Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Although I like tea better, I don't exactly hate coffee but too much of Cafe Coffee Day has done its trick - I don't like being Jailed in their different but rather ordinary brews and American style service.
I happened to stumble into this place in Hyderabad called Finjaan which served wonderful tea - mind it, the shop belongs to a connoisseur, and he simply won't allow you drink your tea with milk - in imported German glass-ware. The moment we went in, we were greeted by a warm smile, two rows of air-tight bottles containing tea leaves at the counter, and two glasses of cool water at the round-table. I could open each air-tight bottle and smell the tea before choosing.
I had one of my friends with me, so I chose a nice smelling Darjeeling tea for him and a white-tea for me. The next course was a white tea called White Peony tea for me, followed by Ginseng tea and Chinese Jade Rings tea.
It felt good to have tea for the smell, rather than the kick, on a hot summer afternoon when the outside temperatures were around 42 degrees Celsius. It also felt good to be in the shop of a connoisseur who made sure that he gave us wonderful treatment - right from the glass of water, to brewing the tea in a glass flask, to serving it in German glassware. He also made sure we knew of all the medicinal properties of the tea we chose - I'm ashamed that I don't remember any of that, but it felt good. I wonder what it takes to be a connoisseur and what feels to be one.

4 comments:

rads said...

Finjaan in HYd eh? Where is it in Hyd?

Sounds like you had a good time :) Savoring such moments are what brings quality in - imho.

Unknown said...

They have 3 shops. the biggest shop is in tolichowki.

Unknown said...

http://www.finjaan.com

Srobona RC said...

oi didn't know you into blogging AND you write so well?? got me as ur reader.