Top 10 tea experiences to try around the world

Here are Hills Balfour's best blended experiences in locations around the world, to celebrate International Tea Day;

1 Traditional Japanese tea ceremonyPrince Hotel Shin Takanawa, Tokyo

In Japan, making and enjoying a cup of tea is an art form and a spiritual discipline. At the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo, guests can experience an ancient, traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

Guests are led through a serene garden into a tearoom, passing through a small entrance to signify leaving all worries behind. They are seated on the floor while the tea host prepares and serves a Japanese green tea, called Matcha, through movements combining harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity.

The Matcha tea is served with sweets to balance the bitterness. People leave with a sense of calm and spiritual reflection. www.princehotels.com/shintakanawa

2 American sweet iced tea experienceSouth Carolina

Sweetened iced tea is legendary in the southeastern United States, and is served with most meals. In the south, the most popular recipe is for sweetened black tea poured over ice and served with sliced lemon in crystal glassware or jars.

At the Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina, travellers can learn how tea is grown, harvested and enjoyed.

Visitors can tour the 51-hectare farm to see more than 320 varieties of tea plants. The complimentary factory tour teaches visitors about the production of green, black and oolong teas - including samples.www.visittheusa.co.uk

3 A truly high tea at Observation Deck at 300 restaurant, Abu Dhabi

Travellers to Abu Dhabi can sip the finest teas while taking in 360-degree views over the UAE capital from the city’s highest restaurant.

Located on floor 74 within the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers hotel, the Observation Deck is more sophisticated than its name suggests, serving afternoon teas to all. The tea menu comes courtesy of luxury brand TWG Tea, featuring artisanal teas such as Crème Caramel Tea, a sweet and smooth fusion, and Silver Moon Tea, accented with a vanilla and berry bouquet. 

The backdrop is special, with views across the Corniche beach, Downtown Abu Dhabi and the Arabian Gulf. www,visitabudhabi.ae

4 Sip a Long Island Iced Tea cocktailNew York or Tennessee?

The Long Island Iced Tea cocktail, combining tequila, vodka, triple sec, gin, rum and cola, is well-known around the world. but there is some intrigue over where the drink originated from.

The obvious birthplace would seem to be Long Island, New York, and here a bartender named Robert Butt claims he created the recipe for a 1972 cocktail-crafting competition.

But the Tennessee community of Kingsport, known as Long Island, attributes the drink’s invention to a resident who combined tequila, vodka, gin, rum, whiskey, and maple syrup during the 1920s prohibition era, calling his creation ‘Old Man Bishop’.

Legend has it the recipe was passed down in Kingsport, and during the 1940s was refined to become the Long Island Iced Tea served today.

To sample the cocktails stateside, head to Hudson’s on the Mile in Long Island, New York, and to East Coast Wings and Grill in Kingsport, Tennessee, for the original prohibition recipe. www.visittheusa.co.uk

5 Award-winning afternoon teaSt Regis Doha, Sarab Lounge in Qatar