Tchai Ovna

Tulsi, Queen of Herbs in Ayurvedic Practice

Website Admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 14:32:11 +0000

Tchai-Ovna is known primarily as a specialist in loose leaf varieties and blends made from the tea plant (camellia sinensis). However, we also stock a fine selection of other loose herbs and herbal blends, which not only make for tasty cuppas, but also offer a wide range of health benefits. One of the most fascinating herbal brews in our selection is tulsi, or holy basil (Ocimum sanctum).

Tulsi, a revered member of the mint family, originates from the Indian subcontinent and holds immense cultural significance. For over 5,000 years, it has been valued in religious and spiritual contexts, earning poetic nicknames like “The Incomparable One,” “Mother Medicine of Nature,” and “The Queen of Herbs.” Beyond its spiritual legacy, tulsi is widely cherished for its health benefits and has been a cornerstone of herbal healing in the ancient Ayurvedic tradition, a medicinal system still widely practiced in India and beyond.

Ayurveda takes a holistic approach to health, emphasizing prevention through balanced living and herbal remedies. Central to Ayurvedic practice is the maintenance of “doshas”—comparable to the Humours in historical Western medicine—which must remain in harmony for optimal health. Adaptogenic herbal remedies, such as tulsi, play a key role in this balance, helping the body withstand daily stressors while supporting overall health benefits.

Tulsi is one of the most highly regarded adaptogenic herbs, with a wealth of attributed health benefits. It is said to nurture the body, mind, and spirit, fostering clarity and relaxation—much like the practice of yoga. Its restorative properties extend beyond relaxation, with emerging clinical studies suggesting that tulsi may enhance endurance, support wound healing, lower blood sugar and cholesterol, and ease inflammation. Additionally, it has been linked to protection against toxins like heavy metals and pesticides, while also promoting better dental health.

Add in its reputed ability to repair damaged cells and slow the growth of cancerous tumours, and you can see why tulsi has earned such a swanky selection of sobriquets. Incomparable indeed!

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Healthy Hampers

Website Admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 13:15:15 +0000

We have two different hamper sets available, the Emerald Hamper of Spice and the Magical Hamper of Faeries. Each one contains a premium selection of loose leaf and recipe teas that are not only delicious in a range of different ways, but are also packed full of healthy ingredients.

Central to both hampers is our long-time house favourite and best-seller, Yogi Yogi Chai. It is blended in-house using a hearty, malty Assam black tea and a sumptuous range of six different spices, most of which are organic and direct sourced through friends of the Tchai-Ovna in India. The quality of spices used means you get all the best of their benefits, from the anti-inflammatory properties of Sri Lankan “true” cinnamon (cinnamomum verum) to the blood sugar balancing act of organic Keralan cardamom.

The Emerald Hamper of Spice also contains Sencha Okumidori green tea, organically produced by the Morimoto family in Kyushu, southern Japan. The list of green tea’s health benefits is a long one, with improved cognitive function, heart health and stroke prevention being prime among them.

It is rounded out by Mulled Wine Tea, a fruity, spicy Winter wonderblend, based on Tchai-Ovna founder Martin’s old Czech family recipe. It provides a non-alcoholic alternative to the traditional wine-based drink and, thanks to the presence of hibiscus, can also help reduce blood pressure.

The Magical Hamper of Faeries, meanwhile, is bolstered by the herbal, fruity goodness of our much-loved Faeries’ Blood blend. As well as all the vitamins to be found in dried strawberry and kiwi fruit pieces, plus the aforementioned hibiscus, it contains peppermint, camomile and raspberry leaf, all of which aid digestion.

Last but not least, it contains Black Snow Faerie, a wild-grown black tea that has been hand-picked and bought directly from members of the Red Dow tribal people in Vietnam. It has a fresh, floral but still quite earthy taste, with just a hint of smoke. It provides many of the same health benefits as green tea, but with a little extra caffeine kick, just in case those celebrations have run on a bit longer after all!

As you can see, our tea hampers are both indulgent and packed full of goodness.

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Mulled Wine Tea – How to get it right!

Website Admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 13:09:25 +0000

A simple an easy way to enjoy a mulled wine… and still drive home!

What I love about mulled wine is how the spices blend with the rich red body of wine, and with just the right amount of sweetness … voila, a perfect winter warmer.

This is what inspired the creation of our Tchai-Ovna Mulled Wine Tea blend, something that taste authentic, has body and is alcohol free. Though, creating the blend has required all the skill and craft we can muster, the preparation remains just as important.

This is how I would recommend brewing 500ml of our Mulled Wine Tea.

