India has the best black tea in the world, but even the King of Delhi Tea can't resist the charm of Taiwan's oolong tea.

Many people have been to India and often miss Indian milk tea. Generally speaking, in addition to milk and tea, the so-called Indian milk tea is mixed with ── Massala (masala) and a lot of sugar, so it tastes sweet, delicious and milky.

Living here will know that every morning or afternoon rest, a cup of masala chai tea is a happy time for Indians, whether for doctors in the clinic or drivers, it is the same.

Like Indian curry, each has its own unique recipe; Massala tea has its own perfect combination. The main ingredients include cardamom, cinnamon, raw oyster, star anise, nutmeg nucleolus, black pepper, cloves and basil. According to the analysis of Ayurvedic traditional medicine that has been handed down in India for thousands of years, most of them have different effects but are all beneficial to health.

No wonder the Massala Tea Party in India has become the most common and healing national drink here.

Some people say that drinking tea is the don sign, comma, full stop, question mark and exclamation mark of Indians, describing the importance of drinking tea to their lives.

The Enlightenment of the King of Delhi Tea to us

Our family also drinks tea every day, but we drink oolong tea brought by Taiwan. Really began to notice Indian tea, not because every morning or afternoon rest, also like Indians to have a cup of Massala tea, but because of fate, met a famous Delhi tea merchant Vikland Mittal (Vikram Mittal), his tea shop in the first embassy district near the Sandnaga market (Sunder Nagar Market).

Sitting in front of the tea map and talking eloquently, Mittal brings us a lot of tea knowledge and happy time in India. (photo by Hong Juan)

So whether it's gifts from diplomatic envoys here, or shopping by tourists (especially the Japanese), Mittal is the choice of many people. He also has many loyal customers of Indians, and a Sikh we came across in the store said that Mittal is knowledgeable about Indian tea and is very happy to share it. So we went to his shop to chat and have tea, which became one of our happy times in Delhi.

My husband and I used to call him the "King of Tea in India"; later, considering that India is so big, we might as well call him the "King of Tea in Delhi", at least for us.

Mittal's tea shop is not particular at all. Less than 3 or 4 ping of space is like all Indian storefronts, the three walls are shelves from floor to ceiling, which are used incisively and vividly. There are usually Mittal, a tea maker and an Indian guy in the shop. If you add five or six guests, everyone must move tacitly like a tango, or they will bump into each other.

Mittal tea shop has shelves from floor to ceiling, typical Indian storefront furnishings of an inch of land. (photo by Hong Juan)

Mittal actually has a large store in other places, whether shopping or drinking tea should be more comfortable. But like Mittal, we love to stay in this store, which has been operating since 1954, feeling that the space is small, but the history is long.

Assets left over from the British colonial period

Mittal has been growing and selling tea since his grandfather's time. He said that India has three main tea areas, one is the most famous Assam, one is the most respected Darjeeling, and the other is Nilgiri in South India, which mainly produces black tea that has been completely withered and fermented.

Behind Mittal is an old map of Indian tea regions, and when he points to this picture to describe India's tea industry and tea-drinking culture, we sit in front of us as attentively and attentively as students.

He said that India's tea industry and tea-drinking culture originated from the British colonial period and may be one of the greatest assets left to India by the British.

Assam is located in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, where the British found native Indian tea, but also in Darjeeling in the northeastern state of West Bengal, the tea was transplanted by the British from Chinese mainland.

At that time, the British put great efforts into the production of Indian tea, on the one hand, the British had a large demand for tea, on the other hand, tea was also an important economic asset of the East India Company at that time.

Generally speaking, tea is divided into black tea, oolong tea, green tea, yellow tea, white tea and Pu'er tea, all of which come from the same plant, but the output is different because of different processing processes. As we are familiar with, green tea is unwithered and fermented, oolong tea is half, and black tea is complete.

Mittal said that in principle, British people drink tea with milk and sugar, so only black tea can be produced to meet such needs.

However, he added that although both Assam and Darjeeling are black tea, Assam tea is rich and suitable for adding milk and sugar, because it will not cover the flavor of tea, but Darjeeling is not suitable because the taste of tea is light and elegant. it would be a pity to add milk sugar.

Mittal's tea shop also sells a lot of spices, including all kinds of Massala, the quality is reassuring. (photo by Hong Juan)

The tea industry feeds thousands of people.

Following the British tea culture, most Indians drink tea with milk and sugar, but Indians with a sweet tooth drink sweeter and, of course, develop India's unique Massala tea.

India had been the world's largest producer and consumer of tea until China took its place. But by far, tea is still India's most important cash crop and provides more than 10 million jobs for Indians.

Because of the importance of the tea industry, the Indian government also has a tea committee under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, headquartered in Calcutta, the old capital of the British colonial era, and 16 regional offices, three of which are in London, Moscow and Dubai. are India's most important tea exporters.

India has the best black tea in the world, but we didn't know it until we got to know Mittal. We do not have a sweet tooth, drinking Darjeeling and Assam black tea alone already feel the strong aroma of tea, in fact, there is no need for anything else.

Although Mittal's tea shop is simple, it is beautifully packaged and is committed to developing e-commerce, which Amazon can also buy. (photo by Hong Juan)

Indian milk tea lazy formula

But sometimes we also make Marsala tea, just for fear of trouble, I buy a well-known ready-made Massala tea bag, add three bay leaves (said to be more fragrant), boil it in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes to make the tea fragrant and brown, then add milk to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, and then sometimes add sugar and sometimes no sugar, depending on the mood of the day, and finally take out the tea bag and bay leaf. But my water is a little, about 1 pound less than half of 3, the rest is milk.

India is a big dairy country, they do not eat beef, but there is a lot of buffalo milk. Although many foreigners are not used to it, I think it is very fragrant and delicious, which is a very good source of calcium supplement for me now.

If you are as afraid of trouble as I am, in fact, supermarkets or grocery stores in India have Tata Tea produced by the well-known Indian Tata Group, or Brooke Bond Red Label and Lipton products produced by the international brand Unilever Group, with many choices and everything.

Indian supermarkets and grocery stores have many international or Indian tea products from large manufacturers, which is a good choice for you and me who are afraid of trouble.

India has the best black tea in the world, but interestingly, Mittal and my landlady prefer our Taiwan oolong tea, even after my Zumba teacher drank the Taiwanese oolong tea given to him by my friends and me. It also tells us that if you drink Taiwanese oolong tea and dance Zumba every day, you will be healthy and slim. To me, this is really an attractive statement.