As a country among the world’s biggest tea producers, Indonesia has assimilated tea drinking culture into the daily lives of its citizens. For many, tea is a beverage that does not require specific preparations – unlike the Japanese with their tea ceremonies, and often served as an accompaniment for breakfast and snacks.
The high availability of mass tea products from abroad within the past two decades can only mean one thing: Indonesians have been exposed to a world of different flavors aside from their regular tea dated from the colonial era. At this point, many Indonesians are already accustomed to blended black tea products such as Earl Grey, Darjeeling, or tea infused with herbs and fruits.
However, higher appreciation for tea was only shown rather recently, especially with the appearances of tea houses that introduce lineups of imported tea leaves and the high tea time culture. While this haute trend is yet to reach the peak like the third-wave coffee movement in comparison, these establishments have managed to sustain their businesses for quite some time now. The movement is also reinforced by tea experts and aficionados, introducing the deeper meaning of this lifestyle.
Especially for high tea time culture, more success found at Jakarta’s five-star hotels. From the hustle and bustle behind the business district of Senayan came the Fairmont Jakarta. After its foundation in 2015, Fairmont Jakarta introduced Peacock Lounge to complement its vast and opulent main lobby. The lounge itself can seat up to 40 people and offers an intimate ambiance that is suitable for conversational tea time and lunchtime meals. Thanks to its chic persona, Peacock Lounge has also become famous among socialites and social media influencers.
The afternoon tea set here is presented unlike anywhere else. Instead of the usual trays, Peacock Lounge uses jewelry drawers, all clad in white leather. Inside one will find the seasonal changing petit fours, tea sandwiches, canapes, and traditional scones with jam and clotted cream. Accompanying the treats, Fairmont Jakarta offers an extensive range of teas from black tea, blue tea, green tea, rooibos, and even the rare white and smoky tea.
Competing with other five-star hotels prompts Peacock Lounge to devise certain advantages. While these hotels may be equally efficient when it comes to creativity, manpower, or logistics; Fairmont Jakarta instead employs collaborations as its main advantage.
In 2016, Peacock Lounge launched the Show Your True Colours campaign that featured the color-changing theme of the confectioneries from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and especially pink for the support of breast cancer awareness month.
Following next was the collaboration with Indonesia’s legendary fashion designer Iwan Tirta for an exclusive batik-themed afternoon tea for the whole two months from April to May 2017. This particular collaboration was also to support Iwan Tirta’s upcoming fashion show which was held also at Fairmont Jakarta later that April.
The most recent collaboration was held between the hotel and Kate Spade New York. Launched in conjunction with the Fall 2017 collections, the theme was inspired by 1920s Parisian color palettes which was predominantly red and black with striking motifs such as leopard prints, red poppies, and cherries.
During these promotions, Peacock Lounge’s interiors are usually redesigned lightly to match the theme with the collaborator’s products are put on display. Operation-wise, the pastry kitchen also create a lineup of products that represent the whole mood. Patrons are encouraged to share their experience through social media channels and compete for interesting prizes.
Through this strategy, Peacock Lounge has been successfully maintaining its tea time culture by keeping it fresh, exciting, and already further collaborations are planned quarterly with other premium brands. With all the values given for the hotel itself, the brands, as well as the patrons; Peacock Lounge ultimately remains faithful to its original concept as a tea lounge that is open for everyone.
The lounge opens daily from 10am to 5pm and the afternoon high tea set is available from 2pm to 5pm.
FAIRMONT JAKARTA – PEACOCK LOUNGE | Jalan Asia Afrika no. 8, Jakarta – Indonesia | +62 21 2970 3333 | www.fairmont.com/jakarta
Images by: Fairmont Jakarta
This is the unedited version of the article
