Coming from a state and a district that is know for it's quality of tea all over the world, I have been familiar to teas since I was a kid. Because of a culture that celebrates all aspects of tea to having folks in the tea-tasting line of work, I have known how many myriad varieties of tea and methods of preparations exist.

For instance, my dear mother detests the idea of preparing tea by boiling all ingredients together in a bowl. She considers it a travesty to boil her precious fragrant tea leaves with milk and sugar at one go and to this day will refuse to drink tea when she visits me here in Pune.

I in the other hand, am quite addicted to the Maharashtrian chai with extra ginger which scandalizes my mother no end. It's probably because CTC is predominantly used here and it's much more about the liquor than the flavor. Whilst, if you drink tea in any home in Darjeeling, you'll see that they make a brew out of the tea leaves and then add milk and sugar. That would be proper because the tea leaves and ctc used there makes sure that you get the perfect cup of aromatic, flavorful yet refreshing tea.

But then Pune food scene is making sure that the Puneites are never left bereft of any new taste. So Tea Trails has brought a whole new tea experience closer to you. It's not only an unique place to visit to chill but also a great way to learn of the different types of tea that are out there we have never tried.

Tea Trail in a way is bringing tea to the masses in a new and classy way. Much like how different foods are paired with different types of wine, Tea Trail aims to educate about the different flavors and combinations that the tea can go with. We were in the house to sample some of their most popular and most innovative brews and here's what we loved about the place!

1. THE HOURGLASS TIME KEEPING: Now all the different brews that we were served were in these cute, clear tea steeper kettles (that I was so tempted to pocket along with the hourglasses of course) that gives you the control on how long you'd like to steep your leaves depending on how strong you'd want the liquor to be. Every tea came in a tray along with cute heartshaped cookies, a card on the details about the tea , its benefits and how long to steep it and an hourglass!
The adorable hourglasses could be used to mind ideal time you'd want your leaves to be soaked up to.

Intriguing, huh?



2. THE MIND-BOGGLING VARIETIES OF TEAS: True to its name, you'd literally be on a trail to discover teas you might not have even heard of let alone tasted. (Like RED ZEN TISANE, now that's something I'd probably considering renaming myself. Sassy!) It was seriously a journey as we started off with the familiar BLACKs, OOLONGs, LAPSANG SOUCHONGs and went reeling into CUMIN CHAI, PUDINA CHAI, LEMONGRASS TEA!

Going by the discussions at the table everyone had their own unique preference, so we'd suggest you go in and embark on your own journey to discover your soul tea. And if your soul tea is really just kadak MASALA CHAI...they have it too!

3. THE FOOD-TEA PAIRINGS: As we mentioned earlier, Tea Trails tries and pairs different teas with different food. We loved the innovative concept and for sometime were immersed with the task of bite-and-sip to actually understand the flavors. Though in the end we just gulped down our teas and hogged on to the snacks. But you might want to experience this as it is quite fun.

Also a thing to note was the snacks had a bit of tea in them too. Like the MARBLED EGG SALAD got their beautiful marble effect from getting simmered in tea liquor. SMOKED CHICKEN and PANEER SANDWICHES were stuffed with chicken/cottage cheese smoked in with tea flavors and tasted delicious.




One thing is for sure, the ONION PAKODAs did get along famously with the milky, masala chai!

4. TEA BASED MOCKTAILS: Yes, you will also learn that their are more to tea based cold beverages than just iced tea! We tried the MACHA SHAKE which was thick, frothy shake flavored with the Japanes powdered green tea that is oh-so-in these days.
We quite liked it for the novelty it brought to the table, But our hearts would always crave the PASSION FRUIT BUBBLE TEA that tasted as suggested, cold and refreshing and with the happy burst of boba balls which I find I get really excited about lately.

Go boba!

5. Two words, BUN MASKA! I know I tell you nothing new, but if you are in Tea Trails for some tea and want some light eats to go, do choose Bun Maska along with any other thing you choose. We absolutely went gaga over it. The bun was pillowy soft and literally slathered with a generous helping of butter. Yum!



So stop dilly-dallying. Get your pinkys out, pick that cup of tea, delicately purse your lips and sip on that beautiful brew that you are sure to find here. Get oolong and have a par-tea! (hehe, I made you read that. Score!)