A fivestar Edinburgh hotel will gain a particular Perthshire flavour by serving Scotland’s first cup of homegrown tea.
The Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street is serving white or smoked tea, grown by the Wee Tea Plantation at the Dalreoch estate in Amulree, Perthshire.
A pot of tea in the hotel’s Palm Court will cost £10. It can also be served with a Scottish cream tea.
To qualify as tea, the blend needs to contain leaves from the camellia sinensis plant, which is normally at home in the humid climes of India, China and Taiwan.
The Wee Tea pioneers realised once plants had matured enough they could thrive even in relatively cold conditions.
The Wee Tea Plantation owner Tam O’Braan, below, said: “Taken from just the first two leaves and the tip, the teas offer a refined and very Scottish flavour of both natural freshness and a rich peaty glen.
“Being the only smoked white tea in the world, it has a very subtle unique flavour similar in nature to a peaty whisky.”
The Balmoral Hotel’s executive chef Jeff Bland said: “I was extremely impressed with the flavours of the Dalreoch white and smoked teas. It is even more impressive that the teas are able to grow in our climate.
“As a nation of tea lovers, it is fantastic news that the Wee Tea Plantation has delivered such an impressive product to such a high standard.”