A tea workshop.. huh! Why would you want to do that? That too, at Anna Nagar - were some of the comments that I had when I told folks at home that I was going for this.
Kettle is a cute name for a place that serves different kinds of tea and of course, snacks and desserts. (
it sort of reminded me of the nursery rhyme - I am a little tea pot... :) ) As Sindhu and I navigated the crazy roads (
er.. the auto fellow did), we managed to find this place nestled in a quiet corner of Shanthi Colony, 10th Main Road, Anna Nagar.
I love tea, and have tried different types of tea during my stint in Pune. So, when this workshop was announced I was curious and really wanted to see what Kettle has to offer.
Lots of known people, some faces that were known only from Facebook profiles, and some total unknowns constituted the group. I'd thought the workshop will be on the lines of a classroom session where we'll be given vast knowledge on tea and how to brew, how to smell and taste (
you know, almost like a wine tasting.. ahem..well.. :P ).
We started off with a black currant iced tea (
which they claim is peach iced tea). The high tea was served at the table - this consisted of a couple of mini puffs filled with creamy mushroom with a herbed cheddar cheese, some potato wedges and a couple of sandwiches. The banana walnut cake was to follow later. All of these were great.
As we were drinking the iced tea, the tea makers at the counter started brewing the first tea. There was a bit of chaos at the counter, as the photo enthusiasts started shooting away, and there were requests to pour tea, to keep the timer here, to adjust the position of the kettle, so on and so forth. The tea makers gracefully obliged to all our crazy requests including taking the kettle, timer and glass outside in the sunlight to get some shots.
One thing to note while making iced tea is not drop water-based ice cubes into the tea. The tea should be frozen and then added to the liquid, so it doesn't dilute with time.
As we shuttled between 2 counters to get a glimpse of what they were brewing and how, I wonder if this was actually intended as a workshop. This was more like a bunch of us just visiting a place and ordering some food. The information provided about each of the tea wasn't sufficient; most of the information we already know. I think, a session more on the lines of smell, taste and brew and a hands-on would have made this workshop (
and our travel all the way from the other end of the city) more worthwhile.
The tea that were shown to us were Black Currant, Earl Grey, Hibiscus, White, Green (
Hara Talwar) and Apricot (
which was the mystery tea.. yay to Shriram for getting it right and winning the Rs 300 voucher)
The hibiscus tea is supposed to be taken with honey is what they said. But all of us found it too honey-y and preferred to take it plain. The white tea is supposed to make you slim and get you a glowing skin :D (
reminded me of those slimming tea ads on TV)
All in all, this was an experience. There's plenty scope for improvement, so the chaos at the counter can be avoided. More knowledge on tea should be imparted and the staff trained to answer the questions. Few questions earned a "
we don't know ma'am" response. And would be lovely if you can start selling the tea leaves as well!
Loved the ambiance, cutlery & crockery.
PS: End of it all, as S says, theru monai nair kadai la poi oru cutting chaya adichathan tea kudicha feeling! :-)
Here are the pictures from the event!
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| Black Currant Iced Tea |
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| Preethi, addressing the group |
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| Going to make some tea! |
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| I am little tea pot... short and stout.. :-) |
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| Puffs with Creamy Mushroom Cheddar filling |
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| High Tea |
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| Take away goodie bags (I got the hibiscus) |
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| Dessert Counter |
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| One of the green tea - Hara Muskaan (It's supposed to be smiling :P ) |
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| White Tea |
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| Banana Walnut Cake |
