Preparing Hot Tea Brew With Green Leaves

Though a product of same plant, green tea varies form other forms of leaves. The difference arises from the amount of processing that is done. Green leaf originates from China where it is very popular. The preparation method also differs from regular brews and much more so from chai popular in India.

Cool Green Tea

The health benefits arise from preservation of antioxidants and other beneficial chemicals in the leaf. Excess processing in the black leaf perhaps breaks these chemicals down during fermentation. Nevertheless the hot beverage is a wonderful drink even if consumed as cold.  


Read How Green Tea in Made

Chai Ho Jaye!

Flower Tea

Ice Tea

Mast mast garam garam chai means a lot more to us then we think. If you carefully analyze the events that take place socially chai is a powerful tool of communication. Read about some of the social benefits:

Accha Chai To Pello!

Another opportunity to continue with failed conversation or deal. This extension is due to chai.

Ayea Ghar Kabhi Chai Pe

Good opportunity granted for cementing relationship or showcase your paintings.    

Uthho Chai Ban Gayee Hai

Good excuse to wake your children and lazy husband in time.

Chai Serve Karo

Break a dull conference snooze and fill an empty stomach with chai and biscuits.

Rukko Chai Ho Jaye

Life saver especially during long distance drives. Keeps you awake. 

Chaye Chale Gee!

Makes it difficult for a person to escape from a much desired conversation.

Chai Ya Cold Drink!

Saves money by eliminating cold drink often.

Chai!

Samazdar mothers during exam time in the night.

Sunteee Ho! Chai Bana Do!

Enlivens you after a hard days work.

Ek! Ek! Chai Ho Jaye!  

Friendship Bonds or Celebration

No wonder chai tea is a revitalizing agent and does much more.I will keep digging for mire as I am loving it.

To Flavor or Not To Green Leaf Subji & What Not

Most of the hard core tea drinkers like me want the regular hot stuff. But this does not mean that I do not go in ginger and cardamom flavored tea. Another leaf I like to indulge in sometimes is Darjeeling. You do not need to add any flavors or spices to this magical brew. The leaf is cultivated in may gardens in the District.   

But in recent times masala chai has become every popular. Earlier only few spices where added during the cooking process whence making chai. In the recent time tea connoisseurs are discovering various flavoring methodology by regulars. The buck stops at nothing, flowers, exotic herbs and essential are being added to the brew. This is more of a local phenomenon since the black tea  popularity has nowhere decreased.      

Iced Lemon Tea

Darjeeling Tea

Cool Green Tea

Well each to his own even if you add finest alcohols there is a sizzling cocktail waiting for you. With tea there is no limit to creativity which defines art of cooking. May be someday green leaf subji will be available in the Indian restaurants and  tea lounges which have recently entered the fray in India  

Tea Consumpion in UK

Tea was introduced in UK after the seventeenth century by Catherine of Braganza who was spouse of Charles II. The popularity spread fast and tea houses sprung up in UK. It was mr. Twining who first opened a tea house solely for ladies. He then went on to create more tea house to form a chain. 

Earlier the coffee house used to sell ale and gin  but soon the hot brew took over. it began to sell more than the ale and gin.  The government chose to tax ale and gin but nit tea further boosting its sales. This was a good move because most of the common populace through out drinks from their lifestyle. 

The popular afternoon or high tea was popularized by Duchess of Bedford Anna Russel.  Not forgetting to mention East India Tea Company was ordained monopoly over whole of Britain in the year 1832. Earl Gray Tea by Twinnings is the most popular blend in England now.

Today the British are one of the largest consumer of this hot beverage in Europe. The brew overtook coffee sales in private coffee houses. The government tried to discourage consumption by taxing tea which however caused smuggling of the product.   

Drinking Tea for Health & Pleasure

Drinking Tea for Health & Pleasure

Tea Tree Oil and its Benefits

Tea Tree Oil is known as Melaleuca oil which is yellowish in color and is made from the leaves of Melaleuca plants that are found in Alternifolia that is native to Australia. These plants are not originated everywhere but the medical properties of these plants made it useful for the medical science in various ways and especially for the skin treatment. It is useful for various skin diseases and works as an antiseptic which is a best treatment for skin problems. There are various benefits of Tree Tea Oil and some of them are given below:-

•    It helps in healing and soothing the sunburn.
•    It heals up the skin infection in a natural way.
•    Relieves the itching of the person from rashes and it also reduces the rashes.
•    It can also be used as a cleaner for all purpose by filling it in a spray bottle with 1 to 2 spoons of tea tree oil and the remaining bottle with water.
•    It also treats acne.
•    It helps in prevention from lice in a natural way only by adding few drops of tea tree oil to the shampoo.
•    Sprinkling few drops of tea tree oil on beds and pets crates keeps the fleas away.
•    It removes the ticks from the body just by adding it to the skin.
•    It helps in removing skin tags.
•    It cures bad breath naturally.
•    It can also be used as homemade toothpaste.
•    It is one of an effective treatment for warts.
•    Tea tree oil soothes the skin from insect bites.
•    It also treats ringworm.
•    It helps in treating psoriasis and other skin conditions too.
•    Relieves the asthma patient or person having other breathing conditions only by adding few drops of tea tree oil to humidifier.
•    Works as an antiseptic for healing small cuts.
•    Can be used as bathroom freshener.
•    It relieves from earaches; mix 1 tsp olive oil with 1 drops of tea tree oil then mix it and after that drop the mixture into the ears then remove it by titling your head.
•    It freshens–up your laundry too by adding few drops of this oil into your washing machine then it scents your cloth in fact it could also be used to odor wool dryer balls.
•    It helps in freshen of carpets.
•    It can be used as a homemade kitchen cleaner in several ways.
•    It also cleans the mold; mix tea tree oil and apple cider vinegar then scrub the mold and place outside for sun-dry.
•    It can be used as a homemade deodorant also.
•    It is used as a treatment for the fungus infection in nails.

