Indonesian Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea is an art and should be an extraordinary experience one that you will cherish. Vancouver has some wonderful places for you to indulge in an Afternoon Tea experience. Each of the places is unique in what they offer along with the type of service and selection of sandwiches, pastries and desserts. I am on a journey around the city to find these extraordinary places.

This tea service is a wonderful way to celebrate Indonesian Tea and Food Culture as well as learn about Walini Tea who is one of Indonesia’s state-owned tea plantations since 1885.

I enjoyed this afternoon tea experience tasting a selection of Walini Tea’s, normally you would choose one of the teas; however as this was a media tasting I had a chance to try 6 of the teas.

You will find traditional Indonesian snacks such as Rissole and Putu Ayu, and western pastries including Macarons and Toasted Coconut Lemon Crumble Bar. The tea tower is paired with a choice of tea provided by Walini Tea, the largest tea company in Indonesia. Options include Black Tea, White Tea, Blackcurrant Black, and more.

My favourite teas were the White Tea, Blackcurrant Black and the Lemon tea.

I then indulged with a selection of savouries and sweets served on a three-tiered platter. My favourite savoury bites were the Rissole filled with vegetables and chicken; and the Coronation Chicken Tapas. My favourite sweets were the Toasted coconut lemon crumble bar and the Putu Ayu (steamed pandan mini cake).

This thoughtful menu is created by Dzaky Sirat, who went through training at Cordon Bleu in London and is currently working as a pastry cook at Fresh St. Market in Yaletown. Sirat plans to update the food menu at subsequent pop-up events based on seasonality and availability of local ingredients.

The monthly Indonesian Afternoon Tea Pop-up is held at the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre at 310 West Cordova Street, Vancouver. Each seating has limited capacity and is available on a first come, first served basis. Tickets are $80 for two people, including one box of Walini Tea to take home to share. At the end of the event, attendees will also have the opportunity to shop the various collections of Walini Tea and other Archipelago Marketplace products. For the full menu and tickets, visit https://WaliniTeaPopUp.eventbrite.ca.

By: Richard Wolak