To say that I like tea would be an understatement. I don’t know exactly when or how my love affair with tea grew. Maybe it was the cup of tea had with family, not just in the morning but at any time of the day. Or the cutting chai that was my oasis in the middle of a heavy work day. Or the Iced tea I had during dinner with friends because that was one of the only drinks you could be assured of in a restaurant. Tea became and continues to be my go-to drink, more than it’s more glamorous cousin - coffee.
For the last few years though, green tea has had the majority of my attention. A work day is incomplete without green tea, and I try out new flavours and brands of green tea with an unmatched zeal.
So naturally, I was thrilled to get my hands on the Tea Culture of the World hamper with a sampling of their various teas. The first thing that struck me was the packaging. The tea came in a beautiful wooden box with the brand name engraved on it. Little touches like these is what assures a tea lover like me that these are folks who take their tea seriously. I didn’t open the box for a long time, wanting to keep the thrill of opening the wonderful box like a gift for myself later. I told you I was crazy about tea!
But I shouldn’t have waiting. 8 varieties of tea in bright coloured sachets greeted me cheerfully. No seriously, there is great packaging and then there is tea packaging that perks you up even without drinking the tea. The tea samples I received were:
1. Rooibos - A South African tea with delicious colour and taste
2. Sencha - Japanese green tea with seaweed. Exotic much?
3. Oolong - Needs no introduction
4. Imperial White - White tea with a hint of jasmine
5. Earl Grey - The famed black tea
6. Darjeeling - One of India’s hero teas
7. Kashmiri Kahwa - Green tea and spices, anyone?
8. Chamomile - When chamomile and green tea get married
Being partial to green tea, I tried Sencha, Kashmiri Kahwa and Rooibos first and the rest followed soon. Another testament to the great packaging - a silken tea bag which allowed me a look and whiff of the teas I tasted even before I made them. The Kashmiri Kahwa tea bag had bits of cardamom and other spices along with the green tea.
So here’s what I loved about the Tea Culture of the World teas.
The Rooibos is one of my favourites and a definite indulgence for me in the future too. The first impression is the colour, and the rich Rooibos’ colour reminds me of red earth. The taste is at once wholesome, a little bit of tart and lots of flavour bursting with every sip. In fact, I’m writing this blog post with a huge tea kettle of Rooibos for company. (Cups and mugs are for amateurs, and drinking straight from the kettle is the reason I don't have too many photos of the tea in action)
Sencha combined the best of both worlds - the familiarity of green tea with the exciting hint of seaweed. It feels like wellness in a cup, with its soothing flavour and taste. The colour is a big plus, much richer than the ones that I get with regular green tea bags.
The Oolong Tea feels like straddling two worlds together. It felt like the perfect midway between a green and black tea, which will you warm you right up. I guess Oolong is not everyone’s cup of tea (geddit?) and is an acquired taste to develop, so if you’re looking to try it out, the Tea Culture of the World one is the one you need to pick up, as it will give you a great taste of what awaits you in the Oolong world.
Now let’s come to the Earl Grey. It’s a tea that genuinely doesn’t need an explanation, but this one does. The Earl Grey from Tea Culture of the World justifies all the superlatives bestowed upon this classic. Not adding anything to the tea once it was brewed allowed me to appreciate the quality of the leaf, and in all honesty made me feel sophisticated and classy. ☺
Imperial White sounds a little intimidating, no? Don’t be thrown off by the name though, it is one of the best and most delicate teas I’ve tasted in my life. The experience starts when you open the tea bag and dunk it in hot water. The room fills up with the fragrance of jasmine. After the trailer of the fragrance, the taste of the Imperial White makes for a beautiful sensory experience. Since it’s a white tea, you can expect a delicate flavour that can pick you up on a morning, or help you wind down after a long day. The jasmine fragrance is unmissable but not overwhelming, making this a tea to experience, not describe.
Since we’re on the topic of floral fragrances, Chamomile is another of my favourites from the hamper. I’ve had quite a few chamomile teas (thanks to my late nights), so I wasn’t expecting any surprises. Well, the chamomile tea from Tea Culture of the World was quite top notch. The flavour of chamomile is very pronounced, and the quality of the tea is the first thing that puts you at ease. It’s a brew that does what it promises - relaxes you and helps you unwind.
I won’t write anything about Darjeeling as anything I write will have already be written. Just that if your style of drinking black tea is to douse it generously with milk and sugar, this Darjeeling will open your eyes to the wonder of drinking tea as is - brewed just right without the need for sugar or milk, just tasting the flavour of the hills in a cup.
The Kashmiri Kahwa is a fascinating drink for me, though I’m still on the fence about the time I’d like to have it. I’ve felt that it suits the times of hunger cravings the best, as the spices in the concoction make the tea full bodied enough to fulfill any desire to eat that I may have.
Looks like I can’t stop writing about teas any more than I can stop drinking them. Apart from these individual qualities that make Tea Culture of the World teas amazing, there are a couple of more things I’d like to point out. First, great work with the packaging, as I mentioned before. The tea bag sachets also have lucid instructions on how to prepare the teas, and useful pointers about the benefits of each tea, which adds to the feel good factor. Also, I’d like to confess that I mostly use a tea bag not for a cup or mug of tea, but for a whole kettle of tea, around 400-450 ml of water at the minimum. These tea bags held their flavour, colour and taste even in that quantity of water as much as a mug of water, which is saying something about their quality.
Wrapping up this tea party, Tea Culture of the World is the proper place for a tea lover like me to unleash their tea obsession and have it rewarded with some of the best teas you can find. I’m going to go explore their signature blends and floral teas as soon as I’m done with this batch. Stay Beauteaful!
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