Equipment required:
– small saucepan
– tablespoon
– strainer
– teapot

Ingredients:
– Tchai-Ovna Mulled Wine Tea
– brown sugar
– water

Method:
– place 1 heaped tablespoon of Tchai-Ovna Mulled Wine Tea into the pan
– add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
– add 550ml boiling water
– boil on stove for 3 mins, and simmer for 1 minute
– strain into preheated teapot or directly into the cup

Enjoy!!!

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The Magic of Hibiscus

Website Admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 13:02:24 +0000

The Hibiscus flower, regarded as an aphrodisiac in many parts of the world, is now linked with lowering blood pressure, improving liver function and fighting cancer cells!

As the festive season approaches, our Mulled Wine Tea is flying off the shelves. Along with Orange Blossom Oolong tea and a range of fruits, herbs and spices, one of the main ingredients in this perky concoction, responsible for its lovely red colour when brewed, is hibiscus. In this case, we use flowers of the species of hibiscus plant popular throughout the Arabic world, Hibiscus sabdariffa, known there as Karkade.

As well as having a delightfully tart yet sweet taste, hibiscus holds great cultural significance in places as far apart as Sudan, Malaysia and Hawaii. It is often regarded as a symbol of beauty, making it a popular ingredient in many Asian and African skincare products. It has also been said to act as an aphrodisiac, in some places reputed to dangerously inflame passions, which perhaps explains the Hawaiian practice of wearing a single hibiscus flower behind the right ear to indicate availability.

Most of all though, hibiscus is a real superfood when it comes to its health benefits. It has long been used in traditional medicine all over the world. In India, it has been administered as a treatment for diabetes, in Mexico, it is used to combat PMS, and jn various parts of Africa is favoured as a treatment for a wide range of ailments, from sore throats to digestive issues and even cancer!

As Modern studies continue to indicate the health-giving properties of this wonder-flower. It contains Vitamin C, to help boost the immune system, antioxidants that destroy damaging free radicals, and a number of other vitamins and minerals. It also seems to promote a decrease in liver fat, improving liver function, and thanks to its high polyphenol content, has shown some promise in attacking certain types of cancer cells.

Perhaps its most remarkable health benefit though, is its apparent ability to lower blood pressure. Several studies have indicated that hibiscus tea lowers both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, thereby greatly reducing the chance of heart disease and many other ailments.

All in all, it is a plant to be reckoned with, and is just one of the health-giving ingredients to be found in our Mulled Wine Tea!

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Teahouse Culture & the Importance of Alternative Spaces

Website Admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:54:45 +0000

This month’s Tea of the Month is our Mulled Wine Tea, a non-alcoholic variant on the traditional wine-based Winter warmer drink. Indeed, providing alternatives to alcohol has always been a central part of the ethos of Tchai-Ovna, and the whole teahouse culture generally.

Tchai-Ovna founder Martin Fell first discovered teahouses in Prague, his mother’s home city. There, they had sprung up as a reaction to the overwhelming influx of rapacious consumerism, in the uproarious years that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Its founders created relaxed venues where guests could sit for hours in cosy surroundings, sipping their tea at their leisure whilst enjoying a book, a board game or conversation with like-minded souls. Banning alcohol from their teahouses helped keep the chilled vibe intact. After finishing his studies at The University of Glasgow, Martin was looking for a project to get his teeth into and discovered a rickety, somewhat run-down former stables, tucked away at the end of a West End lane. He and a group of friends transformed it into a teahouse space that eventually became a much-loved cultural hub and Glasgow institution. Taking its name, an anglicisation of the Czech cajovna, and much inspiration from the Prague scene, one of the reasons for its popularity was that it provided something that is all too rare in Glasgow, a late-opening for socialising and events space that isn’t dominated by hard-drinking and raucous pub energy. As well as being a go-to for a wide range of people looking for a somewhat quieter than than norm hangout in the evenings, it was popular amongst various ethnic communities in Glasgow for whom pubs were not suitable meeting places. Even though the cafe is no longer with us, it is fondly remembered by many.

Much as Prague cajovny had inspired it, Tchai-Ovna has also inspired others, and directly led to the foundation of the Rigaer 105 Teehaus Projekt in Berlin – set up with a group of friends by former and now once again current Tchai-Ovna employee Sam Watt – and A Maze In Tchaiovna, created by Martin’s brother Andy, bringing it back home to Prague. Whilst both of these venues did serve a limited range of alcoholic drinks, they retained many of the main aspects of the Tchai-Ovna ethos, as open, welcoming spaces that attempted to look beyond the mainstream and create a sense of community amongst their diverse range of guests.

These two venues have now also both gone the way of the winds, but with the hope that ripples from some of the splashes they made will continue to spread in yet other interesting ways.

