From chai latte to tea-flavoured concoctions, one may find different versions of tea when travelling abroad, but definitely not that perfect cup of ‘meri wali chai’. Whether it is perfectly brewed Darjeeling tea with a dash of lemon or paani zyada, doodh kam, kadak chai – getting your preferred cup of tea is next to impossible when you are sitting in a pretty European cafe. So how do you balance your love for travel with your love for desi chai?
From tea pudding to chai made with ‘Italian grass’!
Masala Tea
Every chai lover would agree that different individuals have their own choice and kind of chai they like – paani kam, doodh zyada or doodh zyada paani kam, kadak or light, boiled or brewed. And many would often complain that they don’t find their kind of tea outside their home, so finding chai is their biggest worry when travelling in a place where people have an adopted understanding of tea. Shares chef and author Gunjan Goela, “I love my chai and just can’t do without it. Carrying my own tea bags and making my own tea is one thing I have been following strictly for many years now after failing at finding a decent cup of tea abroad. I was once staying in a village near Italy and the café had a masala chai. I was happy to find a masala chai at a place like that and ordered it. They had used some local grass as tea leaves and made their version of masala chai. It tasted so bad that after that experience I decided that I am only going to make my chai, which is a brewed tea, while travelling. In Europe, you are served a huge pot of water with tea bags and some milk and it is never the way I like it, so why even spend money on it.” Certified tea sommelier Snigdha Manchanda shares that most chai lattes or different versions of chai served abroad are made from syrup, are just a tea flavour or extract. “They are some drinks with flavouring of tea and not really chai that we Indians drink. I was at a tea conference in Las Vegas and there was a demonstration by an American on how to make chai and he boiled it so much that he served it as thick as a pudding. He even said that it is Indian tea pudding. So one can imagine what different ideas people have of chai! I was in New York and a café in Brooklyn was serving chai with plant-based milk. They served me chai with almond milk, which actually curdled when they boiled it. Outside India no one uses full fat milk for tea and that makes it too watery. To escape all these variations of tea, I prefer having coffee when travelling abroad,” says Snigdha.
BYOC – brew your own chai
Craving for that perfect cuppa is common for tourists abroad
Many chai lovers would tell you how they do their homework on where to find chai before travelling to any new destination. “My family calls me crazy, but whenever I am travelling to a new place for work or family holiday, I do my research on where I can find Indian tea, read reviews (by Indians) if available online. I always carry my own stuff to make my own chai and prefer that I do not stay at hotels but at an accommodation with an independent kitchen space where I can make good kaadhi hui chai,” shares Priyanka Rao, an IT professional from Gurgaon. Chef Kunal Kapur has another suggestion, “Look for Indian restaurants and ask them to make tea with fresh milk and ask what milk they are using to make tea. In my experience, most Indian restaurants can serve a decent cup of tea if you brief them on how you like your tea,” says Kunal.
end of article