Keeping loose tea fresh through a Kolkata monsoon
Air, light, heat, damp and smell: the five things that spoil tea at home, and a simple way to beat each one.
The perfect Kolkata cha
Strong, sweet and boiled: how the city’s roadside tea is made at home.
Kolkata runs on cha, served in small clay bhar cups at stalls on every corner. It is strong, milky and sweet, and it is boiled, not steeped.
You need a strong Assam CTC. Its small, round grains release colour and body fast, which is what you want when milk goes in. Our masala chai blend uses the same tea with whole spices ground in.
For two cups: bring 150 ml water to a boil with two heaped teaspoons of tea. Let it boil for two minutes until the water turns dark. Add 150 ml full-fat milk and two teaspoons of sugar.
Now the important part. Let it rise to the boil, lower the heat, and let it rise again, two or three times. This thickens the milk and deepens the flavour. Some stalls pour it from height between two pans to cool and froth it.
Strain into small cups, and drink it hot. A clay cup gives it a faint earthy smell that no porcelain can match. Serve with a biscuit, and make a second round straight away.
