Chai!

errr
this seems like a welcome note of the ``tapal`` factory,anyways,has got my tastebuds active again...

tea made out of tea-bags is extremely pathetic...
its a curse to all tea-addicts...

you didnt mention green tea...
ahh,green tea with ``ilaichi``
say no more!!

Danish:

Thank you for the reminder on the important role ``teal leaves/ tea bags`` play in our daily life.

This was a topic that I had on my mind way back to cover since I am a connoisseur of herbal tea.

Persian Tea that I have tasted here in some of the Persian Restaurants is simply delicious. You do not have to add any sugar cube. It`s like having keh`va but it`s less heavy than if you add milk to it. Personally I would never do the blunder.

I would mention one thing that here in the US you have different variety of tea available and it all varies. To give an example, Tazo Chai at Starbucks is pathetic in all flavors. You have to go to certain tea-stores or tea shops to get the best flavored tea. Some of the Starbucks carry an excellent brand of white tea as well as green tea and it`s known as ``The Republic of Tea.`` There ``Earl Grey`` is also one of the nicely flavored one.

Still, Coffee rules.

No Sugar, Half-&-Half and Vanilla Almond or De-caff.

The only tea that makes sense with milk is Kashmiri Tea. The rest are just fillers.

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Thanks for your kind words folks. Hope to put pen to paper (or should I say fingers to the keyboard) more often. I appreciate the comments of the friends here who have enlightened me about the various flavours/varieties of tea that I have missed.

I still remember the excellent taste of chai in Truck driver dhabbas. One can find these dhabbas everywhere on highways. In northern Pakistan, I always enjoyed this tea with garam white tandoori roti, believe me you cant find this tandoori roti in Punjab. And here in Europe you will be even grateful to have Punjab wali tandoori roti.

True here people love green tea or herbel tea. I enjoy all this stuff too but always come back to Apni Wali Chai. Thanks to mom that she never spoiled us by giving doodh pati wali chai so here alone I can use tea bags. English black tea is expensive but better than other black tea types. But have you ever tried Morrocain tea? its awesome, I would say its good but humari wali chai is still BEST. Oh I am missing garam paratha and chai....:(, The people in perdais living with moms can still enjoy it, ....oh! I am hungry let me finish my pasta (yep! instant pasta again...not the real home made italian one).....yeh hai student life, but apni wali chai is still avialble in student life....Shukar Allah Mian :)

Chai:

Good article Danesh Zaki.

The word-origin is Ta` , a chinese word, meaning a herbal-brew or Joshaanda or Cha`[the boiled brew-`josh`] , as written in farsi & urdu . The chinese pronounce it with a sound between T & SH. The British baboons called it Tea mistaking Cha` or Ta` for Tia.

It is and and always has been a part of the Turco-Mangol culture. Joshaandas, suggested by Hakeems, of various herbs have always been there. The British baboons simply exploited the local people and started claiming it as its own. It is very heartening to note that Tetleys is now owned by the Tata group and if I am not mistaken Tate & Lyle has also been sent to the dust-bin of pseudo-grandeur.

Coffee or Qahvaa has an arabian/ethipian origin. The spaniards took it to Latin America .

It is interesting to note that US was also a British colony but once it got its freedom--(by fighting and killing British baboons & not by dundee marches or as a real-estate transaction)
it did not retain any of the baboons` cultural garbage: Coffee vs Tea, Baseball vs Cricket, Football vs Soccer , right hand drive vs left, On & off switches for light.

Apparently minor and insignificant but those who earned their freedom through blood & toil behave differently than the Paki Slaves who are always ready, willing, and able for a few cents more. Mom & Sister for sale--at bargain basement price, but ONLY to a goraa. The proud Pimps & Whores from the Jack and Jill missionary-positions.

The slaves who would rather pay to stay as slaves..the goraa-goo-chaater Pakis.

Interesting....

