#FirstSip: Beca Tea’s new experience menu will shake up your teatime

You don’t have to be a tea enthusiast to know, or at least have heard of, Beca Tea. The self-described tea ‘rebels’ have been going against the norm with tea offerings that truly celebrate the humble camellia sinensis leaf. No added sugar, no artificial flavourings, nor any preservatives, Beca Tea serves ‘real tea for a fake world’, and forgoing stuffy traditions in favour of fun, creative, and experimental tea creations.

In line with that, the brand’s flagship Damansara Uptown outlet recently unveiled a new space and a new experience menu that offers more unusual ways to enjoy your teatime. Firstly, the expanded space – red walls, a long table meant for sharing, a zen water feature, and generative art projection – is a compact yet cosy space. Within this space, which was designed by Wünderwall Design, the image of a tea house takes a turn for the contemporary, yes still inviting enough for the curious and the casual.

The new experience menu, on the other hand, introduces three unique approaches to tea, inviting you to play, learn with your senses, and connect to tea. The first experience is the playful DIY Tea Mixology, co-created by mixologist Tracia Chan, which sees guests receiving mixology tools and ingredients, including tea bases and fruit infusions, to try their hand at creating a drink by yourself. Helpful prompts are provided too, acting as a guide to your creations, which you can choose to create completely by yourself or with help from the tea baristas on-site.

Next are the Tea and Tisane Pairings, which take the conventional teatime ‘tea and biscuits’ routine to the next level. Choose from a selection of pure teas, or take your pick of tisanes – herbal infusions that also include superfoods like Ashwagandha, Tiger’s Milk Mushroom, and more. Then pair your tea with a selection of sweet or savoury bites, all made in-house and created specifically to pair with the tea and tisane options.

Must-try bites include the Poached Pear Dadar (kuih dadar or kuih ketayap with a twist, filled with sweet custard and pear instead of the traditional coconut), the decadent Vegan QEII Chocolate Crumble, and the Truffle Mushroom Grove Pielette. But of course, the choice is yours and do be sure to ask for recommendations to pair with your exact tea or tisane choice.

The third experience is the one-of-a-kind Tea Omakase, where you get to sit down with Beca Tea’s founder and tea master PC Koh. There are three tiers to choose from, welcoming all levels of tea drinkers from beginner, to intermediate, and the most advanced. Expect beguiling stories and an interactive narrative through the history of tea, as you sample special tea cultivars, single-origin selections, cold brews, and even tea so rare and so uniquely flavoured that you’d never imagine it could exist – alongside paired bites too. Available by reservation only, this experience is one to savour, and meant to introduce and heighten your appreciation of the humble beverage.

In addition to the three experiences, Beca Tea has also introduced a curated food menu, offering light bites across the sweet and the savoury, enough to satiate your hunger or as an accompaniment to any of their tea options in the extensive normal menu.

Curious to try? Beca Tea’s new experience menu is available now (and is not just limited to teatime).

Looking for your next foodie adventure? Find recommendations in this month’s The Eat List, or read more about the Malaysian food & drink scene here.