Natural Luxury Sommelier Challenge: The Beginning of a Global Quest
Dilmah Tea launched the Natural Luxury Sommelier Challenge, a global quest celebrating the artistry of tea. There was no better place to debut this competition than Sri Lanka, the land renowned for producing the world’s finest tea.
This competition focuses on the intricate process of transforming a versatile yet complex ingredient, into a culinary experience while honouring its natural origins. Sri Lanka, with its rich heritage in tea production, provided the perfect backdrop for this inaugural event.
Held at BMICH, Colombo, the challenge brought together top F&B and culinary experts to showcase their creativity with natural ingredients, especially tea. Dilmah, dedicated to showcasing the versatility of tea and natural ingredients in high-end gastronomy and mixology, aligns this challenge with its mission to celebrate natural ingredients and make the world a better tea.
The event redefined fine dining with nature at its core, promoting sustainability and the hidden potential of tea in luxury dining. Dilmah’s mission is to highlight the versatility of tea in high-end gastronomy and mixology, setting new standards that honour nature.
Judged by Chef Manjit Gill, Chef Bernd Uber, and Menura Rathnayaka, the competition featured exceptional tea-inspired performances. Galle Face Hotel emerged as the Overall Winner, with Cinnamon Grand and Shangri-La Colombo as runners-up. Special awards went to Galle Face Hotel for Best Team, Cinnamon Grand for Best Sommelier, and Heritance Ahungalla for Best Tea Pairing.
Stay tuned as we prepare to take this tea-inspired extravaganza global.
ABOUT DILMAH TEA
Sri Lankan family tea company Dilmah, was established by Merrill J. Fernando to bring quality, Single Origin Ceylon Tea, garden fresh and unblended, to tea drinkers around the world. His Dilmah Tea brand was the first genuinely ethical tea brand, bringing a smile to the faces of the underprivileged in Sri Lanka, whilst giving consumers quality, authenticity and natural goodness in their cup of tea.
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