Tea Trails
How come a place can run based on something so regular and daily adda like chai or tea? what will it bring it to the food scenario in hyderabad? How will they differentiate themselves? Well most of us would have thought of these questions when they hear about Tea Trails . Well most of my questions were answered (well almost) when I was invited by the PR Team on behalf of Tea Trails Management. its a venture of Zone8 Tea World started in 2012 with 2 years of R & D and then successfully launching the franchise in Mumbai in November 2013. This venture in Banjara hills is located in hot and happening area of Banjara hills and have been waiting to hit this place for so long. The invite came in at right time and I should say overall it was a good one.
Note: This review experience is based on Bloggers Invite Event and food was on the house but experience and reviews shared is honest and unbiased in the interest of fellow readers and foodies.
The whole boggers session started with a basic question which I guess most of us should know but haven's is what is chai ? What is tea? Well a subtle different "chai" is desi and is served over milk and "tea" is "angrezi" and served without milk. Why didnt it strike us? God knows :) The session then was planned in such a way they would do tea pairing - meaning a teal flavor accompanied with a relative snack to enhance the teat experience.I could stay for about 5 tea pairings while they had planned around 15 which I guess is quite a lot for a non-tea lover like me :) Well for most of it the teas impressed me
Silver Needle (White Tea) - A white Tea which as we heard were surprised and got to know more of its richness and the expensive tag it brings in for tasting the same. Its a very high class premium tea with a mild taste. This started the session where in they also explained us the mechanism of tea making including sleeping time which was quite interesting to know about . This one did visually and flavorwise didnt impress me as mostly it tasted like a warm light flavoured water Nothing so appealing to explain its price tag.
Bun Muska - Silver Needle was paired with Bun maska which was nothign but a soft fruit bun smudged with butter. was too yumm. Went multiple rounds of it.
Then came the most common and highly exploited variant green tea or diet tea whatever has been raging over diet conscious crowd and yes it did suck me into it for sometime but I didnt see anything uout of it expect it did increase the digestive nature in my system.
Kashmiri Kahwa (Green Tea) - This exotic green tea variant was served over spices and almonds again with a unique way of tea preparing with timer (hour glass) . This tea surprisingly impressed me . I guess the addition of almonds made it a top notch experience. Loved it.
Burmese Tea Salad - Green Tea was paired with burmese tea salad with lettuce , roasted nuts, dal infused with fermented green tea leaves. They informed us this is their signature dish but sorry I wasn't impressed with it. The salad was too bland with no seasoning at all and the green tea leaves infused didn't elevate any such flavors for me.
Followed was the show stopper of the evening in the name of black tea and I should say the pairing was brilliant and I'm now an ardent fan of this one for sure for life.
Lapsang Souchong (Black Tea) - with origin from Wuyi Region of china, this tea was the first ever black tea and it has got some interesting history behind it. Read it for yourself - makes you more hooked up to the teat. This tea visually when prepared madeall of us (mostly coffee lovers) wake up just by its pure whisky like color and some strong aroma filling the house. One sip is more than enough. People who love smooth whisky will fall for this one. The smoky aroma killed the experience to a top class tea. What a smoothness and amazing blend. People who even hate tea should try this.
Smoked Paneer Sandwich - The black tea was paired with smoked paneer and chicken sandwiches which was basically sandwich with caramelised onions and nice sauce in it. Both variants impressed me and the pairing was beautiful.
Kullad Chai - typical spice chai served on earthen kullad which was typical of hyderabad. One sip and it felt very bad. The cinnamon or something in it was too strong to hit us back and also it was muddled with the kullad ka taste which I felt totally absurd and not appealing. One sip and I left it the way it was. My worst pick of the day.
Onion Pakoda - Now who wouldn't love this snack which is the perfect pair for desi chai. It was crispy, nicely fried and accompanying mint chutney. This one went multiple rounds. I just wished the kullad could do justice to this good dish.
My fifth and final pairing was orange tea with marbel egg salad
Oolong tea (Orange Tea) - is a traditional Chinese tea through a unique process including withering the plant under the strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. This tea visually also appealed and delivered some fresh aroma as well. Though not like black tea, it was decently flavoured and most of us liked it.
Marble Egg Salad - The unique way of preparing the egg look like marble balls was interesting with the web grained on the white part of the egg. The salad looked visually ver appealing but again lack of seasoning made it another bland salad. I think they should seriously look into salad seasoning as both the salads served totally bland and not appeatizing and they should taste it before serving which make it more satisfactory.
Service & Hospitality:
Mr. Madhukar (Manager in charge) did sat with us for the entire session and was very knowledgeable of all the teas and his experience does speak through his interactions with us. The guy is definitely an asset to the venture and definitely made our experince a satifactory one. But I dont know if its the slow service , sloppy co-ordination and chaotic sequence, I didnt feel service and hospitality feel in place . I could see the main reaosn is because of such as msall kitchen space for serving the entire plae's finger food needs. They should definitely think about speedening it to ensure there is smooth experince fo customers to enjoy their main tea variants.
Verdict:
Tea Trails, I would say, is an impressive debutant to give us a something different in hyderabad food landscape. Definitely has potential but they should get their act together in a more collective way. Overall it was a good experience to be among like minded food bloggers and had a fun time as usual.
Note: This review experience is based on Bloggers Invite Event and food was on the house but experience and reviews shared is honest and unbiased in the interest of fellow readers and foodies.
