Tea tales

Ah so I didn’t have such a great morning, the French Vanilla as usual isn’t there, this time they were out of English Toffee and Hot Chocolate too, so I had to get down to making Hazel Nut coffee, and I don’t like the coffee here, it is so different from the filter coffee we get back home.

The smell of filter coffee is in itself so invigorating; it reminds me of good old Bangalore, which I miss so much. I am not going into the details of making coffee; because that is an art I still have to master. Not sure how many of you will agree with me on this note, but I feel that no Star bucks or Coffee day coffee could come anywhere close to the authentic filter coffee made in a Bangalore household, ah simply banglorean isn’t the word. :).

As I haven’t finished my tea tales, I though I’d continue with that. Tea is something we all miss here; I really don’t know why the West hasn’t caught onto the tea bandwagon yet, hmm. Cutting chai, something very mumbaiya and up North, is half a glass of hot, strong, chai that tastes so good, the stronger it is the better it is. So if we were to talk in terms of US proportions it would amount to quarter part of a small coffee cup. Pretty small for anyone used to the size of a serving we get here, but it would be so rich with milk, sugar and tea and the flavours would just melt in your mouth. It has to be served in that thick glass with ridges, definitely incomplete without it.

When you are on a long drive along the highway and you’ve been at the wheel for hours a tea break is such a welcome change. Back home its so easy to find a tea stall along the highway and take that much needed break and maybe combine it with some hot banana chips simply irresistible.

Where ever you go in India, you are bound to get tea, but its tea that is served in the hill stations that tastes the best, be it Darjeeling, Niligiris, Musoorie, Simla, wow I could just go on, India has so many hill stations and I’m glad I’ve been to most of these places. There is something about drinking piping hot tea when its freezing outside, and every time you breathe you have this vapor formation, its like as though your smoking. As kids that used to be such a favorite pastime, we used to try our best to form rings in the air, if you know what I mean. Talking about tours, my parents are in Kaziranga and I didn’t even know it, just discovered so today, talk about being thrown out of home :(.

In Ooty you get something called chocolate tea, which I haven’t had, but its good is what I’ve heard. Some people have black tea, for this you should make light tea (without milk) and then add a few drops of lime and a little sugar. Green tea is good for the heart and so I’ve heard but green tea is pretty bitter.

My Grandma is into tea cultivation these days, actually for the past 10 years or so, and it’s nice to go on errands with her, with these cane baskets. You need to pluck the tender tea leaves as and when they are formed and then you need to give it to the mill, at least that is what I know, but I think you need to pluck out the tender leaves and then let them dry for a few days and then grind them and you’ll have tea powder. It used to be fun going around plucking tea leaves, we used to make these tiny carts or trolleys for the cane baskets, not that the tea leaves were heavy but its all about experimenting.

Doing justice to my Mom and her botanical names, the tea plant is known as Camellia sinensis :). Tea with bread is good when you have a running stomach, household therapies :) and generally tea is a healthy drink, so here is to you chai ;).