IANSlife caught up with Rudra Chatterjee, Managing Director, Luxmi Tea Group to get more details and dicover aspects of tea not well known.
Read Ecerpts:
How important is the estate to the pedigree of the tea?
Rudra: It all Starts with Terroir: The soil, atmosphere, humidity, biodiversity; all go into creating the perfect conditions that help grow our teas. Each of our 23 estates are micro ecosystems with their unique flora, fauna, terroir, climate that impact the taste & characteristics of the tea grown at the estates.
The art of hosting tea in India has dramatically changing from chai with snacks to high tea.. Comment.
Rudra: In our country, the old traditions of serving tea remain integral to our culture. Tea is an important snacking occasion, but like all customs, the customs of tea are also evolving. High tea is also a tradition that involves light bites/ food, people and conversation. As we expand our palates to global cuisines across meal occasions it’s natural to also integrate new items in our tea time.
Tea rooms are still to make an entrance in the Indian restaurant landscape.. why have they not caught on so far?
Rudra: Tea themed establishments have grown exponentially in number in the last decade.
There are tea house chains across cities in India now; that cater interestingly to younger consumers. A lot of innovative offerings can be seen on these menus too along with food pairings that are a combination of traditional Indian snacks as well as global offerings like cakes, sandwiches. Many hotels, boutique and established chains alike, have also started to do high tea services and we can see a rise in demand at our end to curate our teas for a high tea occasion. The Indian consumer is definitely ready for an elevated experience of this daily ritual.
Do you believe that the Indian taste palette is becoming more refined when it comes to tea and opting for black tea over fruit flavoured options.
Rudra: India has seen a lot more experimentation with flavours and types of teas like green, white, orthodox over the last few years. Today, the consumer is very open to innovations and new products.
Traditionally we are a CTC black tea dominant market for tea but with rise of social media, information sharing, consumers are open to finer black teas as well as fruit flavoured tea blends.
A refined palate today would be one that is open to experimenting and trying all these varieties of tea to explore Aromas, Tasting Notes, Body and Flavours and we can definitely see a more curious consumer at the other side of the table. Luxmi Estates are infact expanding their own selection to 15 blends that offer fine black teas along with green and herbal blends that combine ingredients like mango, passionfruit to functional ingredients such as turmeric, ashwagandha, ginger to offer this consumers options to expand their palates.
Your favourite estate and why?
Rudra: This is a hard one because all our estates are so unique in profile. Our Himalayan estates with Makaibari in Darjeeling producing some of the world’s finest teas, to Estates in the Brahmaputra belt, Assam from where the bold, aromatic black teas come from to the forest-nurtured teas from Rwanda estates in Africa, one can choose a different cup for different times of the day. I do however love to start my day with cup of Makaibari.
Bring home the perfect holiday gift with Luxmi Estates specially curated Diwali Gift Hampers of Wellness.
The hamper consists of the newly launched blends one must try –
TURMERIC TIME-OUT
Turmeric is proven to have anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. refreshing cup, hot or cold. Turmeric Spice Herbal Immunity Tea, the premium haldi or turmeric used in this earthy fusion is grown in the foothills of the Himalayas in Fulbari Assam. Auspicious and sacred, this root has been used ceremonially and in ayurvedic healing.
VALERIAN DREAM
Valerian Root Chamomile Sleep Tea; the valerian root is handpicked from the rolling hills and deep valleys of Kalimpong in the Himalayas. It is this tranquil terroir that produces ingredients that are blended together this blend. The result is a light, earthy, and gently floral cup of tea that will steep you into relax.
HOLY TEA
Luxmi Holy tea contains holy basil leaves picked from the foothills of Eastern- Himalayas and is blended with ginger grown in Addabarie State of Assam. A homage to the Hindi herbal healing traditions, this quartet of four types of Holy Basil radiates with robust earthy tones of peppery yet floral Tulsi and the gentle undertones of Adda ginger. They have also been used as medicinal plants since decades, as both these herbs serve a number of benefits, individually.
ASTOUNDING ASHWAGANDHA
Caffeine free Ashwagandha Turmeric Ginger Calm Tea this Superfoods blend combines the power of turmeric with ashwagandha and ginger. Ayurveda has mention of Ashwagandha or the miracle root as early as 6000 years. The elixir of life is believed to balance your chakra energies by rejuvenating nerve cells. This powerpacks immunity, stress relief and gut health all in a cup.
Available across the globe, the hamper consists of 4 tins, a mix of recently launched blends, now available at INR 1,999/- Available www.luxmiestates.com
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