Author: Shehani
Valentine’s Month: Rose with French Vanilla Tea-Inspired Recipes
Love it or not, it is officially the ‘month of love’ for 2025. So, we thought of sharing a few simple recipes that you can easily put together to show some love to that someone special, or to all the special people in your life – yourself included. The star of these tea-inspired recipes is our tea of the month – Dilmah Rose with French Vanilla Tea. You may also use Dilmah Exceptional Rose with French Vanilla tea bags instead. We’ve put together something hot and spicy, something smooth and chilled, and something sweet and fun to take your pick from. Go ahead, try them all! RECIPE 1: Baileys Chai (tea-inspired hot chai cocktail) What you need: How to prepare: RECIPE 2: Rose with French Vanilla t-Faluda (tea-inspired chilled shake) What you need: How to prepare: RECIPE 3: Rose with French Vanilla Marshmallows (tea-inspired sweet treat) What you need: How to prepare: In case you’re feeling a little more adventurous, there are plenty more Dilmah Rose with French Vanilla Tea-inspired recipes of varying complexities to be found at teainspired.com.
Pitch to Pitch
We’re in the middle of a unique sequence of events, built around Sri Lanka’s – and Dilmah’s – longstanding friendship with New Zealand. It’s called Pitch to Pitch, and at the heart of the entire programme is a sentiment that we love – kindness. Pitch to Pitch is in fact part of the New Zealand High Commission in Sri Lanka’s initiative to encourage New Zealand citizens to visit our beautiful island. The Sri Lanka National Women’s Cricket Team, Soul Sounds choir, the Sri Lanka Australia New Zealand Business Council, along with Dilmah Ceylon Tea and other businesses have come together to support the New Zealand High Commission’s kind effort towards the initiative. A couple of aspects are apparent here – the strong cultural ties between the two countries, and the appreciation of remarkable Sri Lankan women who have contributed towards enhancing Sri Lanka’s global repute. The National Women’s Cricket Team are the reigning Asia Cup champions, and are currently in the midst of preparing for their highly-anticipated tour of New Zealand in February this year. Soul Sounds, Sri Lanka’s very own international award-winning, all-girl choir, led by the incredibly talented Soundarie David, carry fond memories of New Zealand, too, as they grabbed two gold medals at the World Choir Championship held in Auckland last year. Where does kindness come into all of this, one might wonder. Well, it began with the first event that took place on 22nd January – a visit by the Women’s Cricket Team and Soul Sounds to Suwa Arana, run by Indira Cancer Trust. Here, these commendable women unwrapped the gift of joy among dozens of children receiving cancer treatment by spending time with them and leading them through sport and music activities. It was also a wonderful opportunity for us at Dilmah and the MJF Foundation to reignite and relive the philosophy of our beloved late Founder Merrill J. Fernando that business is a matter of human service, and that kindness should be at the core of whatever we do. The next event is set for 29th January, when the Soul Sounds choir will visit the Women’s Cricket Team at a training session, empowering one another with a kind and inspiring exchange of knowledge and skills – from one ‘pitch’ to another. Finally, on 20th February, the Women’s Cricket Team will be given a festive send-off at Sri Lanka Cricket Head Quarters prior to their departure for New Zealand. However, the actual VIPs at the event will be the incredibly brave kids visiting from Suwa Arana and from the SOS Children’s Villages in Sri Lanka. Another little gesture of kindness to put a smile on their beautiful faces. Keep an eye out on our socials for images and reels from these events. Update (25/02/2025): Here are a few images from the farewell event held for the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Team prior to their departure to New Zealand. Soul Sounds choir graced the event with their impeccable vocals.
Myth Busters 2: Milk and Caffeine
Let’s look at a couple of misleading perceptions pertaining to drinking tea with milk, and the caffeine content of tea, which Tea Grower and Dilmah Chairman Dilhan C. Fernando categorically classifies as Tea Myths. Tea Myth: Adding milk to tea reduces its benefits. Busting the Myth: The tea brewing process extracts antioxidants from the tea leaf into the liquor. Once brewing is complete, the antioxidants from the tea have already been extracted into your cup. Hence, adding milk – or any other liquid element, as with tea mocktails and cocktails – does not have an impact on the antioxidant potential of your tea. The addition of other enhancements such as herbs and spices, too, will only add the respective health benefits of those ingredients, with no detrimental effect on the health benefits of the tea itself. If you’d like to know more about the antioxidant capacity of tea, read more here. Tea Myth: Tea contains too much caffeine. Busting the Myth: As per the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) recommendations, for an individual with a body mass of 50kg, it has been deemed safe to consume up to 150mg of caffeine per day. In comparison to an average of 100mg of caffeine per serving of coffee, a serving of tea typically contains around 20mg of caffeine. This implies that for a person with a healthy body mass index (BMI), it is completely safe to consume between 4-6 cups of tea in a day. Uniquely, tea is the only agricultural crop that contains L-theanine, a non-protein-forming amino-acid that is known to reduce anxiety and stress without bringing about drowsiness. Hence, in synergy with the small amount of caffeine present in tea, a cup of tea would be the best option to pique your alertness while maintaining your calm. Also see Myth Busters 1: Black Tea and Tea Dust.
Myth Busters 1: Black Tea and Tea Dust
Let’s look at a couple of misleading perceptions pertaining to black tea and tea dust, which Tea Grower and Dilmah Chairman Dilhan C. Fernando categorically classifies as Tea Myths. Tea Myth: All black teas taste the same. Busting the Myth: All it takes is a single look at the Single Region Watte series of teas to get an idea of how versatile black tea can be. Derived from the same Camellia sinensis plant and manufactured using the same processes, these four distinctive teas – from the Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, Nawalapitiya and Ratnapura regions – get their unique characteristics as a result of the elements of nature in these respective regions. Starting from the highest elevation of 6,000 ft above sea level, the Watte tea from Nuwara Eliya looks and tastes lighter and brighter, and this transitions into a more malty, earthy, strong and intense colour and taste as elevation reduces and, subsequently, climate and terroir vary. So, while all your black teas are, in fact, made from the same plant using the same processes, they can vary greatly in appearance, taste and texture. Tea Myth: Tea dust is not good tea. Busting the Myth: Tea dust – like all other grades of tea, including large leaf teas – is obtained from the same Camellia sinensis plant, and is produced during the same manufacturing process. While large leaf teas may look better, and seem more presentable even, they do not produce the same intensity of liquor as dust tea when brewed. This is because the particle-like nature of dust tea offers a greater surface area for contact with water, resulting in more extraction of flavour into the brew. This stronger, more intense liquor is in fact a better option if you prefer having your tea with milk. In short, it is not the dust name or grade of tea that makes a difference to the quality of your cuppa, but the process of plucking and manufacturing that can make an ordinary cup of tea extraordinary. Of course, with Dilmah Ceylon Tea, this is never a concern, for we never compromise on quality. Also see Myth Busters 2: Milk and Caffeine.
Nutritional Benefits of Tea
We evaluate the nutritional aspects of tea consumption, and whether these vary between black tea and green tea. If you’d like to know more about the antioxidant capacity of tea, read more here. Tea – the perfect quick-fix Can tea be a great pick-me-up at any time of the day?Here are a few reasons why tea might be a great option for a quick-fix at any time of the day: Green or black – what’s your cuppa? Is green tea healthier than black tea? There is a common misconception that green tea is more potent than black tea in terms of health benefits – particularly for weight loss. The principal difference between the two tea types lies in the fact that most of green tea’s polyphenols are retained as catechins, while in black tea these get converted to rubigins and theaflavins. In the past, tea research was largely limited to China and Japan, the world’s largest green tea-producing countries. Hence, most publications – including those related to tea and health benefits – focused on green tea. However, in recent years, more countries have taken an interest in carrying out research on tea, including on black tea. Publications based on newer research suggest that health benefits associated with drinking green tea and black tea are in fact similar to one another.
Tea and Oral Health
There are many health benefits that are talked about in relation to tea consumption. However, one that is spoken of less frequently is the link between tea and oral health. Let’s take a look at two ways in which tea consumption may be beneficial to reducing tooth decay. Enamel Reinforcement Tea is a source of dietary fluoride, with one cup of tea typically containing between 0.14-0.34 mg of fluoride. As per the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the recommended daily dosage of fluoride is 3mg for adult females, and 4mg for adult males. Now, brace yourself for a bit of biochemistry. The enamel layer of our teeth naturally contains a compound called calcium hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2). When we consume tea, our teeth encounter fluoride ions present in tea, resulting in the formation of a compound called calcium fluorapatite (Ca10(PO4)6F2). This calcium fluorapatite is more resistant to acids than calcium hydroxyapatite, thereby making teeth more resistant to decay. For any science buffs out there, here is the formula for the chemical reaction that takes place: Control of Oral Microbial Population It’s always a good idea to wash a meal down with a cup of green tea – and not just for its digestive benefits. Green tea has been found to have the same effect as chlorhexidine, a compound found in mouthwash liquids. Chlorhexidine helps to control the population of Streptococcus mutans, which is the most common cavity-forming bacteria found in the mouth. Hence, swirling a bit of green tea around your mouth after consumption of food might indeed help to reduce or prevent the incidence of dental cavities in the long run. It is important to note here that these benefits can only be acquired from high-quality tea, produced using only the tender leaves and bud from the shoot. This is how Dilmah Ceylon tea is produced – handpicked, processed and packed in the age-old way, all at source to maintain the freshness and goodness of the tea. In countries where tea leaves are harvested by machine and older leaves are also processed, the resulting lower-quality “brick tea” contains higher-than-ideal levels of fluoride. Excessive fluoride consumption could potentially lead to complications such as dental and skeletal fluorosis.
