Just Tea

Just Tea - A small attempt to bring the delight of a great drink called Tea. It is my first entrepreneurial venture and hence holds a very special place. This was the first dream I saw when I landed up in IIM Lucknow.

For those who do not know the origins, here is the full story of "Just Tea" .

Like any other idea, it was formed during informal discussions with a friend of mine. We shared an interest in tea and soon we found that we can educate others about this widely consumed but hardly known drink. Thus came into being "CHaiBar", a small hangout for friends at my room - right ambiance, right music, right drink.. summed up to right experience. But this couldn't last long in the rigour of study and other commitments. I tried reviving this dream with the help of other friends but never could gain enough momentum.

Then came an idea to start with a small counter in another student run eatery inside the campus. This along with a search for an info regarding the NVP project, resulted in an encounter with the owner of a tea distribution company in Lucknow. He was willing to help us try out the idea on our own. He wanted to open a Tea Lounge in Lucknow and hence needed an initial working model to gauge the inclination of customers. In the mean time, we had formed a group which was enthusiastic about implementing the idea. And lo.. the engine started running.

Within a short span of a month, we were able to get all clearances and start a small tea kiosk. It sure is a humble beginning but definitely has the potential to grow big. I do not want to go into detail about what were the challenges we faced but yes, it was a great learning experience. Every minor detail had to be worked out. One has to be proactive throughout. It is a team work all in all. Just Tea can claim to have a set of loyal customers, even though the number is small right now. Through unique and fast service, we are expecting to grow this small base into a strong network of loyal customers.

It is just a start. Many hurdles are yet to be crossed, many milestones yet to be achieved. Wish us Luck. :)

Tea - A drink for all

Why TEA ?? A question which can prop up in anyone's mind when I talk about it. My answer is simple - because I love to make people understand that even a cup of tea can bring exquisiteness in our lives. For me, Tea is a symbol of simplistic elegance. It is our claim to elitehood.

Now let us talk about tea. As Indians, it is surprising that we hardly know about tea. In layman's language tea is of two kinds - gol-daana (CTC) and leaves (Orthodox). CTC is the variety which we usually drink and is made by "crushing-tearing-curling", a 3-step process which is used to release the juices of tea leaves and oxidize them. The orthodox tea is manufactured with the help of orthodox roller in the process of rolling. While, most of the teas produced in Sri Lanka is of ‘orthodox’ variety, Kenya produces mainly CTC teas.

Main benefits of tea :
1. Health : Possible effectiveness against cardiovascular diseases and cancer; Dental health (presence of fluoride) and against high blood pressure ; High amount of antioxidants;
2. Social : Many cultures have revolved their social activities around tea. Japan, Arab, India, China etc. all have associated tea drinking with an elitist activity. (Though in India, tea is now so common that it has lost its exclusiveness).

Types of tea (based on processing techniques):

1. White tea: Unwilted and unoxidized
2. Yellow tea: Unwilted and unoxidized but allowed to yellow
3. Green tea: Wilted and unoxidized
4. Oolong: Wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized
5. Black tea: Wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidized
6. Post-fermented tea: Green Tea that has been allowed to ferment/compost

Indian black tea are : Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri

Flavored tea can be made by adding different flavors to the tea leaves. Demand of flavored tea leaves is increasing everyday. Few famous flavored tea are: Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Masala Chai and Lemon.

Tea making is an art depending on the tea being served. The intricacies range from keeping the temperature of the hot water to just the right limit, to pouring it over leaves from a certain height, to the choice of tea pot, to the time allowed for brewing of tea leaves, to the amount of additives such as sugar and milk. Number of servings also determines the taste of the tea with the 3 rd pass giving the best flavor in case of black tea.

There are a number of dishes which go along very well with different varieties of tea. A hot steaming cup of masala chai with a parantha is enough to make people crave in norther india where as a cup cake with Assam tea is the cultivated delicacy of British raj.

All I am left to say here is that tea is a single drink which can be inherently modified into thousands of flavors without changing its essence and it is this art of serving a perfect cup of tea to go along with perfect company I want to learn and explore.

Some links for reference:

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tea.htm
http://teaboard.gov.in/inner2.asp?param_link_id=310&mem_link_name=About%20Tea

Another idea of Interest - CHai

I will write about the experiences I had when I went exploring the world of Tea.