There will be hard work ahead, problems to solve and conversations to have. But there is always a cup of tea to get one along.
And like most good things, this one also comes in many avatars, my favorites being -
The hot Indian sweet milky chai- with seasonings of choice 1)Ginger 2)Cardamom 3)Cloves 4) Fennel seeds or a 4)Poupourri masala for a masala chai. Never mind that the flavour of tea is subdued a bit, its almost a delicious thing to have. Indeed when I first picked up having tea in late teens it was almost for the taste than the caffeine need that I enjoyed it.
The Indian chaiwallah (or wallih) tea stall tea - Streetside tea made on a roaring kerosene stove. Milk, tea, water all go in together nearly at the same time. The tea leaves are recycled a good few times, all to a mellowed, but charming effect.
You are never far from a chaiwallah stall in India. Setup infrastructure is small so that helps. The flavour varies from being gingery or spicy in North India to almost chocolate flavoured in the South. Either way it serves the purpose.
With 'chai' milk is about 30-50% of the cup and usually whole milk. It does cut down the 'tea' quotient a bit but goes great with the accompaniment of crisp Indian breads and buns to dip in. Over time you just get used to it and start enjoying it 'milky'.
No wonder coming out of India, most Indians struggle with the thumb sized 'semi-skimmed milks' in the office cafes. They just do not add up to simulate the 'chai'.
Put-the-kettle-on-tea - These days its more of the basic kettle tea version. Boil, pour, sugar and milk and go. Give a little more time I use a secondary kettle for richer flavour and pre-heated milk. Indeed the popularity of tea must owe to the ability to brew a cup of tea as quickly as one can. However there is apparently a connoisseur art to it as well starting from how tea is infused by type of flavour, to how it is served and the rituals around it - as this site shows. No wonder a connoisseurs with the commercial savvy at one end and with the pockets at the other end make up a market for tea products like these here!
'Brewing' method apart, is the subject of flavours. That is a major subject by itself and the variety out there is enough for most to get to try. Notwithstanding the frequency I find it hard to sacrifice my preferred 2-3 black tea variants for the occasional exotic green tea or fruit infusion variants.
What matters is enjoying what you drink. In any of the above forms, and at most times tea is always a welcome companion. So in gratitude to all those hard working tea pluckers, streetside vendors and the tea-shops here is a toast!
