Cuppa Chai Or Iced Tea

A long time ago few leaves of Camilia Sinensis fell into a bowl of warm water held by a Chinese Emperor. The aroma that emanated from the brew was intoxicating and thus tea was discovered. A typically hot beverage that has floored the World completely is literally speaking undergoing the ravages of time.      

The paradigm shift albeit at a snail's place in traditional tea-consuming countries is taking place. Enter the wonderful zesty iced tea a cold phenomenon that is capturing a new target audience the young ones. The chai as we call it in India is traditionally drunk hot from a cup or small glasses. It is slipped slowly taking a good time probably in betwixt a conversation. 

The iced version is a modern invention perhaps necessitated by creativity and the stiff competition from colas. The usual hot beverage turns into an iced form upon refrigeration or with the addition of ice cubes. This form of brew is also subject to a lot of sugary additions or in many cases lime or both. A dash of ginger throws a lot of punch.

The herbal variants also come in this form with a lot of health benefits. The can or bottled version of this cool beverage is taking its popularity sky-high. It is assumed that cool tea beverages will take away an impressive share from the hot form as well as from fizzy cola drinks.    

Of Tasters & Blenders

The art of discovering fine qualities of tea leaves and then blending the is the job of tasters. Hence both blend into one but a taster may not necessarily be a blender since one could be a connoisseur.    

Most of the tasters have started their carriers with major companies like Lipton, Tetley Tata, Wagh Bakri, Godrej, Dilmah, Harada to name a few.  After having years of tasting various types of leaves from major gardens of the World many of them have moved into selling gourmet brands of their own. Well developed sensory organs assist the masters on road to success.

Big companies like Wagh Bakri have their own master blenders besides the owners being themselves expert at the task. Old companies are manned by experts that have done the job themselves. The big corporates have employees which are very good at the task. Blending is done using various kinds of leaves depending upon the strategy of the processors intended for targeted audience.

A Cup That Cheers

Tea Plucking

Tea Plant

Tea Garden

Many of the experts act a jury at Golden Leaf Awards apart from many other events that highlight the World's finest hot beverages. The consumption of this hot beverage is growing day by day not only green leaf for its health benefit but largely that of black leaf for its fantastic taste and flavor.  
 

Different Tea Choices: Understanding Health Benefits & Flavor Variations

Tea has been one of the oldest beverages drunk up by man for relaxation and comfort. In cold weather a hot brew helps keep body warm and refreshes the mind from the day’s labors. Visit any grocery store and you’re sure to find a lot of tea brands as choices and some herbal infusions claiming to be herbal and healthy.

Do you want regular tea or one with little/no caffeine? Tea that’s classic in its flavor or one that’s infused with myriad other flavors like of fruits, spices or plant parts? You can get the finest blends in packages, loose form and in hygienic bags.

Such is the pull of this deeply flavored leaf that it has entered the cold beverages market with a storm and is fast finding its own niche in form of iced-teas and infused alcohol mixtures.

 Tea: What Is It Really?

You have to remember that only tea made from leaves of Camelia sinensis - a bush that originally grew in Asia and was used by Chinese  in earlier times as digestive tonic.  Other Asians also followed and used the leaves to prepare a hot beverage. .

There are variants of this plant depend on the climates where it is grown, the stage of growth when the leaf is plucked and the leaf size as also the processing it undergoes. So we have tea categorized as white, black, green and oolong.

These also have differing levels of antioxidants and other important ingredients. Green tea for instance has a higher catechin level than what you’d find in black leaf.  But it doesn’t have theaflavins as is found in black tea. Herbal infusions are essentially not considered ‘true’ teas.

 Green Tea: Benefits

The flavor of green leaf is attributed to presence of theanine and its texture is thanks to the catechins present. It is also the theanine that acts as mild relaxant while toning down effects of caffeine that lends a bitter taste to the flavor and helps improve alertness.

 White Tea: Why It Is Good?

White tea happens to have extremely low caffeine levels and is least processed of all the leaves. Great for people wanting to cut down on their caffeine! It is also the least oxidized and helps prevent heart problems, cancers and fight diabetes.

 Oolong Tea: A Digestive Aid

Oolong teas fluctuate in their oxidation levels from 20 to 80% and though higher in oxidation than green leaf have polyphenols which defend body against dementia, cancers and heart issues.

 Pu-erh: Uniquely Processed

Pu-erh tea leaves are the fermented, aged variation of regular leaves which is why it has a high flavonoid content and low caffeine level. Known to break down fats Pu-erh helps your stomach settle down after a heavy meal. You also get a metabolic boost by having this brew. So go on and get energized!

Indian chai tea

Although tea is not unique to India since it is drunk all over the world now..well almost. Indian chai comes in mind boggling flavors and is sold at roadside dhaba to five star tea rooms. But the ubiquitous chai wala justifies this name of the hot beverage. The recipe and method of making the tea beverage differs from person to person and place to place.

Tea makers have devised their on concoction of masalas or spices to add as flavoring. Such teas are known as masala chai in India and spice tea all over the world.

The masala chai is added to the black tea leaf mostly and rarely to the green tea beverage. But aromatic herbs as spearmint, mint and also lime is added to both black and green tea beverages. Even chocolate and vanilla flavors are added to the hot beverage but very rarely in India.

It is the simple recipe that finds popularity with the chai walas though the tea leaf may be often of different variety and brands.

Green Tea Recipe

If you add milk and sugar to a green tea recipe you are making tea the India way. Indians almost always drink organic green tea with milk and sugar. Some add cinnamon, cardamom and often ginger shreds. These are the three most popular extracts that tea lovers in India add to tea recipe.

Tea is an inseparable part of food consumption in Indian families and the above recipe is standard household way of consuming chai tea. But there are families who are specialist tea drinkers and they have evolved tea recipes of their own of which you come know only when you visit their homes. I have had experience of drinking tea in one home the taste of which I admired like anything. Only secret that I could extract of them was that they had added cinnamon powder in the tea brew. But I knew there were much more masalas in the tea that I was relishing sip after sip.

Black tea without milk may be consumed in some remote inaccessible cold regions of Indian sub continent. In spite of the basic habit of tea drinking in India. There are subtle nuances in the tea flavor depending upon tea blend and variations in taste of milk and even sugar. Hence tea in India is as diverse as India itself is. And for each family that comes up with its own unique recipe one should respect and regard their ingenuity and asking for their recipe is inappropriate, until unless they reveal it to you.

Just learn to sip that wonderful liqueur man!

Tea

Popularity of tea all over the world is growing day by day not only for its health benefits but also for the splendid taste that coffee tea carries. The art of tea drinking is engraved in many recipes that are popular all over the world.

The English introduced hot tea beverage in India although the tea plant was native to India, China and many Asian countries। The way tea is consumed in India, China and Japan varies from the way tea drink is consumed in English tea rooms and garden parties।

The hot tea recipe is often simple if you are not adding any exotic spices to the mix. In India ground spices as cardamom, cinnamon and shreds of ginger are more popular additives to the tea recipe when other masalas or spices are added it becomes spice tea or masala chai as is popular in India.

The addition of mint or spearmint, chamomile and other flavors may appeal to a particular segment of tea lovers but in my opinion black and green tea are best had with milk and sugar or for black tea lovers without milk.

Spices or other tea extracts or additives have their own benefits, but the latter rules. For the newbie tea drink lover extra flavoring helps but as he specializes in the art of making tea he develops a taste for tea as brewed plain to get the full benefit of tea leaf.