5 Ways To Train Your Palate With Rangsaa Tea

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Tea Talk 9Rangsaa’s tagline ‘Symphony of Colorful Tea’ reflects the various tasting notes in our blends, which come together to create a beautiful, elaborate musical composition, full of orchestral flavor profiles. There are different tasting notes, depth of flavors, aroma, undertones, complexities and spikes before you get an aftertaste. Every Rangsaa blend is an experience in taste, simplicity and purity, making it a beautiful tea drinking journey, something that you want to keep coming back for.

Indulging in novel ideas and events enriches our understanding of life and enhances the quality of our experiences. We at Rangsaa love trying out new notes, taste and flavour profiles with our tea blends. With the finest organic herbs and high altitude tippy tea leaves, we have created a beautiful symphony of unique flavours and notes, distinguishing our blends from the artificial ones that have proliferated the market today. We want people to experience this colourful symphony with five simple steps. Ask yourself the following questions when drinking our teas:

1. Describe your tea blend – How is the appeal? Examine the appearance of the dry tea leaves and other ingredients in the blend. Are the tea leaves whole or broken? Do you see silver or golden tips? How do the ingredients look? What do they smell like? Examine your tea, studying it for clues and flavours that are about to indulge your senses. Rejoice in the moment.

2. Describe the color of the tea liquor – Watch the leaves infuse and spread a cloud of color in your cup or teapot. Is it amber, crimson, golden, or a different color altogether? How does the color change with steeping time?

3. Describe the aroma – Close your eyes and inhale the rich aroma wafting from the infusion. What does it smell like? What are the hints of flavors that you are experiencing? Is it fresh, exciting, warm, spicy, comforting etc.?

4. Describe the tasting notes – Now, slurp the tea (don’t worry about the loud noises). Spread it all over your tongue and mouth. What flavors, notes, undertones do you detect? What are the top notes? Is there a balance? How is the texture and the finish? Try to describe your experience.

5. Describe the aftertaste – Finally, swallow the tea. Is the finish long or short? Do the flavors dissipate quickly or last for a while in your mouth? What flavors remain? Is the mouthfeel dry or creamy? Do you detect sweetness? You are the taster here. Enjoy every sip.

For a heightened tea experience, we suggest steeping the tea for 5-10 minutes and see how you like your tea, detecting the change in density and depth of flavours, thus allowing the musical notes to resonate.

To learn more about the new flavors that you can experience, please refer to our tea reviews on the website. Our reviews will act as an introduction and reference guide and will also enhance your experience by giving you cues on exploring your blends in different ways.

Train your palate and explore new flavors and nuances with Rangsaa’s premium tea blends and tisanes. Drinking tea is fun and we want you to experience the magic with your Rangsaa journey.

7 Ways To Enhance Your Tea Experience

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tea-talk-8Charles Dickens once said, “If you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head, I should better understand your affairs”. Wise words from a tea lover, indeed. Tea improves your mood and enhances creativity, the sublime effect created by a combination of elements associated with the tea experience, including aspects of tea preparation, an indulgence in the taste and aroma during consumption and simply acting as a refreshing break from other activities. Tea is known to bring peace and relaxation to one’s mind, thus helping achieve the elusive ‘zen’. The many wonderful proprieties and peculiarities of tea can lead you to experience the zen you are looking for and sip in a whole new tea affair.

A complete tea experience comes with several nuts and bolts that must all come together to create a synthesis as heady as a luxuriant blend. To deepen your understanding of tea, we would like to introduce you to 7 different ways of enhancing your everyday tea experience:

1. Nothing else matters – When you drink your daily cup of tea, focus only on the tea and forget the constant worries, meetings, projects, and deadlines to be met. Push daily life to the back of your mind, to be retrieved once the session is done. The state of mind when you pause and transcend beyond trivialities and annoyances, away from the everyday mundanity and hustle, is the true way to enjoy tea.

