Tea drinking is a time-honoured tradition in many cultures, each with it’s own lore devised to craft the perfect cuppa. Tea time forms the bedrock of traditional values and every-day modern life, from ritualised tea ceremonies and bustling tea houses in China, to high tea and the builder’s brew in the UK. But who does it best? Should your tea come in a bag, or a brick? Should you pair it with cucumber sandwiches, or a sweet ‘wife cake’? And is 4 o’clock really the perfect time for tea?

Join us for a light-hearted, but none-the-less competitive, debate between Team GB represented by Fortnum & Mason and Team China represented by China Tang at the Dorchester to determine which nation is the king of tea time. Both teams will battle it out to persuade you, the audience, to vote for them. Restaurant Manager of China Tang at the Dorchester John Man and Director of The Good Earth Andy Kwok will present the case for Chinese tea time at this debate. Fortnum & Mason‘s Tea Buyer Angela Pryce and Archivist Dr Andrea Tanner will be flying the flag for British tea time tastes and traditions.

This event follows the sold-out event Battle of the Noodles, held in 2016, when Team China (celebrated chef and author of best-selling cookbooks, Ken Hom and late China Exchange chairman, Sir David Tang) and Team Italy (Michelin-starred chef Giorgio Locatelli and food critic and columnist, AA Gill) went head-to-head over which country makes the world’s best noodles.

Stay tuned as we reveal our panellists over the coming weeks!

For more information about our Chinese New Year programme of events, click here.