Something’s brewing!
There is something about tea. The beverage lifts the spirits, and is rightly called the ‘cup that cheers’. An apology to coffee lovers, but this one is all about tea.
Whether it is tea from Assam or Darjeeling, kahwa from Kashmir or strong tea from the Nilgiris, this is a drink that uplifts. We also have the fragrant Earl Grey and the invigorating English Breakfast flavours — two of the most popular black teas in the world.
Tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. According to The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook: A Guide to the World’s Best Teas, there are over 20,000 different teas in the world. But the categories are only a handful, depending on the type of tea leaves picked and the processing. The most popular categories are — black, oolong, green, white, and yellow.
Black tea accounts for 85% of the consumption in the western world. Oolong tea has a delicate flavour and is light brown in colour. White tea has low caffeine content and is even lighter in colour, and mild in flavour. It is packed with antioxidants and is best had without adding anything. Green tea is processed in a manner such that antioxidants are preserved leading to its much-touted health benefits. Yellow tea is popular in China. Tea tasting, like wine tasting, is quite an art — in fact, a profession.
Flavoured teas are made by adding flowers, herbs, and fruits to black, green and oolong teas. As an example, Earl Grey is prepared by adding the extract of a citrus fruit called bergamot to black tea. Flower-based teas have therapeutic properties — for instance, chamomile has a calming effect. They are also infused with distinct flavours. For example, jasmine tea has the flavour of the jasmine flower. Fruit teas contain antioxidants and vitamin C and do not contain caffeine. This makes them the ideal bed-time drink.
To each his own cuppa
India is famous for masala chai — black tea with milk, sugar and spices, like cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. In UK, cold milk and sugar are added to tea brewing in a pot. Japanese matcha is the powdered form of high-quality green tea which is drunk in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
Sometimes, tea is offered in a kulhad (small mud pot) in India which gives it a special earthy flavour. Drinking tea in India is all about socialising. You will find an assortment of people of all ages gathered around a kitli (small tea shop) in Gujarat cautiously sipping their piping hot teas and chatting about life in general.
