Chinese love to drink tea, many cities have tea houses, such as Chengdu, but also formed a unique tea house culture. The neighboring country of India also loves to drink tea and has its own "tea culture".
The earliest recognition of Indian tea came from the "Darjeeling" in the mouth of friends.
In order to let me see it, I specially brought a package, tried to know, foreign black tea can not be underestimated, the world's three major black tea, in addition to the Chinese Keemun black tea, India Darjeeling and Sri Lanka Ceylon each occupy a seat.
He said: "If you travel to this country, you must try the local milk tea and drink it unforgettable." ”
When you drink Indian milk tea for the first time, the rich taste will feel that this tea is very mysterious, and if you drink it a few times, you can taste the difference.
Clear tea is almost extinct here, all are milk tea, but also added a variety of spices, although it is a milk tea with "material", but the method is also different.
The general approach is to first boil milk and water in a pot, then add tea and spices, slowly simmer for a few minutes, filter out the tea leaves and spices, and add granulated sugar.
Pay attention to the point, the spices will be richer, there are cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and ginger, while the simple, just put ginger.
Due to the characteristics of ginger and spices, after drinking a cup, the cheeks are suddenly rosy, refreshing and relieved, secretly praising the Improvement of Tea by Indians in the heart, from a cup of pure tea to a cup of "soup medicine" that integrates taste and conditioning, the famous one is "Masala tea"
And when I later understood that "Masa" in Hindi means "mixed", I suddenly realized that this was a cup of "Hindu sacred water" that mixed various effects.
The "pull" of Masala tea requires a little skill, much like the la tea popular in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, will use two cups to pull the tea high and high, until the tea and milk are completely integrated, resulting in a smooth taste, "la tea" is more common in southern India.
Indian milk tea, which is as heavy as Indian cuisine, makes Chinese who are accustomed to a cup of tea very challenging, and a friend who went with him was very unaccustomed to its taste, describing it as a "stew with milk".
In Hindi, the pronunciation of tea leaves is "ChaiYi", somewhat similar to the cantonese pronunciation, and some people think that the habit of drinking tea is imported from China, and later read the data to confirm that this is true, Darjeeling's tea plant transplanted from the Moganshan area of Zhejiang, China, by a British botanist to complete the introduction and cultivation.
The cause was the outbreak of the Opium War in the 19th century, the British could not import tea from China, so they introduced Chinese tea seedlings to Darjeeling, India, and the production process of black tea was also learned from China, and the output was also the first in the world.
However, after being introduced to India, the original single way of drinking was influenced by local living habits and was improved to be rich and Full of Indian characteristics.
In the Indian understanding, tea is incomplete if it is less than the blend of spices, spices for Indians, is more important than tea, if you can only choose one of tea and spices, they will choose spices.
In this country rich in spices, the southern state of Kerala is famous for its spices, and the spices produced here have been famous all over the world since 2,000 years ago.
In the era when there was no advanced preservation technology, Indians not only made spices into condiments, but also used as a special material to keep food from spoiling, which became a necessity of life. Indian spices were once more expensive than gold in the European market, and Westerners knew India from the beginning of spices.
In addition, one of the reasons why Indians love to drink tea is probably related to their habit of not drinking soup when eating, after a strong meal, coupled with a relatively strong taste, naturally after the meal also need a cup of tea to soothe the stomach.
In the few hours of waiting for a long-distance bus, the exhaustion of the past few days made people feel weak, and a cup of hot milk tea was like an icy stove burning firewood, and the whole body gradually became hot and the thinking became clear. And it is also very resistant to hunger, and the Temple of the Five Visceral Organs will not grunt for two hours, driving away fatigue and hunger.
Also because its refreshing effect is quite obvious, it has become a must-have for Indian long-distance bus drivers, as long as they stop, especially to the rest station, you can see drivers drinking a large cup of milk tea.
In addition to the long-distance rest station has milk tea supply, there are many small tea shops on the side of the road, as long as the driver wants to drink tea to refresh his mind, you can stop the car at any time to have a cup, and many of these small tea shops are still open all night, providing "supplies" for drivers.
Indians who love to drink tea, but there are no large and small tea houses like Chengdu in China, sitting down and drinking slowly, but it is common for them to drink a cup of tea anytime and anywhere, perhaps it can be said that this country itself is a big tea house.
Our afternoon tea is nothing compared to the Indians' "tea break", they have four or five times a day dedicated to drinking tea, the sacred is too sacred to be disturbed, as soon as the tea break arrives, the work will stop, you can only wait quietly on the side. Foreigners who are not familiar with this situation, after a rush, instead touch a nose of ash, only to secretly complain that they do not understand the "tea situation" in India.
In this multi-ethnic, multi-religious country, there are differences in customs and beliefs, but there is one action and habit that is common, that is, boiling tea, drinking tea, and the "tea language" is also common: no hurry, take your time.
Can't help but let us from the origin of tea sigh: tea was introduced to India for less than 200 years, and in a flash, it took root here, becoming a national hobby, and its status in life even surpassed us.