2. A tranquil and elegant space – A clutter-free, pleasant and elegant drinking space fosters positive sentiments, heightening the pleasure of drinking tea. Go for a tastefully decorated room to liven up an empty space, creating a solemn and respectful atmosphere for tea preparation and drinking. Light incense sticks or a candle, it’s all up to you to decorate your personal tea space.

3. Appreciating tea – Experiencing tea is not just about drinking but rather about carefully tasting it. Examine and judge your tea’s flavor, color, aroma and texture. Allow the tea to unfold it’s inner workings and dormant flavors to you. When you are clear about the ‘Way of tea’, you will be able to judge tea quality and value.

4. The art of teaware – Tea masters and scholars have on several occasions emphasised, and we concur, that refined and exquisite teaware enhances the enjoyment of drinking tea. Whether you love your traditional tea bowl or your stylish glass teapot, proper and elegant teaware can make a significant difference in your overall tea experience.

5. Intimate understanding – Tea drinking is an accurate representation of the oneness of man, nature and spirit. Get intimate with your tea, connect with it and dive into the process mindfully. You can thus hone your skill, understand the natural forces behind the process and increase your appreciation for tea to the molecular level.

6. In-sync with nature – Nature is integral to the enjoyment of tea. The placement of stones, an arrangement of potted plants and use of natural materials such as a wooden table, bamboo stools, earthenware – all add to accentuating your tea experience as a creation of nature.

7. Good company – Like wine, tea takes you on its own, unique journey. Drinking tea in the company of advanced tea drinkers who appreciate the aesthetics of tea, have a keen understanding of the finer things in life and value tea, can lead to an enriching tea experience and enhance the beauty of the whole exercise.

Enrich your everyday tea drinking experience with these simple ways and watch your tea take on new flavors, forms, colors and meanings.

Find Your Daily Zen With A Simple Tea Meditation

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tea-talk-3-1Today’s world is an ever-demanding place where we are constantly expected to be on-the-go, with little time for ourselves. Are we relaxed in our daily lives, with our minds calm and clear? The very fact that modern lifestyles drive us crazy with their deadlines, tight schedules and endless expectations draw several people to find that one quiet moment in the day.

Tea meditation helps you do just that. Meditation may be hailed as the ultimate path to mental peace and calm, but most of us find the first step towards achieving that great ideal a task in itself. The biggest challenge we face while trying to meditate is keeping our thoughts from running amok while we stay put physically.

On my quest to tackle the issue effectively, I figured out just the right way to ease myself into the exercise – tea meditation. The very process of preparing, brewing, followed by drinking tea in a calm setting is the most potent form of meditation, to me. Just the act of taking the time out to brew the perfect cup of tea helps me cancel out both external and internal noise and practise mindfulness, tuning into the present moment and focusing on what is important, here and now. Tea helps me slow down, pause, breathe and get in sync with the natural, uninterrupted rhythm of life.

The subtle aromas of different leaves, the simplicity and purity of natural flavours help us connect with nature. The entire process – starting from boiling water to brewing tea leaves, ending with sipping the flavorful infusion – gives us a much needed hiatus, a break in the endless action that our lives are. Compared with the tiny amount of time we get while waiting for the train or making a dash for a quick morning coffee, this is a time we can be certain of diving into and enjoying.

Tea is a delightful romance between water and tea leaves; tea leaves distend in water, releasing wafting aromas, colors and flavours nurtured by nature, giving you the very essence of nature in a cup of tea. The act of drinking tea is soothing, simple and a mind-awakening experience that is nothing short of a thrilling sensory experience. The entire process of experiencing and observing tea release its natural charm is meditative. Naturally, the use of proper and beautiful teaware assumes importance, contributing to and enhancing the overall tea experience.

Tea meditation is a great path to introspection and inner reflection. It helps us realise the intrinsic beauty of life and the grand amalgamation of experiences it offers us each moment. Along comes the realization that the present is the most important moment, worthy of all our attention and one of the best ways to heighten our awareness is the simple act of drinking tea with mindfulness.

