Indulging The Art of Tea with Dilmah at Le Meridien Hotel Jakarta

First of all, thank you Le Meridien Hotel and Dilmah Tea for inviting me to this exclusive event, which exclusively featured the showcase all about (Dilmah) tea and the impressive creations from tea, while having our luxurious afternoon tea. Who says tea can't be fun?

This is the second time Le Meridien invited me for events, the first one was the Coffee Culture Seminar with Illy Coffee. It was such a fabulous event, my knowledge about tea rose up in a few hours.

The highlight of this event was also the Dilmah Exceptional Tea Series! In a nutshell, it's a fancier, funner and more unique Dilmah tea creations which not only have the benefits of great flavored tea, but health, quality and authenticity as well! 

There are ten variants of the Dilmah Exceptional tea series: Rose with French Vanilla, Berry Sensation, Ceylon Spice Chai, Peppermint Leaves with Ceylon Cinnamon, Lively Lime and Orange Fusion, Elegant Earl Grey, Fragrant Jasmine Green Tea, Arabian Mint Tea with Honey, Peppermint and English Toffee and Perfect Ceylon Tea. I didn't try out all the flavors but eventually pretty much fond of the "Berry Sensation" and "Perfect Ceylon Tea". To be honest, I am a loyal consumer of Dilmah (and I ain't bull around telling everyone I drank Dilmah when I didn't). I love their "Chamomile", "English Breakfast" and fruit tea series, sometimes I purchased the mixed flavors package so I didn't bore on a certain flavor :).

A party without food is just a meeting, and what's an afternoon tea without delicious cakes? Let me show you around the fabulous cakes created by Executive Chef Roger Rechsteiner! Prepare your tissues before "waterfall" occurs! FYI some cakes here were made using tea infusions! Creative!

Berry Triffle with Chamomile Tea Custard

Le Meridien Mille Feulle with Ginger and Ginger Tea Fondant

Fruit Tartelets Glazed with Rose and French Vanilla

LOOK WHAT I FOUND HERE? FREAKIN CRONUTS!!!
I knew it right away they were cronuts so I waste no time getting my hands all over them! I ate like three or four, couldn't recall, they were so good and fluffy, also it has a little hint of infused peppermint! Another great recommended cronuts for you all. They tastes less flaky and chewier. Just good! FYI, this is just the light bite size, the original size should be bigger. Go grab 'em at the Le Meridien Cake Shop!!!

Welcome drink: Honeyginger.
This drink's made by the talented Robert Schinkel and it's the mixture of Dilmah Chamomile Tea (I told ya I loved it!), Fresh Apple Juice, Honey Syrup, Lime Juice, Dash Grapefruit Bitters and Green Apples! On top of that, crushed ice, Chamomile flowers and Green Apple fan! This has a lot of playful flavors and surely was super refreshing, parfait for the afternoon.

I haven't introduced you guys to the master of the tea, also International Tea Mixologist from Holland, Robert Schinkel! His tea creations had won him awards, achievements and a new fan, whom is me! He seemed like he knew tea very very well from his presentation. It was such a pleasure meeting him :).

Also on the event, the Food Service Manager from Sri Lanka, Soren Atukorale giving his words and presentation on Dilmah brand.

In this event, Robert's showcasing us his gorgeous skill with tea and guess what he's making? TEA COCKTAILS! Never heard of that before right?! Here I'm going to explain you more about Robert's signature creations, such as:

Rose and Vanilla Martini
Ingredients needed:
- Absolut Vodka
- Fresh Pear juice
- Fresh Lime juice
- Simple syrup
- Eggwhite
- Rose and French Vanilla Tea (for sprinkles garnish)

To create Robert's signature drink's kinda easy, mixed the Absolut Vodka, fresh Pear juice, fresh Lime juice, simple syrup and the eggwhite together. The eggwhite has no flavor and no scent so it wouldn't affect the drink negatively, the eggwhite's used to create the foamy look and consistency of this drink. On top of it, sprinkle some Rose and French Vanilla tea for garnish.

Taste? Impressive! It started out quite sour and it got bitter at the end and loving the transition of it. Even though it's kinda bitter and not everyone's fond of alcohol drink, this one is pretty refreshing!

Jakarta Blue Blazer
Ingredients needed:
- Dilmah Italian Almond
- Bols Genever or Vodka
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Grated Orange peel
- Lemon juice
- White sugar
Okay, this really gave me chill because the way Robert showcased the production of this beverage was really unique and impressive and I couldn't stop getting my camera away from the process. It involves burning fire!!! The idea of it was to fire up the area with the help of the alcohol and since this drink also includes alcohol (remember: cocktail), the alcohol helped the back and forth distribution of the drink, you'd notice a "Teh Tarik" kind of production.
FYI, tea's not recommended to be with 100 degrees water, 70 or 80 would be perfect. Tea will tend to become a bad-acid when it's poured with very hot water (100 degree Celsius), the effect won't be instant, but later in the future, therefore 70-80 degree Celsius is more recommended, you can tell when the cooked water's not yet filled with bubbles, you can turn the fire off when the bubble's starts appearing.

After the lovely session, the adorable non-stop flowing Canapes were coming towards me and my stomach afterwards *stressed*. The Canapes also infused with a little tea extract :D.

