Quali-tea: Tea expert shares how to enjoy best flavors, benefits

MINODH DE SYLVIA
MINODH DE SYLVIA

TEA has a lot of health benefits—if you’re drinking pure tea, that is.

Tea expert Minodh de Sylvia of Island Tea Co. shared this, and more, one fine afternoon at its SM City Cebu branch, while sipping his favorite Ceylon Tea Latte, a Sri Lankan traditional drink that’s a cross between milk tea and café latte. His passion and expertise for tea shows with how he clearly explained every little detail of premium loose leaf tea—from its production and brewing process to its health benefits.

How tea is produced is as fascinating as the drink itself. Though there are different classifications of tea (black, white, oolong, green, yellow and pu-ehr), all of these come from the same basic plant called Camellia Sinensis. However, these all differ in their processing, growing conditions and geography.

With the goal of educating the local market about tea, just like how specialty coffee experts are opening the minds of people, Minodh, a businessman from Sri Lanka, brought premium loose leaf tea to Cebu and opened Island Tea Co.

The most popular base for blended tea and flavored tea in the world is made from Ceylon tea, and the finest quality of its kind is only produced in Sri Linka (the term “Ceylon” is derived from the former name of the country).

At its tea plantation in Sri Linka, each leaf and bud are meticulously plucked by the farmers instead of using machinery. How the leaves and buds are plucked affects the quality of the product. According to Minodh, machines have the tendency to mix some of the coarse leaves and twigs with the proper leaves. This destroys the premium flavor of the tea.

Since Ceylon Tea is known as the base for blended and flavored tea drinks, Minodh and the company’s tea specialists infused it with natural fruits and ingredients to create different flavors and variations: flavored teas, mocktails, milk tea shakes, tea smoothies and ice cream tea shakes.

Tea is best recognized for its health benefits because it contains antioxidants. However, when it is served with sugar, enhancers and flavorings—just like how most tea drinks are served in cafés and shops—the natural flavor, aroma and antioxidants of the tea won’t be the same and won’t be as healthy as the pure ones.

“Quality tea doesn’t come with tea bags,” said Minodh. Though tea bags are more accessible and convenient, the quality is way different with loose leaf tea. Tea bags, which main purpose are to filter the tea, constrain the tea leaves, keeping them from expanding to their full flavor and aroma potential.

The longer the brewing time, the stronger the tea. The Island Tea Co. specialist suggested that brewing time should be two to four minutes using a tea plunger, strainers or tea infuser bottle to achieve that perfect brew.

Visit Island Tea Co. at SM City Cebu, SM Seaside City Cebu and Robinsons Galleria Cebu.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph