The Tea & Coffee Theatre
Tea & Coffee Festival 2011
Southbank Centre Square
Belvedere Road
SE1 8XX
Free admission
Demonstrations, tutored tastings and talks
Watch coffee roasters and tea masters, take part in tutored tastings and talks, learn about your favourite beverages.
Tea & Coffee Theatre Timetable
This Winter The Tea & Coffee Festival offers a rare opportunity to meet some of the country’s best tea and coffee specialists in one place
These are free events but with limited spaces so make sure to arrive early to avoid disappointment.
See below for full timetable
Friday 18th November
As a 6th generation coffee farmer from Guatemala, we will share with the intricacies of growing a quality cup of coffee. We will follow the life of a coffee bean from seedling all the way through until it makes it into your cup. We will share with you what amazes us about this magic bean, and let you know our secret into making the perfect cup of coffee that has led our farm to achieving several awards including the Cup of Excellence.
Edgar Thoemmes, Director of specialist Chinese tea supplier Canton Tea Co will be holding a Fine Chinese Tea Masterclass. Sampling fresh spring teas, he will take participants through the astonishing range of flavours in the different tea categories: white, green, oolong and black. Edgar will talk about the provenance of these hand-picked teas and how they are grown and processed just as they have been for thousands of years. He will impart his enthusiasm and experience on all aspects of fine tea, including how to brew them so you get the best from the leaves – and just why the focus is back on high grade, loose tea in a big way.
This small, informal tea tasting workshop is limited to 25 people. For details and to register use the link below or visit the festival’s information stand on the day.
The introduction of Tea to Britain by The East India Company.
www.theeastindiacompany.com
Celebrated Tea-Lady Henrietta Lovell (founder of the award winning Rare Tea Company) talks about the art of Afternoon Tea. She will discuss its history, its present state and lead you to its re-invention. She will also do what a Tea-Lady does best- and make you a very good cup of tea.
Jane Pettigrew is a tea specialist, historian, writer and consultant. Since 1983, she has been working in the UK and around the world to explain and share the fascinating world of tea. She has written 13 books on the many aspects of tea, its production, history and culture, and she writes for various tea related magazines and journals. She also gives regular tea masterclasses and tea tastings, speaks on radio and TV and acts as consultant to tea companies, new tea businesses, table ware and tea ware companies.
This tutored tasting will introduce you to the wonderful world of tea, touching subjects such as; What is tea? Why are all teas different? Which are the different categories of teas? You will also have the opportunity to learn about different tea manufacturers, the perceived health benefits of tea and taste an oolong!
The delicious tea flavours provided for the tasting are Japanese Aoki Green, Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong, Supernatural Green, Lotus Flavoured Black Tea, Darjeeling Jungpana Second Flush Black Tea, which are all supplied by Postcard Teas.
This event is limited to 30 people. For details and to register use the link below or visit the festival’s information stand on the day.
Melissa Choi is the founder of the renowned tea company Choi Time. Choi Time has an exquisite range of green teas which are perfectly formed; with Jasmine green teas, loose leaf teas, bud teas and flowering teas all sourced carefully to ensure they meet the following criteria; they must be authentic, they must be unique, and they must be delicious! The world seems to be listening to Melissa as her tea win awards year after year, allowing her to continue to explore her great passion for amazing teas.
Come and see the transformation of green beans into your favourite drink. There will be time to chat during the process so we they will be talking about beans, farming, quantum physics and might even mention coffee roasting at some point. There will be a Q&A for those left with more questions and three lucky people at the front will get to take home the coffee roasted!
The drinking of teas in Jamaica have traditionally been in relation to well-being, regenerating and health matters, here you will experience a taste of organic herb teas, intuitively prepared and offered with the sweet one-love vibration and testament to the natural and sublime power of the creators creative process. All teas have been hand picked, washed in spring water and shade/sundried for full flavour, Magical teas like Medina, Fevergrass and Strong-back will be combined to create an unforgettable sense of satisfaction, this is a very rare opportunity for all attending to truly experience the natural mystic of Jamaican bush teas.
JA Real Life Adventure: A tea, coffee and cacao picking adventure in the mountains of Jamaica will soon be on offer to all, for more information on up and coming dates, prices etc… please send email enquiries to Kush, Contact details: akushla14@yahoo.co.uk
Saturday 19th November
Edgar Thoemmes, Director of specialist Chinese tea supplier Canton Tea Co will be holding a Fine Chinese Tea Masterclass. Sampling fresh spring teas, he will take participants through the astonishing range of flavours in the different tea categories: white, green, oolong and black. Edgar will talk about the provenance of these hand-picked teas and how they are grown and processed just as they have been for thousands of years. He will impart his enthusiasm and experience on all aspects of fine tea, including how to brew them so you get the best from the leaves – and just why the focus is back on high grade, loose tea in a big way.
This small, informal tea tasting workshop is limited to 25 people. For details and to register use the link below or visit the festival’s information stand on the day.
