Fantastic Tea Recipe - Drink Any Way You Like It!

S hortly, you will understand that taste of tea drink will change with the way you make! Same tea leaf or dust and the very same sugar and milk will give you different tastes when you make differently!
It is going to be a revelation for academicians in tea industry and a pleasant experience to tea lovers!

PRIMITIVE RECIPE:

Fresh green tea leaves could simply be put in boiling water and the extract is consumed as such or with suitable additives!
This seems to be too much a primitive recipe! However, tea has very many ways of expressing its taste to tea lovers of the world!

DECOCTION METHOD:

Processed tea leaves or dusts when come into contact with hot water or milk readily discharge the chemical constituents that give color, taste and flavor to the liquid. The tea extract thus taken is consumed in different ways.

RAW-WITH SUGAR-WITH MILK:

This raw liquor is taken with out any additive. The tea extract is sometimes taken with sugar alone. Some people wish to add sugar and milk in various propositions.

ART AND SCIENCE OF TEA MAKING:

Let us go to some interesting details about making of different kinds of tea drinks. We will enjoy their peculiar behavior in giving the color, taste, flavor and strength in different levels to make the tea differently to different kind of tea lovers.

This is an art and a science leaving good scope for study to the people associated with tea research and tea industry as well.

Tea making at different places differs!

At home, tea is made thus:

Dust tea in ‘boiling water’:

1. Take about 200 ml. of water in an aluminium saucepan and bring it to boiling. Now add a teaspoonful of tea dust and allow it for boiling for about a minute. Stop boiling and close it with a lid. Decant or filter the golden liquor through a sieve.


2. This tea decoction is mixed with equal quantity of whole hot milk and about four teaspoonful of sugar to taste.

This will make 3 cups of hot refreshing tea!

Leaf tea in ‘boiling water’:

1. The same procedure is adopted for leaf tea also. Only thing needed is a little more of leaf tea and one minute extra boiling time to make a mild flavored tea drink with a special taste! Adding sugar and milk and their quantities are taster’s choice.


2. Leaf teas are bigger particles and they release tea liquor slowly. Even when boiled for an extra minute, still they will be mild in color, taste and flavor!

Dust or leaf tea in ‘boiling milk’:

1. Tea drink is made by boiling the tea dusts or leaves in whole or diluted milk for about 1 or 2 minutes.


2. The filtered milky decoction is added with required sugar. Here the tea or dust required may be a little less as the milk fat adsorbs the taste giving materials quickly and fuller extent.

Here, you will feel a different taste!

In all the above tea making process, you will find the taste and color varying in strength, as the size of the tea particles and medium of extraction changes.

This is a scientific truth to be observed with an opportunity to bring new tea blending techniques!

At teashops, tea is made differently!

1. There will be a copper water boiler with a small opening to pour water. The centre of the boiler has a copper tube where charcoal is partially filled and fired to heat the water in the boiler around. There will be a tap at the side of the boiler for drawing steaming hot water.


2. A conical shaped thin muslin tea bag is fixed to a small metallic ring with a handle. The tea dust is taken in the bag. The boiling water is added to the tea bag and the liquor is collected in an aluminium cup.


3. A number of glass tumblers or teacups are arranged in line. Hot milk with sufficient sugar is taken in the tumblers. The tea decoction is added and mixed with them one by one.

Sometime, with the bulk tea decoction, necessary milk and sugar are added and mixed in a bigger cup. This prepared tea is then transferred to tea glass tumblers or ceramic teacups and saucers and served to the consumers.

Here the tea is strong in color, taste, flavor, and stays lingering in the tongue for a longer period.

In canteens, the tea will be prepared in good volume to serve people in groups of 50, 100 or 200s or alike. Therefore, tea is also prepared in bulk.

1. A bigger vessel is kept on fire and about 10 litre of milk and an equal quantity of water are mixed and boiled.


2. About 200 grams of tea dust is also added and allowed to boil for about 5 to 10 minutes.


3. The tea is extracted and filtered into a big vessel. About 1200 grams of sugar is added, mixed well and transferred into a 20-litre thermos flask for serving about 150 to 200 people in a short period of time.

Here, care is taken to select a tea dust which is medium sized and does not contain too much of fibers.

Caution: Too small a dust and more of fibers will give too much of tasty materials in the drink. They will turn into a turbid and creamy tea making the consumer dislike it when served after sometime.

In star hotels, tea is prepared in small quantities with leaf tea, wholesome milk and sufficient sugar.

1. Sometimes, tea is extracted and served hot in separate teapot.


2. Sugar and hot milk are supplied in separate pots.


3. The consumer will make his own choice of combination to mix tea with other ingredients.

The author is a tea scientist and has experimented tea in a number of ways. His discovery of "behaviour of tea" leads to innovative tea blending techniques!