Tea experiments - More Basic's

The base of getting your tea right is not the type of tea you use and definitely not the crockery you choose to serve them in. So what can that be? The answer is simple, Water. Yes water. I cannot begin to stress on the importance of water while we prepare ourselves to sip that perfect cup of tea.

My personal experience, process water and filtered water works best for a perfect cup of tea. To begin with I would never use RO water or Distilled water, they taste terribly flat. However, RO water with UV seems to click well. Ordinary filtered water also works well when it is sourced from hilly regions, I guess the essential minerals presence is what makes all the difference. 

Now, after you get the water right. Please do not over boil it. Enjoy your cuppa tea :) 

You would know if your tea is right just by the look and the smell or the tea. Go ahead, get it right!

101 Reasons to turn to Tea

This is a compilation by Praloy Sangma who is a dear friend: 


There are 101 Reasons why a person might be addicted to Tea, explains by Tea Loving Philosophers from around the world:
1) Tea is sweeter than alcohol
2) Tea has lesser caffeine than coffee
3) Tea is calorie free
4) Emperor Shennong discovered tea in 2737 BC
5) Next to water, tea is the most consumed drink in the world
6) Researchers also claims, drinking tea is healthier than water
7) Tea is an antioxidant
8) Thomas Sullivan invented Tea Bags
9) Most Expensive Tea grown in Ya’an mountains of Sichuan province in China can cost $200 a small cup
10) It was Robert Fortune who stole the secrets of tea making from China
11) Experience tea pickers collects up to 30 Kg of tea a day with hand, which can produce 12,000 cups of tea
12) Lesser the tea leave is process greater is the antioxidants
13) Ireland is the highest tea drinker per capita nation in the world
14) Dillip Kumar won Best Actor in 1971 for a true story film Sagina Mahto based on Tea Garden Labour
15) Tea gardens in Assam do not follow IST but follow Tea Garden Time or Bagantime.
16) India is the second largest producer of tea after China
17) 70% of tea produced in India is consumed in the country
18) 98% of people take their tea with milk, but only 30% take sugar in tea.
19) Black tea is also called red tea, not necessary due to color blindness
20) During 1820 East India Company began large scale tea production in Assam
21) Assam, Ceylon and Darjeeling Tea are the most world famous tea
22) Tea improves pregnancy rates in women two times than non tea drinkers
23) Total turnover of Indian Tea industry was Rs 19,500,00,00,000 in the year 2011
24) Tea was known as Tu and it was used as medicine
25) Han dynasty used tea as vegetable food on table
26) Taking tea is also documented in the book of Ramayana during 750-500 BC
27) Tea is not only called chai in our country but also in Russia
28) Tea plant grows up to 105 feet tall and lives up to 1700 years old
29) Average Tea drinker takes 65,700 cups of tea in his lifetime
30) It looks good, smells good and tastes good
31) Tea changed the American history, have you forgotten what happened at Boston?
32) Tea is a cause for pomp and ceremony
33) Moist tea bag can be used to cure puffy eyes
34) There are approximately 1500 different varieties of tea
35) A cup of tea contains around 2000 chemicals compounds
36) Tea can boost exercise endurance
37) Tea increases metabolism
38) Tea protect bones
39) Black tea helps fighting against flu
40) Tea gives you sweet smile
41) Tea helps fighting free radicals
42) Tea controls blood pressure
43) Tea Tasting is like wine testing, yes after smelling and taking one sip they just waste the tea
44) Consuming tea lessens the chances to Parkinson’s Diseases
45) Rinsing with tea may prevent cavities and gum disease
46) Tea helps fighting most of the common diseases like diabetes, cancer, atherosclerosis etc
47) Regular tea drinking can also counteract some of the negative effects of smoking
48) Common available Tea: White tea, green tea, Oolong Tea, Black tea, Herbal Tea, Mate tea, Blooming Tea, and Tea Blends.
49) White Tea is the least processed type of tea
50) Pro tea tasters can tell if tea is tasty even just by the smell
51) In Indian railways, Chai wallahs earn highest money just next to eunuchs
52) If the weather is hot, there is ice tea
53) If the weather is cold, there is hot tea
54) If you are too sweet, there is lemon tea
55) If your throat need cleansing, there is ginger tea
56) Name of tea plant is Camellia Senensis
57) It is said that any plant can be made tea by just putting into boiling water, yes not just from Camellia Senensis plant
58) Most common tea other than from Camelli Senensis is extracted from Hisbiscus
59) Tea consists mainly Enzymes and Polyphenols
60) C, EC, ECG, GC, EGC, and EGCG are different polyphenols and it reacts in form of pairs call theaflavins
61) Sweetened Tea takes longer time to cool down than unsweetened tea.
62) A cup of tea gives around 20-35mg of EGCG
63) When it is time for tea, Chinese says its time for the tiger.
64) In our country if a government servant wants bribe, he excuses bribe in the name of tea
65) In NER of our country, when anybody visit someone’s house, first thing you get is tea
66) Taking tea in front of elders is not considered bad manner but taking alcohol is.
67) Tea stains are so strong, that even an advertisement of detergents claims cleansing them
68) Older people drink more tea than the younger people
69) You want to know the secret of removing odours from your hand, just try rubbing tea
70) The costliest tea bag created for 75th anniversary of PG TIPS tea company costs 7500 GBP
71) Some tea can make you allergic
72) You should not take vitamins and tea together
73) Same amount of Hot tea has more flavonoids count than iced tea
74) United Kingdom drinks 165,000,000 cups of tea a day
75) Over 3 Million tons of tea is produced worldwide every year
76) Tea Leaves absorbs moisture, so it is advisable to store in air tight container if you want to retain flavor
77) It takes about 4 to 12 years for tea plant to produce seed
78) It takes about 3 years for new tea plant to be ready to be planted
79) Tea plants needs atleast 50 inches of rain a year
80) Rare tea pot of 18th century was sold for $2.18 million
81) Easter world has been using tea for more than 4500 years but tea was introduced in the west only 400 years ago
82) World’s bestselling brand is Lipton Tea
83) When a tea is served in China, guest taps two to three fingers to show gratitude to the server
84) The recommended cups of tea to drink each day is 4 cups
85) The first book about tea was written by Lu Yu in 800 A.D
86) Earl Grey was British prime minister and tea is named after him
87) In Iran people put sugar cube in their mouth before sipping tea, hope they do not sit on burner
88) Tea helps soothe burns
89) One pound of loose tea can make up to 200 cups
90) An average of 3,000,000,000 cups of tea is consumed daily worldwide
91) Becoming chai wallah is as difficult as becoming Prime Minister as commented by our politician
92) Hot tea tastes better during cold weather
93) Smokers chew tea powder to avoid getting scolding from their girlfriends
94) A non smoker lady can tell even if the person has taken smoke even from 30 meters away
95) All the tea lover will read all these 101 points
96) Tea is the cheapest drink available in the market
97) In Tibet tea is served with mix of salt and butter
98) In Burma tea pickle called Lahpet is available and eaten
99) Adding honey into the tea is better than sugar, but where do we get all the honey?
100) 99% of tea content is water
101) Did you know that tea can help abate your appetite? Good news for people who are dieting. tea with milk, but only 30% take sugar in tea.

