Try to imagine the soothing scent of cardamom and saffron mixed with the characteristic aroma of black and green tea . Are you ready to dive into a world of tea that is as rich in history as it is in taste? In this episode of our series “A World of Tea”, we take a trip to the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding countries.
Although Indians themselves drink 80% of all the tea they produce in the country, and that tea is their national drink, it was actually the British who introduced it to them in the late 19th century. It was The British East India Company which was behind the establishment of the tea plantations, and India is to this day the world's second largest producer of tea. Most of the tea that is grown is black tea, as it was only in the 1990s that Indians were introduced to green tea.
Indians also have a unique way of drinking tea, namely in the form of chai, which means tea in Indian. Chai is an enchanting mixture of tea and spices that, enriched with lots of milk and sugar, gives a very unique taste. Chai tea can also be enjoyed neat and has an absolutely fantastic taste that makes many Danes think of Julete, which has many of the same spices.. At train stations you can find chai-wallahs who mainly only sell this tea.
But India is not the only country in the region that enjoys tea. In Pakistan, tea was also introduced during the British rule in the 1800s. Today, both black and green tea are popular in Pakistan and go by the names: sabz chait and kahwah. A mixture of saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and sometimes roses is added to the green tea. It is served with sugar or honey and enjoyed with crushed almonds or walnuts.
In Afghanistan, they also enjoy their own version of kahwah, which is brewed on a samovar, and each family has their own recipe for this wonderful tea.
We love green tea at Nordic Tea - primarily because of the tea's clean, delicate taste and beautiful colour. But is green tea healthy? A new study indicates that there may be something to the matter.
