Tea was once so revered, costly and rare that it was offered only as a gift to Chinese emperors and courtiers, a product as elite as it was noble. Nowadays, tea is the most popular manufactured drink in the world in terms of consumption, equalling all other manufactured drinks in the world – including coffee, chocolate, soft drinks and alcohol – put together.
But the luxury tea brand TWG Tea Salon & Boutique is trying to put the reverence back into tea. All their teas are hand-picked, and tea bags are made of 100 per cent cotton material.
For those customers in search for something a little more superior, the gold-coated “yellow gold tea” at Dh998 a pot could be the brew for you.
Available at the brand’s two locations, in The Dubai Mall and Dubai Festival City Mall, the 24-carat gold isn’t just used to make the tea sparkle. In China, the restorative properties of gold are still honoured in rural villages, where peasants cook their rice with a gold coin to replenish the mineral in their bodies.
In the past, this yellow ginseng tea was reserved for Chinese emperors, and grown on only one hillside in Sichuan province. It is harvested on one day of the year using golden scissors, cutting only the yellow tea buds at the top of the plant.
TWG Tea Salon & Boutique’s tea connoisseur Taieb Charif, a Frenchman living in Singapore, admits the tea is a hot talking point in the salon where he works. “Ninety per cent of customers I talk to like to talk about this tea. But because of the price tag, it’s only drunk by the few people who can afford to buy it.”
Mr Charif is one of those lucky few who have tried the gourmet tea, so we asked him to describe the taste. “It has this mineral taste and a gentle hint of flowers, but really light. Even 30 minutes after drinking it, you will still have the taste of this tea in your mouth. I don’t understand how it tastes like that. It’s exceptional.”
To make your own cuppa at home, you can purchase 50g from the brand’s Dubai outlets for Dh3,150.
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more from Janine di Giovanni
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Manchester City, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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