TEA TIME STORY
SIMPLY DELHI caught up with Tea Sommelier Anamika Singh over a hot cuppa and got brewing about the sudden emergence of tea culture and her newly opened tea boutique in Shahpur Jat. Until a while back, instant coffee and hanging out in cafés for hours was the ‘in’ thing to do, but with the number of tea drinking places that have opened up in the city, this trend is slowly changing. On offer are a number of variants— green, white and even blue; milk tea, traditional masala chai and of course, infusions. “Most people are shifting to tea for obvious health benefits,” says Anamika Singh, who has been in the tea business for 18 years. Singh’s family owns the Manjee Valley Tea Estate in Dharamshala, from where she picked up the trick of the trade. She’s inherited her skills of choosing the right leaves, mixing the correct ingredients and creating the perfect blend. Singh explains how bored and disappointed she was with the kind of teas available here and the tea bag culture. This urged her to come up with something refreshing. She came up with her own tea infusions label named Anandini Himalaya Tea. Her infusions have a beautiful mild aroma, which stems from the herbs and flowers she has tactfully mixed with the leaves. Most of us have succumbed to green tea for various reasons, but many of us don’t like its lingering after taste. Her infusions, however, act as palate pleasers and give volume to tea. Try the rose hip—green tea with rose petals, delicate and flavourful. “From what leaves to use as a base—first or second flush—to keeping in mind the Indian and global palette, tea shouldn’t be too sweet and the flavor shouldn’t overpower,” says Singh. After a long wait, she has opened doors to her quaint little tea boutique in Shahpur Jat, and as soon as you step in a whiff of spices and floral aromas welcome you. On offer are a range of handcrafted teas, seven blends of green and black tea with various flowers and Himalayas. Each of them seem so tempting that it’s difficult to take your pick. This passionate tea drinker ends our conversation by saying “Four minutes of your life is all it takes to make and enjoy a good cup of tea. Savor it.”