Share the stories of the world's tea-producing regions, and travel around the tea-scented countries through the international cultural business card of "tea"! Today, let's talk about the tea culture of Bangladesh.
Black tea producing country
Bangladesh is located on the sub-continent of South Asia, bordering Myanmar and India. Its climate is suitable for growing tea, so it is a big tea producing country. However, due to the frequent floods in the country, tea production has been reduced, and tea production has been unstable.
Bengali people love tea seems to be to the extreme, whether it is to the company to talk about business, or to a friend's home, must drink a cup of tea first. Tea has become an integral part of their lives.
Bangladesh has a total of 156 tea plantations, of which 138 are located in the northeastern Schircht region, which is the richest region in the country due to tea cultivation.
According to official statistics, Bangladesh produces 60 million kilograms of tea every year, 40% of which is exported, mainly to the Middle East, Russia and European countries.
Bangladesh mainly produces black tea, but also some green tea. Locally, black tea is processed by the factory to form small black particles, so it is called "black tea".
Basically, according to the size of the tea particles, the tea taste can be judged, and roughly speaking, the smaller the particles, the stronger the taste of the tea.
When drinking tea, put a small amount of "black tea" into the tea cup and add boiling water to brew. After soaking for three or five minutes, filter out the tea particles, and you can drink directly. But people generally don't like to drink clear tea, they like to add milk and sugar to the tea.
More than 160 years of tea cultivation history
Tea plantations in Bangladesh date back to British colonial rule. In 1857, British colonists established the first tea garden in the north of Schircht, the Malnicherra Tea Garden.
Since the climate of the Hillcht region was suitable for the growth of tea plants, by the end of the 19th century, 150 tea gardens had been established here, most of which belonged to the British. Since bangladesh's independence in 1971, the owners of tea plantations have become Bengali.
In 1957, the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) was established, located in the Srimongol tea district near Sylkhet in the northeast, known as the "tea town" of Bangladesh, with beautiful scenery of tea gardens throughout the mountains.
The work of the Institute focuses on the selection and breeding of high-yield and high-quality tea varieties and pest control. The main varieties of tea plants in Bangladesh are Assam tea and Manipo tea, and their hybrids.
At present, the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute has preserved 386 tea germplasm resources, including 317 cloned varieties and 69 sexually transmitted tea seeds, of which 328 are nationally collected varieties and 58 are introduced varieties.
Tea drinking "poses" are colorful
The history of the founding of the country is a history of love and hatred with India and Pakistan, and the entanglement is so deep that their tea drinking customs are similar.
The British brought tea seeds to Assam, India, and Assam passed on this well-being to northern Hilcht, Bengal. Since then, Assamese black tea has settled in Bangladesh.
In terms of tea drinking customs, Bangladesh is basically similar to Pakistan. From the perspective of the frequency of tea drinking, Pakistanis have three teas a day, or even five teas a day, while many Bengalis have one tea a day. Every morning when they wake up, they have to drink a cup of tea, refreshed and comfortable, and then it is time for washing and breakfast, which is consistent with Pakistan.
Of course, Bengalis also drink tea on more formal occasions such as business or hospitality. The hospitable nature prompts them to entertain friends with fine tea leaves, and if someone rejects the tea they offer, they will be quite angry, thinking that it is a disrespectful act.
But whether it's black tea or green tea, Bengalis are more fond of mixing. Milk, lemon, sugar, etc. are relatively common condiments; There are also more irritating condiments such as mint, cardamom, and cloves.
In a small town in Bangladesh called Srimengor, some people use the art of drinking to the extreme. Using 3 different kinds of black tea, 1 kind of green tea, milk and various spices, seven layers of tea soup with different colors and different tastes are concocted.
The tea guests sipped slowly layer by layer: they tried to figure out what was on each floor, and their tongues were like police officers looking for clues about criminals, which was very interesting.
Source: Tea Ceremony