Tea
Tea, Uzbek Style
All great tea cultures have their own traditions for brewing and serving tea. Uzbekistan has quite a long history of tea consumption, and as such, has specific ways of brewing and serving tea. Though Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union, don’t confuse Uzbek tea culture with that of Russia as they’re distinct enough. When I was growing up in Uzbekistan, I remember drinking tea just about every time we drank anything; I don’t remember drinking milk with dinner as is common here in America, and I don’t remember drinking a lot of water, though I’m sure I did. But the memories of tea, at each and every occasion, are what stick out in my...
Read MoreChaihana
With my all-encompassing love of Uzbek food, I try to find every opportunity to sample it. But sometimes, I have to make these opportunities. So, a while back, the folks and I drove to the Botanical Gardens in Chicago and for lunch/dinner went to the Uzbek restaurant not too far from there. The restaurant is called Chaihana (19 West Dundee Road Buffalo Grove, IL; 847-215-5044) and is in a strip-mall next to Rogan Shoes. Don’t let the location fool you, it’s an oasis where your hunger for scrumptious food and delicious drink will be fulfilled. There were several articles written about it, and this one is probably one of the better ones. This was my...
Read MoreTea (Rishi) and Anaba Tea Room
I really wasn’t planning on writing a review about this tea tasting. When I got there, I was greeted at the door by two lovely women who offered me ice tea. I’m not a huge fan of cold drinks, especially tea, and seeing just the one table with two varieties, I was rather disappointed that I wouldn’t get to try more teas. But was also confident in my decision not to blog about it. But then I tried the tea. Amazing. Even for a cold tea. Good thing I try to carry my camera with me at all times. Never know when it might be useful. They also told me that there are tea demonstrations on the rooftop as well as in the tea room. (When you first walk...
Read MoreOn Tea
I have to confess, tea is my favorite beverage. I am very particular about it, maybe even snobbish, but when you grow up with good tea it’s easy to be spoiled by the high quality Indian tea. Specifically, the water has to be perfect and I’m lucky that my plain tap water is great tasting (but I still filter it). If you’re serious about tea, you know not to buy tea packets. The general tea packet (Lipton and other such brands) are really just tea dust and to me, they taste like the paper they’re wrapped in. Yuck. Why yes, I’m a bit of a tea snob. Not enough to actually know a lot, but I do know what I like. When I was in San...
