Gunti Ki Chai - Experimenting with Tea

You like sipping something hot - Tea or May be coffee. Or you might be the one who would say, get me Green Tea, that's healthy. I got it all for you....

How it Began
The episodes of staying up late started in Class 10th. But I wasn't into Tea at all. I remember one of Counselors who had visited my school to talk about how to mentally prepare us for the board examinations.

The important note was : There are two types of student
1. Who are good at staying up late
2. Who could get up early ... and importantly study during those hours

I was the one from the first lot - staying up late :D

But then 11th and 12th involved staying up late, solving problems.
This is a little interesting - My father used to say that its good to solve mathematics during night, c'ze when one is involved mentally and physically it would keep one active. Another thing was that we were allowed to listen to music while solving problems, which was an added bonus. ;)

So, after an hour or two into solving mathematics I used to go and make some tea. 'A Night Tea Break' as I would call it. It was only I who would have the tea while Mom & Dad would be sleeping by then & my brother who would accompany me, was reluctant in having one.


But then, something changed. When I started college, we were supposed to get up early and go for classes at 8am. A few days in the first semester, it became difficult for me to concentrate in the morning class. So, was there any solution? Yeah - COFFEE

It is said that coffee can boost up one's concentration. Bang on, that's what I wanted. But now the problem was that the canteens in hostel started at 9am. Tough there were Cafeteria in the Academic Block as well, but then 8:30am was the earliest when they would start serving.
The only solution - Get an Electric Kettle and make coffee in hostel room.

Called up dad and asked him to get one for me. Mumbai is where one could get any electric/electronic item - and cheapest. [Ask me , I'll help you out]

And that's how the Coffee started in the morning. But along with these, my experiments with Tea too started.

Once a while, I am struck with this thought that living in hostel is a cool and budget life. Major ingredients for my experiments came from the Hostel Mess- Sugar, Ginger, Clove, Cardamom. And I only had to fill up my stock of Milk Powder  as in when it got over. In north East India, we usually don't have a good dairy system, so that's why the weirdness of milk powder.

And hence, it begun. At any given day when you would bang into my room, there are the things on the menu:
1. Black Coffee

2. Black Tea
3. Lemon Tea
4. Lemon Tea with Ginger
5. Green Tea
6. Green Tea with Lemon
7. Masala Tea with/without Milk
8. Coffee with Milk
9. Kashmiri Kawah
Plus options to add - Lemon/Ginger / Cardamom / Clove / Cardamom
Just making Tea was not what I was doing. By now, I had a really good idea about Tea. So, I started trying different brands available in India.

Tetley

I explored a lot of products by Tetley (A Tata Company). They have a lot of variants to offer. A few I like from them - Masala, Ginger, Elaichi, Green, Green with Lemon & Honey & Regular.

Twining 
Tough Twining are a bit expensive, but the quality and variations of the flavor they offer are amazing. Some of their flavors are one we could not imagine. I remember one of my relative got a few bags of 'Cranberry Tea' which was not supposed to be mixed with milk. They said it was supposed to be taken with honey, or with just sugar.

Tea which is taken in most of the Indian homes are with milk. But then, I liked this little surprise to my taste buds. I have tried the regular, lemon, Green, Green & Ginger, Assam and English Breakfast.

Assam Tea has a deep & was strong, liked that one. Must try

I then explored 'not so famous' brands, which were available only online initially, but now they are available in retail outlets as well.

Organic India

This company focuses mostly on healthy tea, but some of my favorite from them are Sweet Lemon & Masala Tea .

Lipton
From all the Green Tea that I have tried, Lipton Green Jasmine Tea is my favorite, followed by Green tea with Mint. Recommended!

Recently I got to try an American Brand - Typhoo Lemon & Lime Zest. This was different, not very pleasant, but could be tried once. The lime taste is so strong, that at one point you could feel that you are having a hot lime juice.

The next was Girnar Tulsi Tea. This one has real Tulsi flower. 'Tulsi leaves' have a nice fragrance & taste to a tea, but unfortunately the taste of the flower is irritating and thus this one has badly disappointed me. I have a few tea bags with me, FREE Giveaways - come and get these if you want to try this.

So, once a while we have Tea party in my lobby. One is due this semester. Maybe when we are free from our BTP Submissions (thesis project).

I have had my branch mates visited to have some of the above, and I have got really good response. Thanks mates, if you are reading this ... its time you share this !! :D

Toh Chalein ... Chai Pe?  ;)

Tags: Variety of Tea in India, Blog, Blogger, Indian Blogger, How to Make Masala Tea, How to Make Indian Tea, How to Make Lemon Tea, Indian Coffee, Nesscafe Indian Tea, Darjeeling Tea, Assam Tea, Tetley Tea, The story of Tea In India, How to make Tea, IIT Guwahati, Indian Institute of Technology,