Win the world cup, with Swetha Sivakumar’s guide to teas

The latter are delicate teas. Their leaves need time to steep, unfold in the warm water and release their flavours. They are best enjoyed without milk or sugar.

Loose-leaf teas are in the vast minority in India. Over 80% of India’s tea production is made up of CTC tea. Fun fact: All teas come from the same species of plant; they’re just processed differently.

So how does one tell what’s in a pack? The grading of teas is based on the location of the leaf in the plant, and the size of the eventual tea granules. As one goes from the top to bottom of a tea plant, the leaves get less tender and more bitter. These levels are named, in order, flowery orange pekoe (top leaf), orange pekoe (second leaf down), pekoe (third leaf down), pekoe souchong (fourth leaf down), and souchong (fifth leaf down).

Tea packs that don’t use any of these terms are blends, with all kinds of leaves mixed in. Words such as “gold” and “premium” might indicate a higher percentage of aromatic long leaves, but that share generally stands at less than 15%.

Within CTC teas, larger granules (called broken-leaf tea) provide more aroma, more colour, but a more delicate flavour. It’s a lucky case of Jack Sprat and his wife that the smaller granules (called fannings and dust; leftovers from the process of sorting the larger granules) are cheap to produce and perfect for the low-cost kadak chai drunk at tea stalls and eateries across India. These tiny granules yield their flavour instantly, and it’s a flavour that is strong but not subtle, abundant in what the industry calls “liquor-strength”.

It should be said here that the low cost of CTC tea is used as an excuse for tea companies to underpay and exploit tea-estate workers, whose pay and working conditions, in many cases, remain unjustifiably frozen at levels set in the exploitative colonial era.

If you’re looking to make a difference, buy teas from estates or brands that are fair-trade certified. Currently, what 80% of CTC shoppers look for, according to data from Tea Board India, is a name brand that will deliver good quality. How do brands guarantee this, with assorted leaves that come from across plantations? Many employ highly trained and highly paid tea tasters to rate tea blends on factors such as zing, body, liquor-strength and colour.

Only a small minority of buyers opts for instant tea, which, incidentally, was invented in the UK way back in 1885, as a paste that could be reconstituted with boiling water. Today, it usually takes the form of ready mixes sold as a powder in sachets. But even these are not very popular, because they’re far less fragrant and flavourful than tea-leaf teas.

New tech is helping to address this. Research has shown that lower extraction times and temperatures help tea retain its flavour in an instant mix. So companies now use a cold-brewing process that employs pressure instead of high temperatures. Newer processes such as ultrasound-assisted extraction are also being tested.

When shopping for an instant mix, stay away from those with long ingredients lists. Some companies use stabilisers to add body and prevent sedimentation; some sachets contain anti-caking agents or sequestering agents such as Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to keep the ingredients from reacting with each other.

Honestly, I’d avoid these mixes altogether. They just don’t compare with the delight of hot, aromatic, freshly brewed chai.

(To reach Swetha Sivakumar with questions or feedback, email upgrademyfood@gmail.com)