What I write about when I write about making tea

The first cup of tea in the morning is very important to me. Many people need coffee the first thing in the morning, but not me I am a tea person. No matter where I am at home or travelling, the first thing I need in the morning right after I wake up and am finished with my exercise routine is a cup of tea.


That tea has to be made by me, not by the maid, not by anyone else but I have to make that first cup of tea in the morning, unless it is the wife, who makes it. That is also fine because we both share the same taste in tea. You won’t be able to make out the difference in the tea that’s been made by me or by the wife. We both know how long it has to be boiled, the amount of milk, sugar, ginger and tea leaves that have to go in to it. 

 

However, it is I who almost always makes the first tea of the day. Even when we are on a vacation and we have to order the morning tea from the room service, it is always I who will do it, not the wife. She might order at other times but not the first cup.


Even when I am travelling for work or otherwise, in hotel rooms which have those electric kettles and instant coffee pouches and tea bags, Twinings, Dilmah, Tetley, or even Taj Mahal, and a variety of tea types, green tea, lemon tea, black tea, herbal tea, chamomile tea and powder milk sachets or dairy creamer accompanied with sugar sachets, brown sugar, organic sugar, regular sugar, Sugar Free. One might think with so many options for making tea one must be spoilt for choice, well not me I know what I want when it comes to the first cup of tea in the morning. 

I sometimes try to order from the room service, but most of the times they tell me that it is already available in my room and that it is complimentary, and sometimes the politer ones bring a cup of boiled water with some tea bags, milk and sugar. 


I sometimes try to explain them, “Can’t you make a cup of tea the way we make it at our homes?” 

Put some water in a saucepan, crush some fresh ginger and put it in the water, put the saucepan on the gas stove, let it boil. Once the water starts to boil add a spoonful of tea leaves and let that boil. Once the boiling concoction takes a maroonish brownish color add some milk. Then let the whole thing boil till the right color sets in. Add some sugar if you want to. For the last year or so I have been having my tea without sugar. Which means I am not addicted to the sweetness. I am addicted to the tea.


It is important that the final color of the tea is perfect because only then it will be perfect in taste. The right color of the tea is not very milky, because then it will be light and it will taste of milk. Neither is the color too dark otherwise it means that the milk is burnt and will add to the bitterness of tea leaves that have been boiled for too long. I can’t name that color. I am not good at getting the names of colors right. I always tend to identify colors by their primary name. For me it’s either brown or yellow or violet, it’s never lilac or mauve or indigo or crimson or for that matter lemon yellow or canary or butter yellow. The color is simply yellow. It can be dark yellow or light red but that’s it.

Coming back to the color of the perfect cup of tea (after some research on Google), it’s not brown, not chocolate brown, never light brown or wheat. I think it is somewhat nearer to camel brown but a bit light. It has to be made by me and I will know the right color when it comes.


I seldom like tea that’s been made by someone else the tea has to be made by me at least once every day. I know people who would walk long distances to visit a particular chai ki tapri (tea stall) to get their perfect cuppa. Mumbai is full of chai ki tapris which serve excellent tea. One always drinks cutting chai in Mumbai because a full cup is too much or you can get a full cup and split it into two if you have company. The cutting chai is always accompanied by the ubiquitous Parle G biscuits. It is quite common for people to walk out of the office at around 3 in the afternoon to grab a cutting from the omnipresent chai ki tapri right outside the office premises. And you don’t have to worry about your boss missing you during that time because most probably you will bump into him at the tapri. I have heard stories of chaiwallas who have been said to mix afeem (opium) in the tea in order to hold a loyal customer base. I am not sure if these stories are true or not but the addiction for a cup of tea is very real. 

Delhi sadly has no chai ki tapri culture. It doesn’t fit the dilliwala culture. The chai ki tapri culture is only centered around the universities and is only popular amongst students who have migrated from other parts of the country. Now you can order chai using a mobile app.


I have known people who have a similar addiction for coffee or caffeine, not me. I have tried to replace tea with coffee but it is simply not good for me. I will choose a cup of tea over a cup of best coffee in the world, any day. Whew so much writing I need to get kadak cup of chai. I will go make some now.