Top Indian Tea Versions: Different Styles of Indian Tea

Indian people are usually tea lovers, and therefore, there are many popular varieties of tea in Indian tea culture. Indian people have their own tea versions. They don’t just want to restrict themselves to the basic types of tea like green, black, oolong, and herbal tea variations. Instead, they added some spices and formed new tea styles. The Indian tea style is famous worldwide. Even foreigners are eager to taste tea from roadside tea stalls in India.

By keeping the health benefits of tea in mind, Indian tea styles combine some beneficial spices, milk, lemon-like things with tea to add their own touch. People of India have their own preferences. They prefer a different kind of tea in a different mood. So, here we will discuss different Indian tea versions with the recipes.

Also Read : Top Indian Tea Brands

Masala Tea

Masala chai or masala tea is a famous Indian tea style. Any rainy day in India is incomplete without masala tea. It can be prepared very quickly at home. For preparing a cup of masala tea (8oz), boil half cup water, then add black tea and let it brew, then take some ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and star anise (total 10 grams masala for an eight oz cup) and crush them lightly. Then add them to the boiling tea with half a cup of milk and two teaspoons of sugar. Your rich flavorful masala tea is ready. You can prepare it with only milk in place of water if you want a richer version of it.

Ginger (Adrak) tea

Ginger tea is another popular variety of Indian tea. For preparing it, first, we need to boil water and then add black tea leaves. When the tea leaves the color and aroma, we need to add fresh ginger. We can have it like this or can add milk and sugar as per preference. For preparing a cup of ginger tea (150ml), we will need one teaspoon tea leaves; 5gms ginger, sugar, and milk can be added as per taste and preference. This tea is very effective in providing relief from cold and cough and soar-throat.

Cardamom (Elaichi) tea

Cardamom tea which is locally famous as Elaichi chai is another interesting Indian tea recipe. Preparing this tea is not at all hard work. You need to add 4 to 5 cardamom pods to 150ml boiling water with tea leaves. Then you need to add milk and sugar and your cardamom tea is ready. With the sweetness and flavor of cardamom, this tea helps in digestion and improves heart health.

Mumbai cutting chai

It is an Indian tea that originates from Mumbai. It is milk-infused rich tea basically served half glass and so named as cutting chai. Water and milk are boiled in a 1:1 ratio with dust tea leaves and sugar for preparing this tea. It is the best seller of Mumbai roadside tea stalls.

Kashmiri tea (Kashmiri Kahwa)

Hailed from the land of Kashmir, Kashmiri Kahwa is an Indian tea that is authentic green tea with exquisite spices. But the aroma of saffron is the dominating flavor of this tea. Green tea leaves are added to the boiling water with almonds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and few saffron strands to prepare this tea variety. This tea is very effective for increasing the strength of memory and preventing cancer. This tea is best to consume while having a brunch.

Sulaimani Chai

It is a kind of black tea and originated from South India. Famous as ‘Ghava’ or ‘Kattan Chaya,’ this is the tea served with lemon. The black tea leaves are mixed with boiling water and kept covered for five minutes. After that half, lemon juice is added to it (for a 150ml cup) and then served hot. It is appropriate to consume after eating heavy food as it helps indigestion.

Basil tea (Tulsi tea)

This Indian tea style is more famous for its health benefits. Few basil leaves are added with the boiling tea to eliminate stress and enhance the immunity system. This tea is usually prepared without milk and sugar and best to intake in the morning.

Indian black tea

Indian black tea is also not like that of the other country—Indians use tea leaves instead of dust tea or tea bags. The preparation method is also a little different. For preparing Indian-style black tea, water needs to be boiled, and then you have to turn the flame off and add the tea leaves. Then cover it and allow it to be submerged. It will not be bitter and offer you a heavenly taste with flavor. Black tea has various health benefits as well. Regular consumption of it helps to control diabetes.

Honey-ginger tea

Honey-ginger tea is a healthier version of black tea. Like the people of other countries, Indian people are also health-conscious. So, they don’t like to consume the rich tea versions every time. Honey-ginger tea is perfect for those who want to enjoy the tea but want to avoid calories. Honey and ginger are added with regular black tea brew to prepare this tea. It is very helpful in preventing cold and flu.

Jaggery tea

Jaggery tea can make you feel the warmth within during the monsoon. Palm jaggery is boiled with some crushed spices like peppercorns and coriander seeds to prepare this tea. A little touch of cumin and dried ginger are also there in the tea. The herbs and jaggery create such a flavor that can make anyone feeling relieved from cold.

Conclusion

So, these are exclusive Indian chai styles that everyone should try. Some of them are rich, whereas some are healthy. Nevertheless, the vast Indian tea styles and varieties are difficult to get in any other part of the world.