The Art of Making Tea: My cup of tea is different from yours

The favourite beverage of India

Tea making is an art and who else can understand this better than a common Indian. Some like it sweeter while others on diet, like it sugarless. Then there are those who want it with more milk while some prefer it strong.  Starting from the state of J&K to down south, tea is a ubiquitous beverage liked by one and all. It’s a beverage that unites India.

I have written a story on tea earlier on how tea bonds people. But this time the subject is different. In this story, I am going to discuss how different people love their cup of tea only when prepared in their style. You can click on the following link and enjoy reading my earlier story:

The Indian Tea: A beverage popular with all ages

India is a land of diversity but still, there is unity in diversity. Similarly, while tea unites people, there is a lot of diversity on how tea is prepared differently for different people

The art of making tea in my home

In my home, we are three people – My mom, wife and myself. Occasionally the number increases to four when my son lands up on his office holidays. All three of us love our cup of tea made in a particular style. Mom loves making her tea by boiling water in an electric kettle and then adding the tea-sachet, milk and sugar-free separately. Wife loves her tea with no sugar and less milk so that she can smell the strong aroma of tea leaves. On the other hand, I love my tea with a good amount of milk with a strong flavour.

So much is the dissonance between the three of us that the tea-pot has to burn its base three times on the gas stove to please every single one of us. The only time the three of us agree for a common cup is when there are guests at home. It doesn’t look nice to show them that the three us have a lot of differences when it comes to tea.

Pleasing your wife by making a cup of tea

One of the guru-mantra to please your wife is to make a cup of bed tea for her in the morning. This is one recipe that will bring so much peace at home that you will even forget that art of living classes. In case there is tsunami building up at home as you have been coming late from the office quite regularly or have not taken your wife out for a vacation off-late, then the best way is to start treating your wife to a bed-tea.

However, the task is not that easy as it seems but with practice one can hone the skills. Initially, when I started making tea for my wife my failure rate was very high. 8 out of 10 times, the tea didn’t live up to her taste buds. Gradually, I made a compromise with my taste buds and could arrive at that magic mix of tea leaves, milk, and water. I made sugar optional as she likes tea without sugar.

My sister is a connoisseur of tea making which she says is an art

My elder sister is a connoisseur of everything at home from cleanliness to cooking. To describe her, she resembles Dina Pathak of super-hit 1980’s movie “Khubsoorat” where she played the role of Rekha’s mother-in-law. But at times being perfect gets on everybody’s nerves when she carries her tea bags to our home to prepare a cup which is as per her taste.

Then there is my Jijaji (brother-in-law) who will prepare the tea in the most authentic way. He will boil water in a kettle and add tea leaves to it. Milk is boiled separately and served in a china pot. You can pour milk in your dark coloured tea in the cup and get the desired colour. Sugar is in the form of sugar cubes.

The tea at the railway station

One taste which still lingers in our memories is the kullad wali chai served at stations wherever the train stopped. The smell of the earthen pot in which an elaichi flavoured tea was served could never fade away. Today, tea at stations has become a poor descendant of the earlier version. Served in recycled plastic glasses, the tea carries a taste of a hot liquid mix of water and milk with over boiled tea leaves and dollops of sugar.

Though few of the new tea chains are trying to recreate the magic of serving tea in a kullad, the kind of price they charge is equivalent to the 2^nd class railway fare from Delhi to your hometown.

Killing the art of tea making

I will blame the killing of the art of tea-making on the hospitality industry. All quality hotel chains these days provide a do-it-yourself tea kit in the room. It consists of an electric kettle along with limited tea bags (4 in number), sugar sachets that hardly sweeten your tea and powdered milk sachet. Making tea with powdered milk is like serving khichdi to guests at a Diwali card party.

I have tried to master the art of making tea from this kit in the hotel room but to date have not been successful. I am still looking for that proper mix that will recreate the same taste of tea as at home. My experiments continue just like Archimedes and hope I will be successful one of the days.

The office cafeteria tea

The idea of installing a tea-coffee dispenser on office floors was that employee’s time is valuable and he should not be wasting it to go to the nearest tea-stall. But these machines can also be called the terminator machines as they have foiled the plans of the entire management. The tea served by them is so mechanical that the entire team now walks down to the nearest stall outside office premises to sip that hot cuppa prepared in front of them.

The tea flavouring agents

Every individual prefers a different additive to its cup of tea. To some elaichi brings out the best flavour while those suffering from cold prefer an adrak ki chai. Tulsi and Lemon can also be added to increase the health benefits. Then there is a masala tea where you can enjoy the flavour of dal-chini.

The tea I enjoy

I would like to say that I enjoy my cup of tea with milk and water mixed in a ratio of 1:3 and boiled together. Tea leaves are added only once the liquid starts boiling. The gas is switched off and the teapot is covered with a lid to get the desired flavour.

But I am sure my cup of tea is different from your cup of tea.

Read similar stories on my blog by clicking on following link:

The Indian Sweets that we love