The tea of knowledge
The next trend to hit the tea market could be India's answer to Chinese herbal medicine. Ayurvedic teas are already being sold in top retail stores, as well as in leading Indian restaurants such as the Bombay Brasserie and Quilon.
Ayurveda is an ancient Indian science, as Subhash Thaker, director of sales and marketing for Taj Hotels, explains: "Ayur is the Indian word for life and vedic is ancient Indian knowledge. Teas containing ayurvedic herbs have been a way of life in India for centuries and many Indians take them in different forms such as tablets or ointments. At Quilon, for example, we have a tea to aid digestion on the menu, which we recommended to rebalance the system after a heavy meal. These teas are gaining tremendous popularity. This is not a fashion."
The teas are split into four functions, depending on which herb they contain, to promote certain moods.
Minal Vohra is the founder of Higher Living, a company that specialises in ayurvedic products, including the four teas, Higher Calming, Higher Vitality, Higher Digestion and Higher Relief. She says they differ from other herbal teas because their combination of five or six herbs addresses particular imbalances while still being tasty.
"It's increasingly the case that people are choosing something good for them outside the home, which is why herbal teas are gaining in popularity," Vohra says. "But they want something enjoyable, not something they feel they should drink."
From bourgeoisie to builder
When tea was first introduced to the UK several hundred years ago, it was considered a beverage for exclusive circles and very much a drink for the aristocracy. But in the last 100 years, tea has gone to the other extreme - it's not just universal, it's mundane, and caterers have played a large part in dissociating tea from quality and trendiness. Jagmohn Singh Raju of The Tea Board London says that current efforts to reinvent tea include trying to bring back some of the old mystique and romance it once had.
"In the UK, we identify tea more by brand than quality," he says. "When consumers buy wine, they look for French or Australian, but very few people here say they want tea from Assam or Darjeeling, let alone which estate or flush (see below). We would be keen to help caterers learn to promote quality and so increase their margins." E-mail teaboardlon@aol.com to find out more.
Not all teas are equal: Raju's quick guide…
Darjeeling: A light tea, ideal after dinner or with light snacks.
Assam: Stronger, invigorating, recommended with oily and heavy snacks, to cleanse the digestive system and wake up to in the morning.
First flush: The first harvest of leaves, around April for Darjeeling, which are tender and pale and provide the tea with a light flavour.
Second flush: Three weeks later, the leaves are harvested again once they've regrown. A stronger, more developed flavour.
Autumnal flush: So called because the leaves are harvested in the autumn and are stronger still.
Britain's best cuppa
Trenance Cottage Tea Room and Gardens in Newquay, Cornwall, has won the Tea Council's Top Tea Place award for the second year running. Owners Bob and Judy Poole beat 129 other teashops around the country on criteria that included the tea's flavour, strength and temperature, as well as the condition of the crockery, and staff attitude and knowledge.
Judy Poole says the teashop offers about 20 different loose-leaf teas and people are "bowled over" by the quality. "We often hear customers say this is the best cup of tea they've had in years because they have forgotten what a really good-quality tea can taste like. We live in a rushed world these days, but a good cuppa needs a little time to infuse."
Customers also appreciate "vintage" selections, such as a first flush Darjeeling or Assam. "We charge £1.60 for a pot of first flush and £1.25 for a normal pot," says Poole, "but we always serve a pot of hot water with the tea so a customer can get up to six cups from the pot. Good-quality tea is actually better value than a cheap tea in this respect."
A tea for all occasions
Certain types of tea work particularly well with certain foods:
Ceylon Tea: Serve with cucumber or tomato sandwiches and tarte au citron.
Darjeeling: Works well with cream cheese or egg and cress sandwiches and cream desserts.
Earl Grey:
Favourite pairings from Trenance Cottage:
Pai mu tan, a delicate white tea from China, served with crab salad or a filled crab roll.
- Kenyan tea with chocolate cake. Popular afternoons and mornings - in fact, any time…
Source: The Tea Council and the Academy of Food and Wine Service, Twinings, Trenance Cottage.
