My Tea Story.....

Dear Meenu,

Let's simply say this - I read your tea story with my morning cup of coffee ;-) Like you, I am terrible at making tea and leave it to friends to serve good tea even in my own house even when they are visiting. It isn't like they dislike my tea, after all I use did dip wagh bakari chai bags, just that they make better tea. So it is understood with out talking much at all. I do love a good cup of tea especially the ones we get in the various sagars in India.

And guess what, just yesterday evening a dear friend gave me a big monogrammed cup for my tea! Can you believe that? Looking at the size of the mug, I have decided it will be used for green tea, only!

You are right, it is a wonderful feeling to come home to a up of tea, even if it is not the customary well made one! Who wouldn't want one in this cold weather. Enjoy your cuppas

 

@Scorpio707,

Lol! Enjoyed your Tea story. I loved this line,

to your Tea moments.

 

I enjoyed your love for tea @Scorpio707 .

I love tea also; so much that if I read the word "tea" anywhere, I immediately start craving that rich, brown, hot, silky liquid. You know what? I love tea with crispy masala vadai. The combination is super. If you have not tried it, I recommend you do some time.

I, being a tea lover, was ready to ask your address so that i can invite myself to your tea parties, but you killed my eager anticipation with this line:

I was in tears...

So, let me now go and make my flask full for the rest of the day.

Enjoyed this much.
Do write more such light-hearted posts.

 

@Scorpio707,

If I could experience cosmic energy, I would do anything. Unfortunately, I am not a tea drinker but my wife and son are big fans of tea. They use Keurig Tea-maker to make their tea. My son takes only tea with no sugar while my wife likes tea with milk and sugar. Occasionally, I ask them what flavor they drink and when they give a sip, I feel they have specialized in learning what to buy. How many flavors are out there in the market?

Viswa

 

For years, I drink only particular brand of tea. I take my tea bags to India when I travel.

2-Tetley British blend tea bags
2 cups of skim (Dean's) milk,
1-teaspoon of sugar

The tea has to be piping hot and frothy - A 'pulled tea' in my own mug!
(almost a sombu sized!)

Reading local news and tea comes first in the morning.
It is my own quite time for at least 15-20 minutes.

Otherwise, my day will not be good! I will be cranky all day.

Many of my friends add - ginger, elaichi. I don't like any flavored version of it. Usually, I avoid
drinking tea in other's place because it leaves a bad taste of tea.

 

Tea is a ceremony in some countries. [So is coffee in the land of its origin]
A ceremony is simply a "mindful" task, with a "ceremoniously" repetitive action, each time you do it. ZEN! Your Tea Ceremony, in school/office uniform, reading newspaper, and drinking Tea, may even have a following, a cult, or a religion. Call home and find out.

I drink Tea when in Oriental restaurants. Mostly in the "popular" restaurants, where they serve tea in large kettles, black tea & jasmine tea are the two popular kinds, and they let you serve your own. We are used to restaurants where we could come, order, have the tea and wait for our order to get served.

The snootier kinds of restaurants (with garden, koi fish, stone lamps) that only serve to native, and wealthy clientele, have tea (the dry leaves) in several varieties, and once we make a choice (or take their recommendation) they serve the tea leaves in the tea pot, add hot water, and go away for a bit. If the customers are new at Tea-Chinese-style, they might serve their own Tea in the tea cups that are part of the place setting, and do this before the waiter comes back (with his waste water bucket). When the waiter comes back, and he finds that the customers had not served themselves, he beams at them in appreciation (cognoscenti!!). Then he pours a little hot tea into each of their cups, swirls it and dumps it into his waste bucket. All the tea cups are warmed this way. And all the tea that had been brewing in the tea pot is also poured into the waste bucket. Then, the waiter pours more hot water into the tea pot, and takes away the wash water with him.

Tea leaves are usually washed (first brew) for 20 to 30 seconds and the wash water is supposed to remove whatever adventitious stuff that is stuck on the surface of the tea leaves, open the shrunken-dry leaves, and its pores. Then, in the second brew, the pure tea is brewed for the customer. The hot water in the kettle is also a little cooler by that time, and at a proper temperature for the tea brewing.

Customers who had hurried, and served their own tea, and had even taken a sip before the waiter came back with his wash bucket, would be very surprised when the waiter comes, takes each of their cups, tosses what they had not drunk into his waste bucket, then pours more "tea" (surface wash water) into their cup, swirls it, and dumps it once again into his bucket. All the while, holding his lips tight, and not making eye-contact with any [of the barbarians!] at the table. Such wash-water drinking ignoramus are usually from that lot going to "popular" Chinese restaurants in their countries, drinking either jasmine or black tea.

HK, Macau* and some select places in the china towns of SFO and NYC have these kinds of places, with the original chinese customs.

*Countries where Indian passport gets a tourist visa at the airport; no need to apply ahead of time. Cathay Pacific (nonstop daily from Chennai) has some unbelievably low fares in off-seasons (non school, college holidays)