Exploring India's Thriving Tea Culture: From Plucking to Brewing
Tea is a popular drink in India made from tea leaves. Sips of tea fill us with freshness and many of us experience this every day. An interesting fact is that India is the second largest country in terms of tea production in the world.
The plucking of tea leaves in tea gardens starts from the month of March. At this time new leaves start growing. The main harvesting is done in May, June, July, August and September.
The growth of leaves starts decreasing from September-October. Which is the resting period in tea gardens, during winter.
The height of the small trees planted in tea gardens is 30-35 inches. It is maintained at this level so that plucking tea leaves is convenient. Tea gardens look beautiful with the uniform height of trees.
It takes about two days from the plucking of the leaves to final packing. It takes a maximum of 12 to 14 hours in between, for the withering (drying out moisture).
Tea History
For the first time in 1815, the attention of some English travelers was drawn to the tea bushes growing in Assam, from which the local tribal people would make a drink. Lord Bentinck, then Governor General of India, formed a committee in 1834 to explore the possibility of introducing the tradition and production of tea in India on a large scale. After this, tea gardens were planted in Assam in 1835.
Historically speaking, in 1610, Dutch traders took tea from China to Europe and over time it became a favoured beverage throughout the world.
Types of Tea
White tea is the purest and least processed of all teas. Green tea is most famous and especially liked in Asia. Oolong tea is the Chinese tea served in Chinese restaurants. Black tea is also brewed simply by steeping the leaves in hot water or with milk and sugar.
Arrival of tea in India
In 1824, tea plants were found on the hills of Burma (Myanmar) and Assam. The British started tea production in India in 1836 and in Sri Lanka in 1867. Earlier the seeds for farming were sourced from China but later, Assam tea seeds were used. Tea production in India was originally created to meet the demand for tea in the British markets. Tea consumption in India was negligible until the late nineteenth century. But today, you will definitely find tea at every corner and intersection of India.
How to identify good and strong tea leaves?
There are many big brands of tea in the market. It can be confusing to decide which brand is good. If you want to drink strong and good tea, then there are some tips to know before buying tea leaves. The mornings of many people are incomplete without a sip of tea. It is believed that a good cup of tea leads to a good day ahead.
The trend of tea lounges has been picking up. In these lounges, you will see tea leaves in many types and flavors. Obviously, you would like to choose the best tea leaves for yourself. But for this you should also know how to choose tea leaves. Today we will tell you how you can identify the tea leaf.
If you go to buy tea leaves in the market, you will get short grained and long grained tea leaves. Long grained leaves are prepared using the Orthodox method and when the tea boils, all the rolled leaves will open out.
The tea leaf will be crisp and if it is an older one, there will be a dampness in it. To see the quality of the tea leaf, you should also feel its weight. Take different tea leaves in both the hands, the one whose weight is more is likely to be of better quality. You can also look at the color of the tea leaves. Good quality tea leaves will be naturally black and brown in color.
Good tea leaves have a sweet aroma. If the tea leaves are old or of poor quality, they will possess a woody smell. Handling good tea will leave a fragrance on your hands for a while.
The taste of the tea is to be preferred over its colour. Do not worry if the color of the milk does not turn dark brown while brewing the tea. Good tea leaves may not always give much color when boiled, but their taste will be excellent.
There is also a special kind of tea leaf, which is plucked between four and six o’clock in the morning before the sun’s rays fall on the ground. The color of this tea leaf is light beige-yellow and it is known for its fragrance.
If we talk about which company’s products you can consider buying, then I would like to suggest “La Rasoi Gold & Masala Tea”, available only from Safe Shop India. You can order it online from the Safe Shop India website. There are two varieties- Gold Tea & Masala Tea and both are of very good quality.
La Rasoi Masala & Gold Tea
When the weather changes, we start making some changes in our eating habits too, those that are beneficial for health. Ginger and black pepper are added to simple tea. At the same time, by adding special spices to tea which is consumed during cooler months, we can get relief from colds and cough. There are many types of tea in vogue today, including milk tea as well as green tea, black tea and lemon tea. But, these days the use of masala tea has also increased rapidly. It has been used in Ayurveda since a long time.This is why in this article of StyleCraze, we are talking about the benefits of drinking masala tea.
Tulsi, turmeric, dry ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf, black pepper, nutmeg and licorice are added to La Rasoi Masala Tea. Due to the spices included, this tea also carries the medicinal properties of these spices. For this reason, the benefits of masala tea are considered many from the health and fitness point of view.
Benefits of Drinking masala tea
Before consuming spiced tea, it’s a good idea to know the benefits of masala tea. The reason is that only after knowing the benefits of drinking masala tea, you will be able to understand the true utility of this tea.
*The benefits of masala tea include maintaining digestive health. This is evident from the research done on the medicinal properties of tea and the spices included in its preparation.
*Use of spiced tea can be beneficial in the problem of diabetes. This is because tea contains polyphenol compounds called theaflavins, which have antidiabetic (blood sugar-lowering) properties.
*The benefits of masala tea can also be considered effective in getting relief from the problem of seasonal flu, colds and cough.
*Tulsi, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger are used as the main ingredients in Masala Chai. All these ingredients may be considered helpful in reducing the risk of cancer.
*Most people are aware of the fact that tea is considered an energy-booster drink. Ginger and black pepper used in masala tea also contribute to this feature.