Dubai: Global Village broke a world record on Thursday, after preparing the largest hot cup of tea in the world holding 5,000 litres of the brew.
The title was confirmed by a Guinness World Records official after the last 10 litres of hot Karak tea were poured into the 3.66-metre-high cup that took pride of place at Global Village.
The cup, a replica of a regular styrofoam tea cup, had a top diameter of 1.42 metres, along with a heating system to maintain the tea’s temperature at 85 degree Celsius.
The tea’s recipe by chef Uwe Micheel, president of the Emirates Culinary Guild and assistant vice-president of World Association of Chefs Societies, was prepared by a team of 138 chefs.
“We came up with the project a month ago — and began collecting and separating the ingredients three days ago. We had 70 brewing stations and made 500 batches of the same tea recipe, 10 litres at a time,” Micheel told Gulf News during the ceremony.
The karak tea recipe included 155kg of Lipton tea powder, 270kg of milk powder, 360kg of sugar, 4.5kg of cloves, 135kg of ginger, 27kg of cinnamon sticks, and 27kg of cardamom powder. It was brewed over 12 hours in around 5,000 litres of water for an authentic taste.
“We know that karak is among the most-liked refreshments for people in the UAE … with this record, we have also been able to communicate our love for karak to the world and to showcase the organisational and culinary skills of chefs based in Dubai,” said Micheel.
Following the announcement of the world record, the team of chefs offered around 45,000 cups of hot karak tea to guests and visitors at Global Village. The largest tea cup will be on display at the park until February 1.
“It is a special moment for us to have entered the Guinness World Records with this singular achievement — especially since tea drinking is an integral part of our culture in the UAE,” said Badr Anwahi, CEO of Global Village.
The feat surpassed an earlier record of 4,050 litres set last year for the biggest cup of tea in the world in Shanghai, China.
The guidelines for the world record attempt for the largest cup of hot tea requires the tea to be served in one large cup and the volume of tea to be confirmed by an external agency such as a professional measuring company. It also calls for logging the number of chefs making the tea (138 chefs), and distributing the tea, so it is not wasted.
Record facts
12 hours of preparation
138 chefs
5,000 litres of tea
45,000 cups of hot karak tea
Tea was at 85C
Tea included:
155kg of Lipton tea powder
5,000 litres of water
270kg of milk powder
27kg of cinnamon sticks
360kg of sugar
135kg of ginger
4.5kg of cloves
27kg of cardamom powder
