Indulge in three of our top teas and spread the love this Valentine’s Day.

 

What does love mean to you? To us, it’s a cupful of warm, delicious goodness!

Let us be a part of your Valentine’s celebration with some of our best teas and recipes, perfect for the occasion!

 

Here at Dilmah, we like our teas handmade with love.

 

Ever since the beginning of Dilmah’s journey, it has been our founder’s priority to create a garden-fresh, ethically produced, and unique tea for the world to enjoy. It is our mission to ensure that our production processes make every cup of tea a cup of kindness and love.

 

Did you know that we taste around 10,000 cups per week?

 

With over 30 tea gardens across Sri Lanka, we take pride in our sustainable, artisanal process of producing tea for everyone. Every tea in our selection is handpicked, handcrafted, and carefully tasted for quality by our expert teams.

 

So which teas should you choose for your Valentine’s date night?

 

Romantic Italian Almond Tea

 

Malty, delicious, and unique - three words that perfectly describe the Italian Almond Tea from our Exceptional Range. This mid-elevation Gourmet tea is a delightful combination with a mildly bittersweet, aromatic flavour of Italian Almond.

Let our medium-bodied, fragrant and slightly sweet blend become part of your palette this holiday, creating the perfect starter dish - Italian Almond Ceylon Ham.

 

What you’ll need:

 

• Pork Leg Ham
• 4g Exceptional Range Italian Almond Tea (per kilo)
• 2g Cured Salt (per kilo)
• 20g Regular Salt (per kilo)
• 1 Syringe
• 200cc Mineral water (per kilo)
• 100g Sugar
• 5g Almond Infused Ceylon Pekoe

 

Instructions:

 

• Weigh the pork piece. Place it in a large container.
• Infuse the tea, dissolve the cured salt and regular salt in water and inject the ham.
• Cook the pork to an internal temperature of 75 C° - the combination of the chemical brine and the cooking will kill off bacteria and make a ham.

Creating Your Glaze

• Make the caramel and add the tea, already infused.
• Use a basting brush or a spoon, and glaze the ham completely.
• Bake until the glaze begins to turn brown and shiny. This indicates that the glaze has caramelised and the flavour has taken on a nutty, caramel flavour.

 

Rose Scented Inspiration Infused with French Vanilla

 

No better time to give in to indulgence than Valentine’s day! This single origin, medium-bodied and elegant blend can be the perfect flavour to add to your beverage for the night. Enjoy as a traditional tea, or spice up your evening with our popular La Vie En Rose mocktail recipe - you won’t regret your choice.

 

Feel ready to add tea to your mocktail?

 

This is what you’ll need:

 

• 90ml heavily brewed (heat water to 95°C, seep tea leaves for 8 minutes and 5 seconds) Dilmah Rose with French Vanilla tea
• Sandalwood
• 15ml calamansi juice
• Young ginger syrup

 

Mixing your mocktail:

 

• Separately, boil sandalwood in another pot.
• Remove tea leaves, combine tea with sandalwood in the pot, reduce to 500-800ml. Let the tea mixture cool, and sit in the refrigerator.
• Torch sandalwood till smoked.
• Combine the 15ml of calamansi juice, young ginger syrup (1 part sugar to 1 part blended ginger extract), and chilled tea.
• Shake and serve.

 

 

Bold and Citrusy Earl Grey

 

There’s no better tea blend to pick for your dessert than the sweet and elegant flavour of the classic Earl Grey Tea. Paired with the bold base of Ceylon Tea from Ratnapura, this floral, rich and aromatic tea is the appropriate taste for this celebration! Are you ready to combine it with a recipe?

Try our Earl Grey and Vanilla Portuguese Tarts!

 

Ingredients:

 

Portuguese Tart (makes 6)

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 4 Dilmah Earl Grey and Vanilla Tea Bags
• 4 large free-range egg yolks
• 25ml cream
• 125ml milk
• 50g castor sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla essence
• 100g melted butter

 

Method:

 

• Preheat oven to 220°C
• Combine the milk and sugar, and heat in the pot over medium heat until just before boiling. Add the tea and brew covered, for 5 minutes.
• In a separate bowl whisk the cream, vanilla and egg yolks, add the milk and whisk. Refrigerate till needed.
• Cut the puff pastry into 3 equal parts, then brush with the melted butter and stack on top of each other. Roll them together to make a cylinder and then cut them into thick rings and roll out to fit the tart mould, push the pastry into the rings.
• Remove the custard mix from the fridge and fill each tart to 80%.
• Place in the oven for 13 minutes and then turn the grill in the oven or place the tarts under a salamander grill for a further 3 minutes or till the top is golden.

 

Need more tea-inspired recipes? You can find them here

 

Thinking of trying any of these? Share your experience and tag @dilmah_uk so we can see your creations. Happy creating!