Kindness at the Heart of our Business
If you are familiar with the Dilmah brand, it is likely you would have heard the phrase, Business is a matter of human service. They were the words of our beloved late Founder Merrill J. Fernando, and he lived by them devotedly. Since the company’s inception in 1985, his vision was never solely one of personal profit. His vision had a much broader remit, deeper meaning, and spanning multiple communities – both human and non-human. From this vision stemmed the two main arms of the company’s kindness projects – the MJF Charitable Foundation and Dilmah Conservation – and each of these branches out to touch many areas of the community and the environment. Far beyond the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR), these are organisations that have been built around the business to give back to nature and people, subsequently nurturing their own growth, empowerment and contribution. One could even say the company functions as a regenerative business that is just one aspect within a much larger system. Let’s take a look at some of the projects that the MJF Charitable Foundation and Dilmah Conservation work on… In addition to donations and contributions to humanitarian efforts, the MJF Charitable Foundation: – provides training and opportunities for less-privileged youth through the Empower Culinary & Hospitality School, Sri Lanka’s only World Chefs-certified culinary training facility. – facilitates access to education, particularly for marginalised youth and women, through the Curtiss Institute. – inspires, educates and empowers women from under-privileged and marginalised communities to take up entrepreneurship through the Women’s Development Programme which also runs the Swashakthi Bakery and Tea Room at the MJF Centre in Moratuwa. – provides practical education, training and support for children with cerebral palsy and other disorders, as well as for their caretakers, through the Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy and Other Developmental Disorders. – offers education and therapy for children with cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome and those on the autism spectrum at our Rainbow Centres. – provides educational opportunities for children who need special assistance through the MJF Educational Grants Programme. – ensures that the needs of the tea community, which is a vital part of the Ceylon tea industry, are updated and met. Dilmah Conservation: – works towards establishing sustainability projects through the Climate Change Centre, One Earth organic farming and urban arboretum, and further work in conjunction with Biodiversity Sri Lanka, Beddagana Wetland Park, the Greening Batticaloa initiative, and mangrove restoration projects. – aspires to protect and preserve biodiversity through the One Earth Tree Spa, Amphibian Conservation, Bee a Keeper, species conservation programmes, the Uda Walawe Wildlife Programme, Butterfly Gardens, and the initiative to conserve marine life. – works to spread education and awareness through published material, webinars, workshops. If you would like to learn more about any of these initiatives and programmes, or would like to be a volunteer or contributor, do contact us via https://www.mjffoundation.org/ or https://www.dilmahconservation.org/.
Antioxidants in Tea
Tea has a uniquely high content of flavonoids. What is the significance of this statement? To begin with, let’s take a quick look at what free radicals (FR) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are. FR and ROS are both unstable molecules that can be damaging when found within the body. They may either be produced naturally – as a by-product of cellular metabolism such as cell respiration, or might enter the body via air pollutants, toxins in food, tobacco smoke, exposure to ionising radiation or heavy metals, etc. Unstable FR and ROS molecules react with stable molecules in the body to stabilise themselves, in turn making the previously stable molecules unstable. The process then continues in a sort of chain reaction. A build-up of FR and ROS could put the body in a state of ‘oxidative stress’ which, over time, could lead to the development of non-communicative diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, stroke and heart disease. Flavonoids function as antioxidants, neutralising unstable FR and ROS molecules and subsequently reducing prolonged oxidative stress and lowering the risk of developing NCDs. This is where the statement ‘Tea has a uniquely high content of flavonoids’ bears significance. The tender shoots of the tea plant are packed with two main types of flavonoids – flavanols (18-32%) and flavonols (3-4%). While the tea manufacturing processes vary for black, green and oolong teas, the flavonoid content in the end products remains significantly higher than in any other food, giving rise to a high antioxidant capacity. Thus, regular consumption of high-quality tea can boost antioxidant activity within the body, helping to improve overall health and reduce the risk of developing NCDs. Comparison of Antioxidant capacity of tea and common vegetables – Figure 4.1 from page 52 of Tea and Your Health by Prof. Tissa Amarakoon