Break those myths related to Tea

A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes.

The sooner you get out of a myth the better it is. Surely there were many myths doing rounds related to tea or chai as they call it. Be it in any form masala chai, vanilla chai, ginger tea, green tea, or black tea etc there is a myth available for all.

Some of the most common myths doing rounds are

1.    Adding milk to tea reduces its quality and health quotient: - This is not true as shared in several researches, and it would be wrong to say that if nothing is added to tea, it will be the healthiest of all.

However researchers have found that adding milk or honey to your tea makes you more efficient at work.

2.    Drinking Green Tea will make you Skinny: - No, drinking green tea although has its own benefits over drinking milked tea, but it won’t make you skinny unless you are only on green tea diet.

3.    Herbal Tea is the real tea:- No, although tea comes in different aromas and flavours but that is more to do about the process involved after plucking the tea leaves. The tea plant remains the same which is Camellia Sinensis, and the change in flavour etc depends on how it is processes and under what climatic conditions it’s grown. Herbal tea on the other hand is being made from flower, leave and other variations as well.

4.    Tea doesn’t have an expiry date: - It’s not true, tea start losing its antioxidants after 5 to 6 months and that’s its shelf life.

5.    Caffeine is more in Black Tea as compared to Green Tea: - IT’S WRONG. Again the theory remains the same, tea come in from the same leaves, and it’s only the processing which differs and which decides whether it’s going to be Black Tea or Green Tea.

6.    Tea Causes Stroke: - Absolutely wrong, in fact tea helps you reduce chances of heart stroke and its antioxidant agent helps you fight Heart diseases. But it only helps and doesn’t guarantees, so keep a check on your heart.

Apart from these myths which must be cleared by now, Tea has many benefits which are helpful to us. Some of those are:-

1.    Tea helps reduce the risk of dementia: - Drinking tea helps you fight dementia, and allows you to stay sharp, focused, enhances memory and attention span.

2.    Tea acts as a medicine: - Especially in rainy and winters season, Tea helps as an anti allergic and helps prevent cough, cold and sour throat. Apart from this Tea also helps building your immune system.

3.    Tea helps in lowering Cholesterol levels: - Tea also helps you reduce your cholesterol levels, although Green Tea is a winner among other variants here.

4.    Despite Caffeine it hydrates your body

5.    It gives you less caffeine over coffee

I am sure after reading these points you can clear the air about your myths related to tea.

Bondi chai brings to you, Australia’s award winning Chai Latte premix powder and now the same is available in Singapore. This Chai latte in Singapore is available in two flavours Vanilla Honey and Club cinnamon, and is best served with milk; you can also use soya milk with it.

Thanks
Michelle Chong

What does it taste like?

Everybody has had a chai tea latte, so to speak. But when you ask them what it tastes like, there are different opinions. Spiced, mellow, sweet, bitter, and fruity and so on. You can wonder if you are talking about the same beverage. The answer is yes and no. Yes, chai is made from basically the same ingredients but if you ask me, a good cup of chai latte differs even if I move from one city to another. You may wonder why that is. So, read on.

Chai tasting
I have had my fair share of chai and I can say that there is no universal taste to chai even when they are in the same colour. So you can imagine the difference in taste of different coloured chai. Where I come from, we drink black chai. This chai is withered and is highly processed. It has a dark red sort of colour to it when brewed. It is usually had with a bit of milk or cream and has an auromatic sweet taste to it. It is also the most popularly tasted chai. Black chai without milk is bitter and has a very strong taste and very few people prefer it. I am not one of them. Masala chai is also a variance of black chai which has added spices and depending on the spice you add, you may say that the chai is spicy or sweet or mellow or anything else.

Sipping green chai

I have taken time to taste two kinds of green chai as well. It is becoming popular these days amongst the health conscious. Other than its very healthy effects, green chai can be mildly bitter to a first timer. It is usually sold in flavours of honey or lemon or ginger. As you can see, these ingredients each have a somewhat sweet taste to it to counteract the bitterness. Green chai is never drunk with milk or cream. Once you start on it, it kind of grows on you.

In foreign lands

Science has shown us that chai tastes different because of where it is grown and how it is processed. Like I said earlier, the black chai is processed the most and the white chai is almost not processed at all. And, that causes the variance in the taste from strong to bland. Where it is grown matters because of climate and soil. For example, India’s tea growing estates survive on very different environments compared to China or Kenya or Srilanka. You see the difference? I have had the opportunity to taste Kenyan and Chinese tea before. While Chinese tea can be smoky, Kenyan tea tastes quite fruity and sweet.

While we are at it

There is no best tasting tea or worst tasting tea. As far as I know, you flow with what works best for you. Chai tea latte is safer if you are that creative one and you can also find many premix chai lattes that can fill your senses. Bondichai is one of that premium grade chai latte mixes that I happened to have during my stay in Australia, milk soluble and the exotic taste and aroma is sure to mesmerize you, and it’s now available in Singapore as well. Get lost in an aromatic world with this premix chai latte that is more than a café drink.

Do I sniff chai?

The common myth…

People commonly hold this as the myth behind the origins of chai and I am going to go on and share the story. Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a king who ruled the region of India and Siam. He wanted to create a potion that would cure some sicknesses and found himself discovering the beverage we know today called ‘tea’. I don’t know how far any type of tea can cure illness but it is one hell of a beverage. Let’s just say it originated in India and leave it at that.

Tea is chai. Chai is tea.

Are chai and tea, the same thing? If you are in India, you would agree but if you are in the US, you may not. Just forget about the origin of the drink and look at the words. What I found amazing is that in the US, when you say ‘chai’, it refers to masala chai latte and its several variants. And, ‘tea’ is regular milk tea latte. Tea may be chai.

What is it that I am smelling?

A whiff of vanilla, cardamom? Ginger? There’s more. Some say tea was created 5000 years ago. If it tasted the same way and made the same way for that many long years, what boredom! Masala Chai Latte is just any spice in your tea to add adventure to your palette. In Asian countries, these can be ginger tea, cardamom tea, cinnamon tea, mint tea, lemon tea, honey tea and more. We have so many new flavours brewing everyday. Green tea and black tea have their own flavours strong and hard. So, what am I smelling? It’s tea that doesn’t smell like tea anymore.

How did it spread?

When we say ‘chai’, we think of masala chai and India. But in China, there was tea far before India. Did it begin from China, we don’t know. But there is evidence of its existence there even before Christ. Now, that is a long time. At a point in time, India imported tea from China before producing affordable tea for the masses. In the 1940s, it was Indian restaurants that brought chai to the US. It spread so far and wide and in such an intense manner that they had to create new flavours of chai. Today, you can get a cup of chai just anywhere.

New funky tea flavours

Like I said, we are not monotonous people. Check out some new flavours that I came across. There is Tapioca Bubble tea, also known as pearl tea. This originated in Taiwan not too long ago and what they do is that they pour flavoured tea over ice and serve it with candy-like tapioca balls. The flavours range from strawberry, watermelon, almonds and coconut. I cannot imagine how coconut tea would taste like! There is also tea made with evaporated milk in Hongkong and tea made from heavy cream in Germany. Adding to the list, I found this one the BondiChai, one of Aussies’ favourites and one that is spreading fast in the Singapore markets. The definition of ‘masala’ has widened. And it is up to you to give it a try. Meet you again with another interesting and scintillating Chai flavour of course tea flavour.