest thirst quenchers might be perfect for you.
Dilmah introduces ready-to-drink bottled iced tea to Malaysia
Making a debut with four different and exciting flavours – Rose & French Vanilla Green Tea, Arabian Jasmine Green Tea, Royal English Black Tea and White Peach Black Tea – the handcrafted beverages by Ceylonese tea company Dilmah bring a delicious and refreshing new take on tea.
The ready-to-drink line is low in sugar, produced with real honey and without preservatives. These options undergo minimal processing to retain their natural qualities.
“Malaysians are known for their love of good food and good tea, and we are particularly excited to bring our authentic iced teas to Malaysia,” said Dilmah Tea CEO Dilhan C. Fernando, at a recent tea tasting event.
“For years my family has honoured my father’s commitment to the finest quality, ethical and sustainable teas.
“We are very happy to share our passion for tea in this new format that not only provides refreshment, pleasure and artisanal goodness in every sip, but also highlights the natural goodness of tea while showcasing genuinely ethically produced teas,” he added.
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The launch event also saw the teas being used as mixers to creatively make refreshing mocktails for a fun gathering. The drinks were also paired with desserts for guests to experience the tea.
“Dilmah has a long-standing heritage in producing some of the world’s finest tea and by bringing their ready-to-drink iced tea into our portfolio, reaffirms our continued commitment to expand the functional beverage category within our group’s business,” said Berjaya Food Berhad group CEO Datuk Sydney Quays.
“We know our consumers are looking for beverages with functional benefits, and the Dilmah Ready-To-Drink series is just what they are asking for – a delicious and refreshing new take on tea that has undergone minimal processing to retain its natural goodness.”
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Berjaya Food Trading, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berjaya Food Berhad, is the local distributor of the drinks.
The handcrafted beverages have started to ship to premium supermarkets and convenience stores across the country, with plans to roll them out to additional retailers over the next year.
To create this tea, the finest tea leaves are handpicked from Ceylon where they are nurtured by rich soils, sunshine and rainfall on the Rilhena Tea Garden, in the hills of central Sri Lanka. The leaves are then fermented, dried, and the tea extracted in an artisanal method.
Any excess water from the tea is evaporated at low temperatures in a vacuum to create a rich concentrate, thus preserving the natural goodness of the tea with its delicate taste and flavour.
The resulting product is high in natural plant antioxidants, lower in sugar content, and made with real honey and without preservatives.
* For more information on the Dilmah Ready-To-Drink Series, please visit www.dilmahtea.com
SEE cafe collaborates with Barista Guild Asia to make mocktails fun!
Exclusively made available at Signature Market’s flagship experience store, called SEE Cafe in Arcoris Mont Kiara, Barista Guild Asia has invented Malaysia’s first 100% plant-based mocktails for a more heightened non-alchoholic drinking experience.
The keyword here is ‘variation’ where Barista Guild Asia co-founder and director David Leong notes the attempt was done to push the boundaries of mocktail offerings “... because a lot of times, this drink option often gets neglected.”
“A lot of cafes tend to use syrup based flavouring that are ready-made, so that mocktails out there tend to get a little repetitive in taste, where most of our palate is accustomed to.
“So when we were approached by Signature Market, we made the conscious decision to ensure we do not use artificial flavours and crafted the syrup(s) in-house from scratch.
“This is also reflective of customers today being more in tune with what they consume, wanting healthier homecook-style options compared to before,” noted Leong.
He shared that the process to craft the artisanal mocktails was not as easy as just combining the flavours into one.
“It took us about 15 to 20 variations (of taste testing drinks) to finalise just one mocktail because we were adamant to present something memorable. We were working towards creating star product(s).
“We ferment the fruits we use, namely strawberries, blueberry, pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, etc, to make the syrups.
“The tricky part of it all was not relying on the syrup alone as you would not get a flavour profile that is complex enough to pull customers to stick to the drink, so we took another step by mixing different fruits for different drinks,” he said.
When it comes to mixology, Leong noted that understanding flavour balance and knowing the ingredients you use is key. One of the drinks he recommended is called the ‘MUNI’, where it uses pistachio syrup as a base.
“Nowadays it’s trendy to have alternative non-dairy options so we tried to emulate this and managed to figure out a way to get the pistachio reduction to become more flavourful because nuts are usually mild in taste.”
The creamy and fizzy mix of the mocktail is complemented with the freshness of lemon, thyme, plum and cherry tomatoes. – The Vibes, July 16, 2022
* SEE Cafe is a space dedicated to art within an eco-friendly environment. Apart from the mocktails, they also specialty coffees designed by reputable baristas David Leong, Weng Wai, and Cino Lim of Barista Guild Asia.