Come and see the transformation of green beans into your favourite drink. There will be time to chat during the process so we they will be talking about beans, farming, quantum physics and might even mention coffee roasting at some point. There will be a Q&A for those left with more questions and three lucky people at the front will get to take home the coffee roasted!
The Ethiopian Coffee Company will engage us with a fascinating Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony.
The ceremony is the main social event within the villages in Ethiopia and is normally a time for people discuss the community, politics, life and about who did what with whom…
The ceremony consists of 1 to 2 women in Ethiopian dress roasting delicious green beans over a small charcoal brazier then pounding the beans in a mortar and subsequently brewing and handing round the coffee in small cups. It’s truly captivating, and smells and tastes great!
Melissa Choi is the founder of the renowned tea company Choi Time. Choi Time has an exquisite range of green teas which are perfectly formed; with Jasmine green teas, loose leaf teas, bud teas and flowering teas all sourced carefully to ensure they meet the following criteria; they must be authentic, they must be unique, and they must be delicious! The world seems to be listening to Melissa as her tea win awards year after year, allowing her to continue to explore her great passion for amazing teas.
Jane Pettigrew is a tea specialist, historian, writer and consultant. Since 1983, she has been working in the UK and around the world to explain and share the fascinating world of tea. She has written 13 books on the many aspects of tea, its production, history and culture, and she writes for various tea related magazines and journals. She also gives regular tea masterclasses and tea tastings, speaks on radio and TV and acts as consultant to tea companies, new tea businesses, table ware and tea ware companies.
This tutored tasting will introduce you to the wonderful world of tea, touching subjects such as; What is tea? Why are all teas different? Which are the different categories of teas? You will also have the opportunity to learn about different tea manufacturers, the perceived health benefits of tea and taste an oolong!
The delicious tea flavours provided for the tasting are Japanese Aoki Green, Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong, Supernatural Green, Lotus Flavoured Black Tea, Darjeeling Jungpana Second Flush Black Tea, which are all supplied by Postcard Teas.
This event is limited to 30 people. For details and to register use the link below or visit the festival’s information stand on the day.
We offer eight lucky visitors a rare opportunity to be trained by professional baristas Jeremy Challender from Prufrock Coffee and Lawrence Sinclair from Dark Fluid, who will give you a speedy course in latte art before you will compete against fellow amateurs.
For details and to register use the link below and you will need to arrive by 3pm on the day and visit the festival’s information stand. The competition will be judged by the audience on the day so bring lots of friends along.
The winner of the Latte Art Competition will receive an amazing prize – A three hour Latte Art Masterclass with one of Prufrock’s own baristas at The London BRAT.
Prufrock Coffee came about to satisfy their personal urge to make great tasting coffee and show people how delicious it can be. This year Prufrock have launched The London BRAT, a centre for Barista Resource and Training, where they meet the demand from customers, baristas and business owners for information, training and education. London BRAT offers a number of courses, from private barista training and group classes to practice sessions. For more information, dates and bookings click here.
ALL THE SPACES FOR TRAINING HAVE NOW BEEN BOOKED BUT PLEASE STILL DO COME ALONG TO WATCH AND CHEER!!
Celebrated Tea-Lady Henrietta Lovell (founder of the award winning Rare Tea Company) talks about the art of Afternoon Tea. She will discuss its history, its present state and lead you to its re-invention. She will also do what a Tea-Lady does best- and make you a very good cup of tea.
Sunday 20th November
Are you daunted by making your own sponge cakes? Caroline Hope, who teaches afternoon tea baking skills, will show you how easy it is to make your own perfect coffee flavoured Sponge Cake with coffee butter icing. She will explain how her recipe can be adapted to make numerous different variations of the famous Victoria Sponge.
The Ethiopian Coffee Company will engage us with a fascinating Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony.
The ceremony is the main social event within the villages in Ethiopia and is normally a time for people discuss the community, politics, life and about who did what with whom…
The ceremony consists of 1 to 2 women in Ethiopian dress roasting delicious green beans over a small charcoal brazier then pounding the beans in a mortar and subsequently brewing and handing round the coffee in small cups. It’s truly captivating, and smells and tastes great!
Come and see the transformation of green beans into your favourite drink. There will be time to chat during the process so we they will be talking about beans, farming, quantum physics and might even mention coffee roasting at some point. There will be a Q&A for those left with more questions and three lucky people at the front will get to take home the coffee roasted!
The introduction of Tea to Britain by The East India Company.
www.theeastindiacompany.com
Romancing the Scone – Baking Demonstration with Caroline Hope
Everybody seems to have their own closely guarded secret to ensure their scones are the best. In this demonstration, Caroline Hope, who teaches afternoon tea baking skills, will impart her secrets for making perfect scones, time after time. She will also explain how you can adapt the recipe to for both savoury and sweet scones and the best way to serve them.
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