Tea is the preferred beverage in most households in Bengal. I am a city born boy, brought up in Kolkata, the 'City of Joy'.
Every nook and corner of Kolkata has a tea stall. Life without it is not possible here. The speciality is the variety of tea on offer along with the clay cups on which they are served- all at an extremely cheap price- the lowest in India and arguably the best in terms of quality.
Mostly they mix black tea and oolong tea which gives the Calcutta tea its distinct flavour.
The menu has black liquor tea, milk tea(normal), aada cha(tea with ginger), lebu cha(lemon tea).
Generally the tea stalls have a variety of biscuits, cakes to offer their customers. Some stalls have an elaborate platter including toast,omelette, boiled egg even noodles and kathi rolls and obviously the 10-15 brands of cigarettes.
Tea is had at regular intervals. Starting with the morning cup. A forenoon cup followed by tea after lunch around 3pm and a cup after office/college around evening-the busiest time.
Myself a tea connoisseur, I can tell you that after visiting a lot of places in India Calcutta simply has the best tea to offer. With lot of benefits and hardly any side effects its the beverage that it will live on in this city forever.
The endless Adda sessions at the tea stalls and the countless tea cups are something that can never be taken out off any Bengali's heart. Tea provides an inner satisfaction to all Bengalis that cant be described in words but perhaps can be felt after taking the long first sip of cha after a
hard day's work.
After all, has any other leaf influenced history, culture, lifestyle, and civilisation so much as tea?
 |
| Normal Tea in a clay cup |
Mostly they mix black tea and oolong tea which gives the Calcutta tea its distinct flavour.
The menu has black liquor tea, milk tea(normal), aada cha(tea with ginger), lebu cha(lemon tea).
Generally the tea stalls have a variety of biscuits, cakes to offer their customers. Some stalls have an elaborate platter including toast,omelette, boiled egg even noodles and kathi rolls and obviously the 10-15 brands of cigarettes.Tea is had at regular intervals. Starting with the morning cup. A forenoon cup followed by tea after lunch around 3pm and a cup after office/college around evening-the busiest time.
Myself a tea connoisseur, I can tell you that after visiting a lot of places in India Calcutta simply has the best tea to offer. With lot of benefits and hardly any side effects its the beverage that it will live on in this city forever.
The endless Adda sessions at the tea stalls and the countless tea cups are something that can never be taken out off any Bengali's heart. Tea provides an inner satisfaction to all Bengalis that cant be described in words but perhaps can be felt after taking the long first sip of cha after a
hard day's work.
After all, has any other leaf influenced history, culture, lifestyle, and civilisation so much as tea?
 |
| The endless adda and Cha |
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