Zealong Tea Estate (Hamilton, New Zealand)
If you want a quiet, serene spot a team conference then this place might be good for you. Zealong Tea Estate has two venues for functions like conferences first is the Vista which can house 300 guests for cocktails and another one is the Pavilion which can cater up to 60 people, both of which offer great views of the Zealong property.
Zealong for those who haven’t heard about it is a 100% New Zealand premium organic tea grower located in Waikato where everything is grown, processed, and packaged. The location is a 48ha land that lies in the outskirts of Hamilton city, apart from the plantation the premises also has a Visitor Centre, retail shop, function centres and Tea House. Of course all of that comes with stunning views, beautiful gardens, fine food and of course their delicious tea.
We had one of our conferences here and had a chance to try out their tea offerings as well as the food they prepare for functions like such. We took the pavilion since we only have less than 25 people. The place has complete amenities to hold a conference from projectors to speakers you name it they have it. While having our conference we can try all the tea we want for the whole day, there were five different choices: Green Tea which has a silky liquor with rich floral notes, a hint of toasted chestnuts, and a subtle sweet finish. Pure Tea which is a sweet, fresh-tasting leaves are unroasted, bringing out the pure natural flavour of the tea. Then the Aromatic Tea which is roasted at high temperatures to produce a clean aroma and taste, with hints of fruit and flowers. Then the Dark Tea which the longer roasting gives these leaves a rich, deep taste with a slight touch of charcoal on the nose and finally the black tea which is a full-bodied, deep amber liquor with a sweet, honeyed undertone and silky smooth finish. The one I liked most was the Green Tea as well as the Dark tea, as you drink them you can already notice the difference of flavours Zealong tea provides.
Of course a conference will be incomplete without food. They do serve food in here as well from morning tea up to afternoon tea, it’s all sorted so nothing to worry about. For our morning tea we had sweet scones, wraps and sandwiches, all of which are quite heavy, there were also some fruit platters. For lunch what were served was roasted potatoes, roast beef, choices of 4 vegetable salad and some bread. For the afternoon tea we had the green tea cakes and ginger biscuits.
The food might look light but trust me we were never hungry during that conference. Food choices was great they were all delicious but most important of all it feels light but at the same it was filling as well.
Zealong Tea Estate
Address: 495 Gordonton Rd, Hamilton 3281, New Zealand
Phone: +647 853 3018
Website: https://zealong.com/
Tea? I guess it likes the cool climate there. Here, it is grown in the highlands.