Get To Know The Magical Seven Layer Tea

Boil water, put in some tea leaves, pour the milk and voila! Tea is ready. But how many layers does it have? None? Well, then you have made the run-of-the-mill tea dear. How about having tea with seven layers in it? Won’t that be an incredible thing to try? Originating in rural Bangladesh, the Seven Layer Tea or Seven Colour Tea, also called the Rainbow Tea or Saat Rong Cha is a delight to see and drink. 

Who? What? Where?

The 7 layer tea was invented by a man named Romesh Ram Gour after he discovered that different tea leaves can be used to make tea of different densities. The seven layer tea of Sylhet is available at his shop called Nilkantha Tea Cabin on the Kalighat Road. Each layer of the dusky rainbow tea has a different colour and flavour, so sipping through all of them is a journey for your taste buds as you move from spicy clove aroma to a syrupy concoction and more. Nobody knows the exact recipe of the tea and Gour’s shop is the only one selling the authentic tea. The only known ingredients of the tea include 3 types of teas grown in Sreemongol, green tea, condensed milk, spices and lemons. Rumour has it that once a Bollywood star had invited him to make the tea for his wedding but he had declined the offer!

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Weird Teas, Quirky Teas and Deadly Teas!

While the 7 layer tea is something interesting that can be definitely tried out, here are some other interesting albeit weird teas that you should know about, even if you don’t end up having a sip!

• Japanese Awabancha tea (tea fermented by lactic acid bacteria)
• Sour Russian Kombucha tea (sweet black tea fermented with bacteria and yeasts)
• Russian brick tea (made from tea dust compressed into bricks)
• Japanese Kukicha tea (green tea made with stalks and twigs)
• Chinese Pu-erh tea (green tea aged by fungus)
• Alcohol tea also called wrestling of tiger and dragon (black tea with a bit of brandy)
• Tibetan Pocha tea (tea with yak butter instead of milk)
• Garlic tea (with with garlic, what else? Yuck!)
• China’s dry bubble ice tea (tea with a layer of frozen CO2 which can be lethal)
• Panda dung tea (made with green tea grown with panda poop)

Want to know about more interesting varieties of tea like Tandoori chai and where to get them? Or want to explore the journey of tea from leaf to cup? Then stay tuned to HerZindagi.