Wednesday, April 4
Leaf Me Out
Written for Outlook City Limits: I don't like tea much, although I drink plenty of it at work. Compared to coffee, I find its taste thin and effete. Deluxe teas I find even more intolerable, so I have no idea why I offered to do this story. My saving grace was having Wa accompany me; between us we drank about 16 cups of tea that day, and it put me off the Darjeeling pretentious fish-piss for good. I'm afraid this ended up being audible in the tone of the piece - "the perfect cuppa," it seems. On the plus side, I now know my dosha: kapha. Which sounds like coffee.
Delhi drinks millions of glasses of sweet, oily slop every day, brewed to bitterness and sugared back out of it, from that abused child of the tea plant known as CTC chai. Meanwhile the best Indian tea leaves are shipped abroad, primarily to Japan. But a number of establishments are now promoting a return to recherche tea appreciation, and to celebrating the provenance and character of the leaf in your cup.
First among equals is Aap Ki Pasand (Daryganj, opposite Golcha Cinema). The proprietor Sanjay Kapoor is a sommelier in his own right and his product is no less subtle. The President’s Tea (Rs. 1000 / 100 gms) is Pasand’s premier Darjeeling first flush – the best tea in the world if you had to pick one - but if you like milk and sugar, I found the homelier Nilgiris tea (Rs 100/100 gms) makes the perfect cuppa. Pasand even produces a Chinese hybrid with a flavour like Chardonnay of the Chablis terroir. Premiers (Doctor’s Lane in Gol Market) is modelled closely on Pasand; both exist to sell their own brand of packaged tea, though you can visit for a complimentary tasting. Also, the clientele of both is largely East Asian; Delhi’s deluxe teashops are to Japanese what Pushkar hostels are to Hebrew.
For a less solemn retail experience, visit Craft House (Metropolitan Nikko Hotel), which carries several pure, flavoured and ayurvedic teas. Among the pure teas are India’s most luxurious varieties, including the Makaibari silver tip (Rs 2000/ 50 gms), a second flush that is only picked by women on full moon nights. Seriously. It produces a green-gold brew, so gentle on the tongue it is almost buttery. If you’re interested in ayurvedic teas, they will diagnose your dosha and prescribe a remedial concoction.
If your taste buds yearn to sail the Seven Seas, the Cha Bar at the Oxford Book Shop (Statesman House, Barakhamba Road) has a huge number of international teas to drink in situ. Their Moroccan Mint Tea (Rs 60) is "straight from the bustling streets of Casablanca," refreshing but very minty indeed. The South American Maté (Rs 60) of of the Guarani Indians (no relation) is credited with so many restorative properties it does just about everything but clip your toenails for you or taste nice.
Passion: My Cup of Tea (near PVR Saket and Priya) doesn’t really belong in this company, as it targets high schoolers waiting to get into a movie rather than fervent tea drinkers. Passion tries to appropriate the chain-coffeeshop model, along with its horrible lexicon, as with the "Frappatea." The only innovative item is the Kawha (Rs. 75), green tea flavoured with cardamon, saffron and almond, but still the taste equivalent of a bellyflop from the high board. Passion also sells packaged teas, but the ‘recipe’ on the back (which begins: "take fresh water from the tap and boil,") suggests that these are not for practiced drinkers.
Delhi drinks millions of glasses of sweet, oily slop every day, brewed to bitterness and sugared back out of it, from that abused child of the tea plant known as CTC chai. Meanwhile the best Indian tea leaves are shipped abroad, primarily to Japan. But a number of establishments are now promoting a return to recherche tea appreciation, and to celebrating the provenance and character of the leaf in your cup.
First among equals is Aap Ki Pasand (Daryganj, opposite Golcha Cinema). The proprietor Sanjay Kapoor is a sommelier in his own right and his product is no less subtle. The President’s Tea (Rs. 1000 / 100 gms) is Pasand’s premier Darjeeling first flush – the best tea in the world if you had to pick one - but if you like milk and sugar, I found the homelier Nilgiris tea (Rs 100/100 gms) makes the perfect cuppa. Pasand even produces a Chinese hybrid with a flavour like Chardonnay of the Chablis terroir. Premiers (Doctor’s Lane in Gol Market) is modelled closely on Pasand; both exist to sell their own brand of packaged tea, though you can visit for a complimentary tasting. Also, the clientele of both is largely East Asian; Delhi’s deluxe teashops are to Japanese what Pushkar hostels are to Hebrew.
For a less solemn retail experience, visit Craft House (Metropolitan Nikko Hotel), which carries several pure, flavoured and ayurvedic teas. Among the pure teas are India’s most luxurious varieties, including the Makaibari silver tip (Rs 2000/ 50 gms), a second flush that is only picked by women on full moon nights. Seriously. It produces a green-gold brew, so gentle on the tongue it is almost buttery. If you’re interested in ayurvedic teas, they will diagnose your dosha and prescribe a remedial concoction.
If your taste buds yearn to sail the Seven Seas, the Cha Bar at the Oxford Book Shop (Statesman House, Barakhamba Road) has a huge number of international teas to drink in situ. Their Moroccan Mint Tea (Rs 60) is "straight from the bustling streets of Casablanca," refreshing but very minty indeed. The South American Maté (Rs 60) of of the Guarani Indians (no relation) is credited with so many restorative properties it does just about everything but clip your toenails for you or taste nice.
Passion: My Cup of Tea (near PVR Saket and Priya) doesn’t really belong in this company, as it targets high schoolers waiting to get into a movie rather than fervent tea drinkers. Passion tries to appropriate the chain-coffeeshop model, along with its horrible lexicon, as with the "Frappatea." The only innovative item is the Kawha (Rs. 75), green tea flavoured with cardamon, saffron and almond, but still the taste equivalent of a bellyflop from the high board. Passion also sells packaged teas, but the ‘recipe’ on the back (which begins: "take fresh water from the tap and boil,") suggests that these are not for practiced drinkers.
