What Should Visitors Know About the Old Street Coffee House and BOH Tea Gardens?
BOH is Malaysia's largest tea brand, founded in 1929 and accounting for about seventy percent of national tea production. Its Cameron Highlands estate sits roughly 260 kilometers, or a three-hour drive, from Kuala Lumpur and has been developed as a hill retreat since the 1930s. Visitors can tour the tea factory, walk the scenic paths, and eat at the glass tea restaurant.
The Cameron Highlands estate is one of two company tea gardens open to the public there, each about a half-hour drive apart. The BOH site has a free tea estate with a small factory, while Cameron Valley Tea House charges entry. BOH's red-packaged black tea sells in supermarkets nationwide, but special varieties are only available at the tea garden shop.
Since its founding in 1929, the Malaysian tea brand BOH has remained the largest tea factory in the country, accounting for about seventy percent of the nation's tea production. Its sightseeing tea garden in the Cameron Highlands, about 260 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur and roughly a three-hour drive away, is a famous summer retreat that Malaysia has been developing since the 1930s. Visitors can enjoy tea at the BOH TEA CENTRE, tour the tea-making factory, stroll along the scenic walkways, and savor tea snacks in the glass tea restaurant. BOH's most classic red-packaged black tea is available everywhere in supermarkets, but special tea varieties can only be purchased at the tea garden shop. This article introduces BOH's tea garden layout and historical background, and reviews five distinctive teas one by one—Golden Premium Black Tea, Mango Flavored Tea, Lemon Citrus, Lemongrass Ginger Tea, and Orange Earl Grey—covering their aroma, taste, and brewing suggestions, along with Front Street Coffee's purchasing recommendations.
Cameron Highlands The Cameron Highlands is home to BOH TEA CENTRE's premier sightseeing tea estate, about 260 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, roughly a three-hour drive. This area has been gradually developed as a tourist destination in Malaysia since the 1930s. With an average annual temperature of about 18 degrees Celsius, it is cool and pleasant, and is a well-known summer retreat in Malaysia.
The Cameron Highlands is famous for lavender, highland vegetables and fruits, and tea gardens. There are two company tea gardens open to visitors here, not far apart, each about a half-hour drive away. One is the estate managed by BOH, which features a free BOH Tea Estate where visitors can tour a small tea factory and take photos in the tea garden, experiencing it through food and beverage purchases, with an overall cool and comfortable environment; the other is Cameron Valley Tea House, which requires a ticket for entry. Its valley tea gardens are lushly green with more expansive terrain and area, but only a few walking paths are open to visitors.
The BOH Group also has another BOH TEA CENTRE estate in Sungai Palas, also not far away, and relatively easy to find by road. Driving along the mountain road, you can take in sweeping views of tea gardens covering the hills and valleys. This spot draws more tourists because the sightseeing design and experience are excellent, with many scenic walkways and viewing platforms, as well as a glass tea restaurant in the air and a tea-making sightseeing factory. As of 2016, BOH Plantations had four tea gardens under its banner: Habu (the first to obtain a land concession), Fairlie Tea Garden, Sungai Palas Tea Garden, and Bukit Cheeding in Selangor, with a total area of about 1,200 hectares and an annual tea output of about 4 million kilograms, accounting for roughly seventy percent of Malaysia's total tea production.
Founder JA Russell was a British businessman operating locally during the British colonial period in Malaya who had received a British education. BOH was established in 1929 and is arguably Malaysia's largest tea factory. When visitors dine at the tea house, tea is ordered on-site by the pot and can be refilled with hot water, with each refill costing about RM 0.5, to be enjoyed together with cakes and tea snacks. It's common to see tourists taking photos of donuts and egg tarts. The brewing vessel is a white porcelain Western-style teapot of about 400 c.c., paired with two white porcelain coffee cups, an iron spoon and a strainer, plus BOH's signature red-branded sugar packets for guests to season their tea. Here, you can spend an entire morning sipping tea while gazing out at the tea gardens.
The tea garden shop is a rather important source of revenue for BOH. Although their teas are sold in supermarkets everywhere, special tea varieties can only be found here. Still, the most common BOH red-line large-packaged black teas and brewing bags fill the walls, making an entire wall of red tea products quite a spectacular sight.
BOH Tea Varieties Golden Premium Black Tea It carries a faint aroma of fresh grass and pasture, with a deep, beautiful color and a golden ring visible at the cup's edge. Yet the taste is not heavy, with no particularly noticeable body and a lack of layers. It is suitable for blending and mixing. It pairs well with starchy bread and biscuits. Similar in taste to Nilgiri or Ceylon Uva. Long steeping tends to make it bitter and astringent, with a puckering sensation. It has the flavor of a high-altitude small-leaf variety.
Mango Flavored Tea The rich aroma of mango juice stands out, paired with a black tea that isn't too strong in taste. The mango flavor is authentic and natural, without any chemical feel, and not cloying—much like ripe mango. Drunk hot, it is very fragrant and smells of fruit candy. Made into an iced drink, however, it doesn't taste good.
Lemon Citrus A combination of lemon and sweet orange, with a refreshing orange peel aroma as the two citrus scents overlap. But this one is best with added sugar, which raises its score. Drunk hot, it's not bad. There are better options. Long steeping makes it astringent, and adding ice doesn't help.
Lemongrass Ginger Tea Not lemon, but lemongrass—lemon-scented lemongrass—paired with sweet ginger. The lemongrass flavor is very strong. The ginger isn't very noticeable and is sweet. It drinks very refreshingly, with a light color.
Orange Earl Grey In Malaysia, this brand is known to everyone, even more widespread than the neighboring Singaporean brand TWG—it's a brand almost every Malaysian has drunk or seen. Few Taiwanese know this brand. It uses tea bags made from highland black tea from local Malaysian origins in Cameron Valley and Sabah, offering a mysterious flavor of local terroir, and uses quite a few Southeast Asian tropical fruits in its blends, combining them skillfully to create a unique flavor.
Front Street Coffee Recommendation If you're interested in BOH's tea varieties, Front Street Coffee also offers a range of Malaysian-style teas to choose from. You're welcome to visit the shop to taste them or purchase online.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