I usually have my two cups of Red Rose tea, everyday at work. I still haven`t gotten around to appreciating coffee. Starbucks sells a brand of tea called, Chai, which sells for around $3.50/cup (Rs 160/cup).....

I read somewhere that Pakistani is the third (??) biggest importer of tea, in the world. And that Pakistan can barely, or not all, grow tea locally, except in Mansehra (???). And India is an exporter, while Pakistan currently gets its tea from Kenya.

So pretty soon, we should start seeing a lot of Indian tea. I guess tea and cricket are two things that may be more popular in South Asia, than in the places they originated. Though I always thought tea was a local phenomenon.

Why hasn`t Iced Tea taken off in Pakistan? (Iced Tea the drink, not Ice T the rapper).......

#14
Rozaiba, you have to be joking? Tell me you are. Please.

I wuw the green tea, eshpeshally in AFGHANI style with their transparent cups with `sugar cubes`(?) I seldome miss the QISSA KHWANI bazar`s green tea whenever visit Peshawar.

wonder, why couldn`t I develope a taste for KASHMIRI chai. Had twice only in life.

oh let me tell that in lakshmi chowk lahore, ppl confuse the green tea with KASHMIRI chai. I once asked for green tea thinking that it wud be QAHWA but they presented the KASHMIRI chai. or perhaps I am confusing. :p

I say green or sabz chai to the green tea/QAHWA or SHEEN CHAI. and KASHMIRI chai use to be pinkish with pistas n other dry fruits in them.

chai is a testimony of the success of corporate consipracies against third world societies and their gullibly addictive masses. it should be banned.

Tea on the sub-continent symbolically summarizes the colonialization of the sub-continent. The British sold Indian Opium to china, and Chinese tea to India. It is very true, that Lipton actually created markets (based on what elders tell me) in India and many of its other colonies. We have offcourse indianized it with variation such as ``Khadi Chammach`` (its so thick with sugar at the bottom, that a spoon stands in it) and doodh-patti (paki variation), but then many of us worry (e.g. Nazar) that the British will get upset. At one point, Tea was the single most important export of Sri Lanka (now it is stewarts on Cruise Ships). In addition, tea is the true ``Past-Time`` of India (or time-pass), symbolising the lazy, languid ethos.

In bussiness world of Banias, tea plays an important role. The shop or bussiness owner calls for tea with either an inward wave of hand or outward, the latter symbolizing the ``chotu`` not to bring it. The visitor gets the intent (i.e sorry, no bussiness) when the tea does not show up soon. If the deal is done, they share a cup, with half tea in the soucer and half in the cup. Now that Tata has taken over Tetley, the symbolization of the colonial experience is more real.

The true glorious drink of the sub-continet is offcourse bhang, the Soma Ras enjoyed by gods themselves, alas most of us have no idea about it, and we allowed the British to ban it as illegal in many provinces. Now only smelly Malangs drink it.

i hate the foul-smelling, foul-tasting wretched concoction and i wish people`d stop thinking im being all snooty when i politely refuse their offer of tea by pointing out tht i dont drink tea.

alternatively i love:
1. herbal tea
2. kashmiri chai
3. coffee...almost every kind

good article though

some people say chai is a british conspiracy. i find them very bitter

i love chai- watermelon flavored, jasmine, tapal, sri lankan, irani kaava or that strong, sakht sindhi chai with a drop of elaichi powder whilst boiling
thank you for bringing such an essential part of our lives onto the front page

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Try tapal danedar for those who are in Pakistan. It is excellent both as seperate and doodh patti.The leaves take about 5 minutes to unflod. So the kettle has to be kept at a very low simmer. Wow!!

Another is the tea made from green mint leaves with honey. Put two leaves in each boiling cup of water and add honey. It has an immediate analgesic and refreshing effect. Some say that it is also anti cancer and keeps away allergies.

Recently I also tried Ginsing from Korea. Its too refreshing.

Cheerios!!

No one mentioned green tea? Even Iced tea .. . . ? Wat abt Star Bucks`s Green Tea Frappacino (yum).?