Winter Tea Tasting @ Infinitea on Nov 29th

When I think of fine teas, my thoughts starts and ends with Infinitea. My first visit was way back in 2006 when my friends and I decided to meet. I fell completely in love with the thought process and detailed attention of the place. Over the years I have progressively grown into loving it. 

This is a third tea tasting I have attended there, the first one was conducted by Susmita Das Gupta who is quite known as a tea lover and the other two conducted by Gaurav Saria himself. He is completely responsible for setting a benchmark for Tea Rooms in India.  So, being a part of a Tea Tasting event conducted by him was an honor by itself. 

The best thing about such tea tasting events is that you get to taste multiple teas at a reasonable price and it’s also paired with food. I was in for a pleasant surprise in the past when I was introduced to a smoky flavored tea, teas which has rice flavored and matcha green tea. These are teas that would have probably missed my attention if I were to individually buy them.

Each time I attend such sessions, I am always left to wonder: How much more is there to tea? After all it is a beverage we all grew up with, we should have already known all that is there. But tea could be a different world altogether. However, we can have more of that later. Let’s check the Amazing Winter Teas we had.

1.     White Tea – Paired with Carrot Cheese Cake

2.     Kashmiri Kahwa, Green Tea – Paired with Lemon Lamingtons

3.     Cinnamon, Flavored, Black Tea – Paired with Apple Pie Bars

4.     Assam Gold, Second Flush, Assam Tea – Paired with Belgian Chocolate Pots de Crème

5.     Masala Tea – Paired with Rough Puff Pastry.

Bonus: Matcha Green Tea

Each tea has a long story. The summary though is that each cup is fresh and brewed right, and it smells and looks perfect. When you take a bite of the food paired, you would know that the ingredients used spells quality, it melts in your mouth. The food pairing worked really well. 

There is so much goodness in your cup of tea if you get it right. You can never get bored of it since you would be spoil for choices with its variety. Get to know your tea. Such events help in discovering your ideal cup. 

Let’s connect over a cup of tea soon. 

Brewing Tea Basics

Making a good cup of tea seems simple, but it is actually complicated and initially difficult to get right with the first few times you experiment. So, what makes it so difficult? The answer is easy, it’s everything..!!! From the water used, how long the water is boiled, the tea leave selected, tea quantity and the steeping time. So, ladies and gentlemen here is a general guide to a good cup of tea.

1. Turn the stove on – Yes that is also a step, please do not miss out on it else it nullifies the rest of the following steps
2. Heat water and bring it to a boil, the water should boil for about 9 to 10 seconds – The water should ideally be purified or bottled. My personal favorite is always mineral water.
3. Turn the stove off and leave the water to settle for about a minute
4. Put some tea leaves in a kettle, the quantity of tea used can be adjusted as per individual’s preference
5. Pour the water into a kettle and cover the lid. If you are using small tea leaf the steeping time should be about 3 to 4 minutes but if it’s the larger leaf you can steep it for about 4.5 minutes. Please refer to the previous post on steeping chart, it would give you a reference on time.
6. Now pour the brew into a tea cup and enjoy! Sip and slurp.

Now, it also helps if you have an affection and attention to the brew.

The more you brew, the better your cup of tea would be. Happy Brewing!