Going for a Tea Trails Cafe

      On last Saturday, I went on a completely different trail – TeaTrails with my family. Tea Trails is Tea Lounge, bringing the rich world of Tea to Indian Community. A very different social experience with tea. We went to the newly opened Tea Trails at Anna Nagar Metro Station, just behind Kandaswamy College, Anna Nagar Second Main Road. The interiors and the ambiance is really great, giving a rich fine-dining experience.

              

                     

Tea and Chai

              

                  

What is the difference between tea and chai?  This is the first thing one learns at TeaTrails. Tea is always without milk and Chai is with milk. Even sugar is optional only. It is a real surprise for us South Indians who have conflated Tea with Chai. Second interesting fact you will come to know is that all the different types of tea – Red Tea, Green Tea, White Tea etc. come from the same Plant - Camellia sinensis only. The different types of Tea comes with the different types of processing steps such as withering, rolling, oxidizing etc. 

Tea as high culture :  

In Countries like China, Japan, England, Morocco etc. tea tasting is a very ritualized social affair. Tea is taken along with food during breakfast, lunch and dinner. You might have read about how today's modern world was hatched in Coffee shops across Europe, especially the French revolution which was brewed in coffee shops. If the commoners were going with coffee, it seems the royalty, especially the English went all over on tea. The tea habit of the English has had a big impact on India. They had formed large plantations of Tea in India only to counter the Chinese Tea imports to England. 

In TeaTrails, they serve the Tea in a specialized Transparent Glass Filter Jug. The tea is put on the top layer on the Jug with hot water in the main jug. They keep a Sand Clock which indicates how much time the tea has to brew. We have to pour the tea into our cups only after the specified time. 

Teas and Eats: Tea Trails-Pairings

The Uniqueness of Tea Trails is that they provide a great dish which goes well with the tea they serve, a combination their culinary team has come up with after long research. Here are some of the great Tea Trails Pairings we devoured:

a. Silver Needle (White Tea) paired with Bun Muska

          

b. Kashmiri Kahwa (Green Tea with almonds) with paired Burmese Tea Salad (Salad with Tea leaves added) and Veg Ham Bruschetta

                          

 

c. Lapang Souchong (Chinese Black Tea) paired with Smokey Paneer/Chicken Sandwich

   

d. Adrak Chai with Onion Pakoda

                    

e. Japanese Iced Matcha Shake paired with BBQ chicken or Paneer Pizza

f. Tisane Red Zen paired with fruity dessert like chocolate waffle.

Cold-Tea Drinks:

TeaTrails has some great Special Cool Shakes which are tea based cool drinks. We taste two unique Shakes worth mentioning

e. Litche Bubble Tea contains fruit bubbles which burst in the mouth. Kids would freak out on this drink. A not to miss drink for sure.

f. Better Wife is a mint, Japanese mocha and ice-cream mix. Really enjoyable Cool taste with a cool name too.

Affordability: Since the Tea they serve have four servings which can be shared by two-to-three people, each cup of tea would come to about 40 Rupees on the average which is quite competitive, given the experience factor and rich food varieties.

Tea Trails is not just for Tea. It is an ideal place for a great team-out, office and birthday parties. Since they also have different varieties ranging from Pizzas to VadaPavs, Pastas to burgers etc. you can visit anytime - breakfast, lunch, evening snack or dinner.

Tea Trails is a high recommended, must visit place for foodies.