Have you ever enjoyed drinking tea in a royal way? Did you ever know that there are 36 varieties of tea? As a tea drinker, I have always relished all kinds of tea – the traditional milk tea, black tea, lime tea, green tea. However, I felt that this royal drink has been losing its pride of place due to the invasion of coffee cafes and the variety of coffee served in them. I was quite eager to see if there are any tea cafes and chai-bars. After we shifted to Hyderabad, my husband surprised me on my seventh wedding anniversary by taking me to a place called Finjaan.
Finjaan is a tea café where you can experience tea in an exotic royal manner. I was amazed to see such a beautiful tea café dedicated to tea drinking which is the first exclusive tea lounge in Hyderabad city. The credit should go to the tea lovers in Hyderabad who always knew the importance of tea in their daily lives. I had heard of Infinitea cafe and Cha Bar in Bangalore, but I had not visited them.
The ambiance of the Finjaan tea cafe smells and feels tea! The diversity in the tea varieties displayed at the reception table perplexed me! Rose tea, Jasmine tea, Jade ring tea, Chinese flower tea, Oolong tea, Rooibos tea, the list went on. Apart from them there were the Indian specialties such as Assam tea, Nilgiri tea and Darjeeling tea. The attendant enlightened us about all the different teas and their specialty.
The 36 varieties of tea in Finjaan
Each of these tea varieties had distinct taste and aroma and also had different effect on our body. We got to know that some of the Chinese varieties such as Oolong tea and Rooibos tea had amazing healing qualities. Tea is not only one of the preferred beverages in the world, but also a wonder drug with different antioxidants which heals us from different aliments.
The attendant made sure that we got an insight into the wonderful history of tea. Way back in 2737 BC, Shennong, a Chinese Emperor discovered tea when few leaves fell into the hot water that he was drinking in his garden. Today we are into Organic tea, Diet tea, Herbal Tea and Green Tea. Fruit and flower flavoured teas are also making their way into our lives.
Chinese Jade Ring Tea
We were the only people in the Finjaan tea cafe that day since it was quite early in the morning. The attendant said they usually have the crowds in the evening. Tea was served here only in the pure form without milk. Glancing the menu I realised that the cost of a simple black tea ranged from Rs50-170. I wondered do people spend so much money for just a black tea. The attendant reminded me that quality comes with a price! It’s about having tea in a royal way.
After juggling with too many choices, we finally chose to drink the Finjaan Chinese Flower Tea. It is a unique type of Chinese tea with a light to medium flavour and a strong aroma. It comes in two varieties – Flower tea and Scented tea. Flower tea uses dried flowers without much processing in their natural form, while Scented tea uses green and red teas as the base mixed with the scent of flowers.
Flower tea & Iced tea served in elegant crockery
Finjaan tea cafe has its own special range crockery for the tea preparation, in which tea is served to in its royal fashion. Watching the transparent tea kettle holding the golden brown tea brew was truly a delight! We could smell the pleasant aroma and as we started sipping it the taste was heavenly!
– Factfile –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tea
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