Pan Fried Prawn on Sugar Snaps and Earl Grey Beurre Blanc

Peach Fruit Tea Enchanced Granita on Sumac Marinated Strawberries
Always rooms of desserts, and this one... ME LOVE! You got the sweetness, the sourness and the bitterness. Enough talking, chase!!!

A picture with Ms. Arie! Finally meeting you again, my pleasure :).

Selfcam with the Maestros: Roger Rechsteiner and Robert Schinkel!

C H E E S E!

Thank you for Le Meridien and Dilmah for a fantastic afternoon tea session, as well as valuable information about tea and its possible creations. Tea is surely fun! Applause for Le Meridien for always making not only a fun event, but an event with knowledge insertion. Love it.

Le Meridien Hotel Jakarta Club Lounge || WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
20th fl. of Le Meridien Hotel Jakarta
Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Kav. 18-20
Jakarta 10220
021 - 251 3131 

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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON COFFEE: Coffee Culture Seminar by Le Meridien Hotel and Illy Coffee (Part 2).

Hi everybodeeeeh and welcome to another post, and this post is probably what you've been waiting for...

PART TWO OF LE MERIDIEN HOTEL AND ILLY COFFEE: COFFEE CULTURE SEMINAR, Gosh that's long for a title!

Thank you thank you because you guys have been very kind to me and for the first post, it actually receives tons of hits and become the most read post this week! I'm going to give you a visual hug right now!!! 

Anyways, this second post will be all about the food and the treats I got from the seminar, why do I separate this into a different post? Because I want to keep this one dish a highlight because it's so unique and different and the best thing is...

okay let me introduce you to this:

SHRIMP COOK ESPRESSO WITH PUFF PASTRIES! 

In case you read it wrong...I mean it! This shrimp is cooked with espresso coffee! How unique is that?!

So basically to cook this is pretty simple as what I experienced examining the cooking process, so basically the ingredients are all prepared: I noticed onions, salt, pepper, oil (preferrable virgin coconut), water and of course: espresso!

As simple as that, but there must be another secret ingredients that they don't tell everyone because if you look at something creamy on the pan, that's a finished mixed ingredients that they're putting together along with the other ingredients (onion, salt, pepper). That's okay, maybe it's their secret weapon or something.

At first I honestly thought they were tiny fluffy breads but actually they're very crunchy puff pastries.

 I thought the dish was spectacular, never thought that espresso could actually blend very well with the original taste of shrimp, shrimp has this scent when it's cooked that's so good, and the espresso also smells like it after it's cooked, and I mean it in a very good way.

I have no  problem with the puff pastries, but I don't think that it's going to be a bad idea to have the actual tiny fluffy breads just like what I've imagined before, especially when I start imagining the remaining sauce from this dish is poured on bread surface. Gorgeeee!

We weren't served with main course, but the main star has got to be the Espresso Shrimps and the rest of the food are light bites and finger food, but they're all buffet and they're mostly delicious and since the theme is coffee...most of them are made with the mixture of coffee, can be anything starting from coffee powder, espresso, creme, and mix!

Calamari with Coffee Bean Powder.

UH-MAZING, and hey, since I am a devoted seafood lover and also devoted coffee lover and so I'm devoted to this! Don't mistaken the huge hint of coffee you're getting, it's more like a garnish to this dish, you can feel it, but not that strong.

Baked Salmon with Papaya Salad.

The salmon is cooked beautifully, but frankly speaking, I'm not a big fan of papaya but I managed to give it a try and it's fresh and decent, still not falling for this but top nod for the baked salmon.

Chocolate Cup Tarts (with a little hint of coffee).

Not sure where the coffeee comes from, it's not written but I know this is a cup tart, you can totally feel the taste of coffee from the cream, I personally think that it is mixed.

One of my favorite of the day <3 

Chocolate and Coffee Pralines and cookies
I am loving the one with cocoa powder all over it.

Chocolate with White and Coffee Cream

This is probably the most beautiful looking and the most tempting one. I adore the presentation and if you're looking at the two separate creams, yes there are two creams used for this dish.

The white one I assume is vanilla cream and the brown one is the one with coffee. The brown one obviously tastes richer and more different. I thought it's almost like coffee version of cookies and cream.

Has this with a glass of Macchiato Freddo that Eduardo made for me. Parfait!

Tribute to Eduardo.

and last but not least, for this one:

THANK YOU LE MERIDIEN FOR THESE MACAROONS!

and if you're guessing that this one is cappuccino, then you're right! Again coffee hint everywhere. These macaroons actually tastes like both cappuccino and mocha, that's okay they're in the same family tho.

Taste? decent, the cream is somehow milky and the macaroon dough is crunchy... I love that even though I've been having pretty much coffee but this one is actually not making you sick from having too much coffees (FYI I didn't have any breakfast that day and to have a lot of coffees might not be a good thing, I had like 3 cups of coffees without any meal at first but I feel fine, maybe because it's Illy's MUAHAHAHA!)

and also for the Illy coffee vouchers and lots more!

I HAD A GREAT DAY!

THANKS A LOT LE MERIDIEN AND ILLY COFFEE!

PS:

If you have anything you want to ask about coffee, NEVER hesitate to send me emails because I will forward them to Michael and Eduard, and actually forward the reply to you back! see?? I'm so kind to you guys you need to love me. Send them to: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com. 

Or you need short and fast replies? Michael's Twitter is @mjgibbons11 (you can mention him). Eduardo didn't play any Twitter.

See you on the nest post! CIAOH!

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