More on Fizzy Tangy Cocktails

Enough said about Tea Cocktails with alcohol base now some recipes.

Eastern Spice

Asian Tea Cocktails are mix of various spices, herbs and exotic liquor in this case Gin. The two new gin’s used here are recently introduced lemongrass and black peppercorns. The flavors complements Ku De Ta’s Oolong tea other ingredients are chili umeshu shaken, strained and served in a martini glass.

All Japanese: The Midnight Sencha

This tea concoction is a  classic Whisky Sour with a touch of Japanese flavour. The addition of Sencha syrup made with addition of wooded spice and Grand Marnier create a wonderful flavor. The concoction  is mixed with bitters, egg white and Yuzu juice. Glenmorangie 10yrs is the base and  garnished used is Momji — a  maple leaf from Japan.

White Tea Martini at BarKode

The White Tea Martini  comprises of  Earl Grey the primary tea flavor comes from Martini Rosso and  TWG’s white tea. A subtle hint of  coriander and  Tanqueray 10 base and freshly squeezed lemon. You can consume glasses of this wonder brew.







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Tea Cocktails - Sip to Glory

Tea Beverage is wonderful it is consumed as hot since its inception of mass scale. In recent time it is being consumed in cold form in the summers in many countries. The beverage has been evolving behind the scene and in the contemporary era tea cocktails have become very popular.

The ingredients used vary from herbs, aromatic oils, spices, liquor to powdered extracts. Many forms of green tea leaf are used along with other ingredients and processed. Gin and Rum as favorite additions with citrus fruit juices and peels.    

In case of a famous Earl Grey Infusion by a master Chef Called Raveen Misra the based used is Mark Bourbon and Bergamot Extract. The Earl Gray Leaf is boiled for half an hour to get the extract. This is one of the most popular whiskey sours in the cocktail circuit.  Instead of Angostura the chef uses lemon bitters and to the mix is added egg white and sugar syrup to create a tangy sweet citrus taste.    

The cocktails are always served at right temperature and garnished with tea leaves. These are very popular in parties and celebration. You must try. 

How Tea Processing Takes Place

The tea plant camellia sinensis is a shrub with fragrant white flowers. But the beverage is made from internode, lanceolate leaves and buds. The cultivation takes place at various locations, heights and climatic regions. This produces leaves with vast variety of flavors, shapes and size. The amount of fermentation is responsible for production of green, white or black leaf.     

During the processing after the leaves are plucked the leaves are dried to reduce water content. This process is known as withering. The dried leaves are then rolled using machines or hand. This process enable the leaf to break its cells and release aromatic compounds.  

After rolling the oxidation stage takes over. The amount of oxidation is responsible for type of leaf that will result - green, white and black. The leaves are than fired without causing a burn. This step stops the oxidation process. Hence a varying degree of the oxidation can carried out as desired.  

For processing the black variant the leaves after being plucked are left to dry for a day. The process described above takes place. After the leaves have been properly oxidized to attain the right flavor and color the leaves are sent to the hot air chambers to fix the flavor and stop the oxidation process. By this time the leaves have taken the desired shape and attained the right flavor. Moisture content has come down to two percent and the leaves are ready for packing.     

I case of green tea withering may take place but the rest of the process is skipped. The leaves are subject to pan firing immediately in order to prevent oxidation. The final stage is to roll the leaves and dry them. The amazing health beneficial green tea is ready to be packed. Due to minimum process the green tea retains most of the antioxidants and ploy phenols which are good for health.  

Wagh Bakri is one of the largest tea processing and packing company in India. Like wise there are many such concerns in India that are responsible for delivering the brew to our doorstep. 

History Of Tea

It is said and written everywhere that tea beverage was first discovered whence a leaf fell into a war cup of water. Obviously it was the Chinese Emperor  who happened to be holding the cup. This goes about five thousand years back whence Indus Civilization  was taking roots in the sub continent.

How tea came to India is little known except it was the British who initiated commercial plantation. It is quiet likely that tea plant was found in North East India from ancient times. The brew was perhaps consumed for medicinal purpose by the tribes inhabiting that region.    

The British also created a commercial demand for this hot beverage. They did this by initially distributing free packets of leaves to the Indians. Before the introduction of tea people used to drink milk for breakfast. This changed dramatically and we are now addicted to the brew or rather it has entered our daily habit. 

The dramatic spread of tea cultivation in Asia is well known. China and Japan grow exotic varieties of green leaf while India is known to be a mass producer of black leaf. Nevertheless India grows some exquisite variety of leaves like the Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri premium teas.

The country consumes most of the cultivation within itself.  But does export whence the crop is robust. India also exports some fine blends of its premium teas to many countries.