Somewhere in my mind I am overjoyed when I see thousands of roadside stalls selling tea in Kolkata, unlike those in the rest of India, Kolkata’s chai has something unique…and yes, those who know it will know that the uniqueness is in the way tea is served here. The local chai walas here serve chai in earth cups popularly called bhars. These bhars are kind of symbolic to Kolkata. Over the years I have seen many foreign tourists, pack up and take home these bhars to recycle and use...
Coming from a Bengali household, I have definitely growing up with a cup of tea and newspaper in the morning. Till date tea is an integral part of my day to day life.
Like my baba, I guess each Bengali family will have their secret recipe to tea that they have brewed. Bought from the neighboring chai store or from the Dhruba Tea and Star tea of Lal Bazar area, the tea leaves are usually a blend of loose tea, giving a unique flavour and of course the colour of liquor. However many Bengali families are today replacing the masterful hand blend with the pre-packed, Brooke bond, Lipton, Tatas of the world. Yet to me it seems that Darjeeling being a part of the same state Bengalis take great pride in calling themselves connoisseurs of tea, and take great pride in serving homemade tea to the guests. The pride not one comes from prefect brewing of tea, perfect soaking, but also from the fact that the man of the house has taken great effort to selectively choose the accurate blend of flavour and liquor.
Years back the only upmarket variation of tea served outside home was Dolly Aunt’s neighborhood store in Dakhinapan, that truly transforming the quant place into a hub. They served enormous variety of tea, and yes they were the first to introduce me to my favourite Lemon Ice Tea as well, maybe when I was in class 10-11. Back then they were a niche, and yes with Mrs Dolly Roy, the first woman tea taster and the first woman tea auctioneer in the world, the place got the authenticity and expertise. The store I guess opened somewhere in the late 80’s and was hugely popular by mid-nineties. Yes this was the first tea boutique in Kolkata. And I have my share of memories of the place, digging into the lovely ham sandwich with the special one.
Today we have a number of tea boutique as well as tea joints in the city…from the close road side chaiwala competition Tea Junction, to the fancier ones like The Tea Trove in Sarat Bose Road, Tea Café in Vivekananda Park, Tea Lounge – Esplanade, By The Way in New Alipore, Cha Bar at Oxford book store in Park Street and many more. And the varieties include a host of Masala Chai, Lemon Tea, Ginger Tea, The Kashmiri kawah, Methi Chai, Green Tea, Peach Tea, Orange tea, Jasmine Tea, Camomile tea, Cardamom Tea and many more include individual specialties.
So the beverage of class and culture is back and truly as we all say any time is tea time. When are you hosting your tea party?
