By Anamika Singh
TO GET-inspired to write there are two ways to go about it, either you can experience the best or the worst and either ways the words will flow. With Tea, unfortunately whenever I am away from home or the Tea room, the only experience I experience is a strange face and a stranger after taste after I have sipped the beverage that I would have paid far more than its worth.
Well there are various reasons for the Tea turning sour on you. Besides not knowing the source, the one catalyst that could either make it into sunshine in a cup or the muddy water of Sunderbans is the water. There is a Chinese proverb that says, ’Water is the mother of Tea’
Here in ambient light amidst sharper notes of the piano which distracts my pauses as I sip Castleton Muscatel which is considered to be rare, exclusive, limited, I know the strength of the Tea hasn’t even infused half of what it is capable of infusing because of the water that the steward would have added to the pot.
Water to Tea infused in a pot is like oxygen is to humans in a room full of people. It helps the Tea leaves breathe easy. From the tea tasting salty or flat or alkaline, water plays a substantial role in making Tea taste the way it does. Chlorinated water is the hidden enemy in spoiling the purity of Tea. It is said that Tea should be infused in the water from the same region it is grown.- But having said that, we know the impossibilities of it happening. Hence while sourcing water for your cup of Tea to be served, it is important to keep in mind the pH (potential hydrogen) balance of the water, the aromas and flavours due to the presence of minerals in the water and the interaction of both, the constituents of the water and Tea. Knowing how little relevance to any of this will be given, the point that one can take back home is that if one was treating the water at an institution, one could keep in mind to keep the pH balance between 6 to 7. If the water cannot for some reason be treated, it is advisable to make Tea with mineral water where the minerals are to a minimum content.
Remember, if you give emphasis to the ’oxygen’ of Tea, there is no way you will not get a cup that breathes life.
The Author is Director of Anandini Himalaya Tea Pvt. Ltd.
TO GET-inspired to write there are two ways to go about it, either you can experience the best or the worst and either ways the words will flow. With Tea, unfortunately whenever I am away from home or the Tea room, the only experience I experience is a strange face and a stranger after taste after I have sipped the beverage that I would have paid far more than its worth.
Well there are various reasons for the Tea turning sour on you. Besides not knowing the source, the one catalyst that could either make it into sunshine in a cup or the muddy water of Sunderbans is the water. There is a Chinese proverb that says, ’Water is the mother of Tea’
Here in ambient light amidst sharper notes of the piano which distracts my pauses as I sip Castleton Muscatel which is considered to be rare, exclusive, limited, I know the strength of the Tea hasn’t even infused half of what it is capable of infusing because of the water that the steward would have added to the pot.
Water to Tea infused in a pot is like oxygen is to humans in a room full of people. It helps the Tea leaves breathe easy. From the tea tasting salty or flat or alkaline, water plays a substantial role in making Tea taste the way it does. Chlorinated water is the hidden enemy in spoiling the purity of Tea. It is said that Tea should be infused in the water from the same region it is grown.- But having said that, we know the impossibilities of it happening. Hence while sourcing water for your cup of Tea to be served, it is important to keep in mind the pH (potential hydrogen) balance of the water, the aromas and flavours due to the presence of minerals in the water and the interaction of both, the constituents of the water and Tea. Knowing how little relevance to any of this will be given, the point that one can take back home is that if one was treating the water at an institution, one could keep in mind to keep the pH balance between 6 to 7. If the water cannot for some reason be treated, it is advisable to make Tea with mineral water where the minerals are to a minimum content.
Remember, if you give emphasis to the ’oxygen’ of Tea, there is no way you will not get a cup that breathes life.
The Author is Director of Anandini Himalaya Tea Pvt. Ltd.
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