The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Secret London tea garden revealed by plantation owner
5 star: Perthshire grower is behind plot at luxury hotel
The founder of Scotland’s first tea plantation has taken the wraps off his secret garden project at an iconic London hotel.
Tam O’Braan, who raised eyebrows when he launched his tea business in Perthshire four years ago, has been working on a new rooftop attraction at the Dorchester.
In time the mini plantation installed at the venue will give staff the chance to harvest and produce a small amount of their own fresh green tea.
At the moment the five- star establishment is the only hotel in England that offers Scottish-grown tea as part of its celebrated afternoon menu.
Tam said: “The garden is in part our homage to the edict of Winston Churchill during the Second World War, to grow tea and other dietary staples in the UK as part of the Dig for Victory campaign.
“While those wartime tea-growing efforts are known to have finished prematurely when the war ended, this tea garden will remain in situ and be available for many of the hotel’s rooms.”
Traditional afternoon servings at the Dorchester include two teas from Tam’s plantation at Dalreoch Farm, near Amulree, and also the latest Scottish tea from the Garrocher Tea Garden in Dumfries and Galloway.
Its owner Angela Hurrell said: “Afternoon tea at the Dorchester is such an iconic institution. I am delighted to see Scottish single estate teas have been added to the menu, including of course Garrocher Grey Tea.
“It shows tea growing in Scotland is sustainable and of the highest quality.”
Last year Tam’s Wee Tea Plantation was judged to be the finest grade on the official scale used by the Tea Exchange in Great Portland Street, London.
Experts ruled the tea leaves were worth around £2,300 per kg, compared to around £9-£20 per kg for standard supermarket fare. The rating puts the tea on a par with Chinese silver needles, the mosts ought-after leaves in the world.
Like the best plantations, including Darjeeling in the Himalayas, Dalreoch Farm is high up and benefits from fresh water rolling off the hillside.
Tam bought the former sheep farm in 2011 and transformed its 14 acres of rough grazing land with 2,000 cameilia sinensis bushes.