A certified tea mixologist from China, Tiffany Chan hosts tea ceremonies in Ming Pavilion, where she exhibits the beauty and art of the tea ceremony.
To be a traditional sommelier, a wine waiter of sorts, one must command a great knowledge of what types of wines exist in the world and determine taste. To be a mixologist, one ought to learn the flavour profiles of spirits and how to balance sweet and sour to serve a well-balanced cocktail.
At the meeting of these two worlds at the newly matriculated Ming Pavillion restaurant in Admiralty, Tiffany Chan presents the art of tea mixology. Mastering the skills of tea service in her home country of China, the tea mixologist joined the up-scale Hokkien restaurant to introduce the colourful bounty of tea harvest and consumption in China’s seafaring southern province of Fujian.
“Having grown up in the space of Chinese art since I was a child, I fell in love with Chinese culture through my ears and eyes,” Tiffany tells Foodie. An admirer of ancient Chinese culture, she notes of tea’s “close relation to the lifestyle, philosophical thoughts, and artistic aesthetics of the Chinese people.”
Her root attraction to becoming a tea mixologist, a rare title in the world’s top restaurants, but not China’s, is in the mission to elevate the role tea has in the restaurant industry. “Food usually takes the main stage in restaurants, whilst tea plays a relatively smaller role. In today’s restaurant industry, the quality of tea has not received the attention it deserves.”
Where professional sommeliers are concerned, providing services to guests to ensure the best wines and flavours are savoured during a meal, “tea,” Tiffany argues, “should also be the star of the table, just as enjoying wine requires a professional process.”
Tea has enjoyed a near 5,000 years of history in China, emerging as a medium for facilitating community and celebration in the Tang Dynasty. It has played roles as a cultural symbol, development of the rural economy, and a commodity in foreign trade. Within Fujian and Hokkien cuisine, tea has been traded on China’s southern shores for more than 400 years.
Hokkien cuisine is a marriage of sea and mountain fare, braising, boiling, and steaming seafood, river fish, and shrimp with bamboo, mushrooms, and wild herbs. Ming Pavilion is Hong Kong’s first to bring the cuisine to such a high calibre format. “Tea is not simply a companion to dishes [in Hokkien cuisine], but an indispensable role at the table,” she notes.
The tea program at Ming Pavilion, designed by Tiffany, comprises a selection of 18 Chinese teas, including 14 selections from Fujian. Green, white, Oolong, black, dark, and floral teas feature on the restaurant’s colourful tea menu.
Tiffany does not blend mixtures and add additional liquids to the pours, as a cocktail mixologist might do, but carefully sources tea varieties that would best compliment the cuisine served at Ming Pavilion.
Aged black teas, like the lapsang souchong (正山小種) and tongmuguan jinjunmei (桐木關金駿眉), possess a sweet finish and a smoky body, helping digestion during the meal. The white peony (白牡丹), a traditional white tea, is a fresh floral pour complimenting salty bites in the meal. The northern Fujianese Oolong tea of huiyuankeng rougui (慧苑坑肉桂) is a more rare tea blend that is both strong and sweet.
Besides the food served at Ming Pavilion, designed by chef Lam Yueng, dishes like the deep-fried pork roll, wok-fried Hokkien mee, and steamed mud crab compliment a sharing of tea – this is where Tiffany’s finesse comes into play.
“To make a good cup of tea, we use famous Jingdezhen handmade ceramics to serve the tea. Each tea set is unique, with a thin and light spout that makes pouring smooth. The tea is brewed in covered bowls, giving it a warm and moist texture with a pearly white glaze.”
“When guests are seated, we offer a welcoming cup of tea. Since Fujian is the birthplace of tea ceremony culture, we hope to use the leaf to create a unique dining experience for our guests. We provide suitable tea recommendations to guests, according to their preferences and what they have ordered at Ming Pavilion, bringing more layers and depth to their meal.”
Ming Pavilion holds a dedicated tea room away from the main dining hall, served exclusively by Tiffany. Guests typically drink tea at the restaurant before or after their meal, “awakening the sensitivity of the taste buds and helping us taste better” as she puts it.
Drinking tea after the meal can help “refresh the mouth and relieve stomach greasiness.” She notes of tea’s power to help facilitate social unity at the dinner table, something that other liquids lack.
“Whether it is a gathering with relatives and friends or for business, a cup of good tea can shorten the distance between people. Therefore, my curiosity and desire to understand this leaf has driven me to embark on the journey of the tea ceremony.”
“As a tea mixologist, the tea is our work, just like the dishes are the work of the chef.”
Book a table at Ming Pavilion here to enjoy Tiffany Chan’s tea ceremony and the Fujian-origin teas sourced