You can practise your tea meditation during any given time of the day, be it the morning, afternoon or evening, depending on the freedom your work schedule allows you. A simple tea ritual, when practised daily, ensures peace of mind, a harmonious attitude towards life, self-realization and ultimately the freedom to experience life on your own terms.

The greater your appreciation and sensitivity towards the wonders of tea, the shorter will be your path towards a calmer, happier and zen you.

TEA101 – Tip Eight

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Follow Love for Tea’s TEA101 series for brilliantly useful and interesting tea tips.

TEA Trip One – Rishikesh, The Yoga Capital Of The World!

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The increasing worldwide interest in yoga has made Rishikesh a hot destination for all yoga lovers from around the world. People, who love yoga, also consider tea as a spiritual medium to heal and connect with their inner self. To explore the emerging tea culture in Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world, ‘Love for Tea’ decided to hit the road and explore the city.

Rishikesh, a nature buff’s paradise, has a serene and calm ambience, that will completely absorb you. With both relaxed and reverent vibes- right on the bank of river ganga, with fresh mountain air, sunrise over the peaks, incessantly ringing temple bells and power packed yoga centers and devotees, the city is a must visit tea destination.

After checking into a beautiful room at Tapovan, on the hilltop, we started our day of adventure. We walked through the forest from our hotel and reached Swiss Garden Restaurant. It’s a beautiful bistro in the middle of forest- with huge variety of great tea, awesome food, calm ambience, trance music and yes, free wifi. This place is a magnet for tea lovers and I highly recommend it.

Some of the teas that I tried here over the next few days are Mint tea, Herbal tea, Ayurvedic tea, Honey ginger lemon and Nepali tea. Nepali chai, as called by the locals, is made with spices without any tea leaves. It’s delicious and a must have. I had to connect with the head chief and learnt the recipe first hand. The recipe for Nepali Chai lands on my blog pretty soon.

We spent our next three days hiking, trekking, visiting numerous temples and exploring tea at local restaurants & cafes. Most of them had interesting menus for all taste. Chilling by the shore of the Ganga and making new friends was our normal activity there.

One of the memorable places during my visit was the Third Eye Restaurant, where we spent an evening after a long day at the beach. Next to the Beatles café, ‘The Third Eye Restaurant’ is another beautiful place with a breath taking view. We spent crazy hours over many rounds of tea here. The Tibetan Restaurant in Tapovan is another nice place to explore, with awesome variety of tea and multi-cultural cuisines. This place is packed with foreign travellers also because of a German bakery next door and Baba massage center right in front.

The organic and spiritual energy in Rishikesh reflects in the tea here, which besides being completely different in it’s presentation, is mostly made from fresh herbs, that offers a unique tea experience.

Best time to visit Rishikesh is during the winters. Tapovan is a must explore destination for all nature lovers. Thus we continued our Tea quest further towards the east of India, where the tea was already brewing for our arrival.

Thank You ‘Lock Cha’ For Yellow Tea

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“Tea is like a library, where every book has a purpose”- Love for Tea

Yellow tea and me, it was love at first sight. I was in Hong Kong for work and I wanted to check out some local tea cafes during my stay. It was a bright chilly afternoon and I walked by Lock Cha Tea Shop, right in Hong Kong park, which seemed like a nice quiet pleasure in the busy city. When I walked in, I felt pure tea-nirvana.

The place is a tea museum and the entry is free. It’s very vibrant and has lot of stuff going around, from display of ancient tea pots, tea making equipment, lessons on how tea should be served, tea-wares consulting, to tea etiquette and whole lot of tea inspiration. Lock Cha Tea shop is a very traditional place where one can truly experience Chinese culture and where people are always thrilled to serve you some tea. The tea shop is equally spirited with a wonderful menu of more than 100 kinds of tea, with clear explanation about their flavors.

There was a tea-tasting ceremony happening at the tea shop and I just flew for it. It was a beautiful and a spiritual experience, that felt like a cross-country road trip along with tea, with so many varieties of tea and flavors, known and unknown, on the way. Here, I tasted yellow tea and it was sunshine in my cup.