From the moment she was born, Sadia was an avid tea drinker, always with a good brew and a tea cup ready; well that is how her version of the story goes…

The real story begins with growing up and early memories of starting one’s day with her mother making a pot of chai tea for the family to drink over breakfast, it was the perfect start to the day and Sadia continues this custom to this very day, charting the first cuppa as the most important during the day. Sadia continues to sup on many cups of tea during the day.

Dubbed the Queen of Tea for her constant tea drinking, Sadia’s love of tea, fascination with cultural tea customs, and how a good cuppa brings comfort and people together gave her the idea of Sadia’s Tea Parties.

Tea parties so far…

From January to March 2011, Sadia hosted six tea parties at Valentines Mansion as part of the project ‘A Local Dialogue’.  ‘A Local Dialogue’ uses tea as a connector to bring people together over the shared experience of a good cuppa and chat to discover, explore, share and learn. As an avid tea lover Sadia decided to host the tea parties for local residents, creating a communal space for local people to meet and discuss the local area.

‘’The idea for the tea parties came about from my own love of the beverage and how a good cuppa can be the setting for a really good conversation. I wanted to create a space where strangers could connect and engage over a conversation and I thought about an activity that all communities and cultures shared, and tea drinking seemed apt.”

Each tea party served a different type of tea from a different part of the world, guests were able to experience how tea is drunk in South Asia, North Africa, Persia, China and of course England. An authentic experience was provided with each tea party, Sadia also set a topic of conversation about the local area and history designing fun and interactive parlour games for guests to play.

Since then Sadia has taken her tea parties to a number of locations including the Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew developing her tea party offer. Sadia even met the Queen in a special performative tea party as part of the London Pride Festival.  Follow the tea  story as it continues to grow.