Tchai-Ovna continues on its mission to keep doing tea right, in its ongoing search to find ethical ways of providing a top quality cuppa.

If you want to enjoy some spicy, fruity, wintry goodness but booze isn’t your thing, our Mulled Wine Tea may just be the right choice for you!

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Mulled Wine Tea

Website Admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:40:49 +0000

The Tea House culture in Prague is all about a meeting of cultures. Tea itself is an integral part of many societies and traditions. Here at Tchai-Ovna, we always endeavour to pay respect to tradition and at the same time create something new! Our Mulled Wine Tea is a nod to the European Winter bevvy with a twist of Oolong tea from China!

Prague is a dizzying maze of narrow, quirky cobbled streets, guarded by the majestic Prague Castle complex and hugging the meandering banks of the River Vltava. The grand old city conjures up a sense of magical timelessness whatever the season. However, for me, it is in Winter where it particularly comes into its own. As soon as frost spikes the air, mulled wine stalls pop up all over the historic centre of Prague, almost like grapevines pushing their way up from beneath the pavements. The waft of their delicious, spiced scent offers both comfort and warmth on chilly, dark evenings. Returning home, one may find a family member boiling up some svarak (mulled wine) on the stove, infusing the wintry air with cinnamon, cloves and pepper to warm the soul; or cooking some seasonal biscuits from crunchy almonds and powdered ginger. All around the city cajovny (teahouses) become vital oases of the Czech “coorie”, as guests huddle around a wood-burning fire reading a book, playing a board game or just in quiet contemplation, steaming hot cup of tea in hand. These cosy tea dens are important not only in providing some solace from the winters, which can be severe, but also in providing an alternative to the ubiquitous-ness of alcohol. While similar scents to the spices used in mulled wine also emanate from freshly brewed teas, like the wonderful Indian-inspired chais comprised of cloves and cinnamon.

I started to experiment. I was determined to find a way of using tea to recreate the wholesome recipes that my friends and family had been brewing for generations. Something fruity, spicy, sweet and … wine-like. The cloves, orange and apple pieces give it that fruity edge whilst the Oolong Tea lightens the spirits without the dreaded hangover. The pepper gives you a welcome kick to the back of the throat. It really feels like you’ve brewed yourself quite a powerful concoction.

It was on a cold winter’s day in my Glasgow Tchai-Ovna kitchen that I began thinking about these two wonderful cultures, both engendering feelings of warmth and cosiness.

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How to Brew! Crofter’s Chai (Seaidh a’ Chroiteir) & Honey Spiced Tea

Website Admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:29:32 +0000

A quick guide on how to brew our Autumn blends! Heat up the stove and grab your favourite mug!

So, you’ve read all about Crofter’s Chai and Honey Spiced Tea (if you haven’t, check out the previous three Fine Tea Tuesday newsletters here: History, Tradition and Health.)

Now you’ve decided to go ahead and order them (Crofter’s, Honey Spiced Tea) you will need to know how to make them! Well, worry not. We’ve got you covered!

The link below will take you to a video on how to brew a Crofter’s (or rather, how to brew Yogi Yogi Chai, using exactly the same process as Crofter’s, its smoky cousin) :

How to Brew a Chai !

For Honey Spiced Chai, please repeat the above process, but we suggest you use a full heaped table-spoon of tea this time!

A finer pair of Autumn warmers we can hardly imagine, although if we’ve piqued your interest in our range of recipe teas, you may want to keep your eyes open for next week’s Halloween special, featuring another one of our favourites, the herbal & fruity Faeries Blood.

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Nourish the Body with Crofter’s Chai (Seaidh a’ Chroiteir) & Honey Spiced Tea!

Website Admin — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 08:58:54 +0000

This month, we’re taking a closer look at two of our favorite recipe teas: Crofter’s Chai (Seaidh a’ Chroiteir) and Honey Spiced Tea. Not only are these blends utterly delicious and warming, but they’re also packed with health benefits thanks to the exceptional quality of the ingredients we use.

While tea itself is well known for its many health-boosting properties, today we’ll be focusing on a key ingredient common to both of these blends: Sri Lankan “true cinnamon” (Cinnamomum verum).

The Power of True Cinnamon
True cinnamon is a wonder spice rich in vitamins and minerals that can benefit your body in many ways:
– Beta-carotene, the pigment that gives cinnamon its rich brown color, is a provitamin that helps your body produce vitamin A, supporting healthy vision.
– Manganese is another key mineral found in cinnamon, essential for bone health and hormonal balance. It also provides powerful antioxidant protection, helping reduce inflammation and protect cells from damage.
– Cinnamon is a great source of vitamin K, potassium, zinc, and magnesium, all of which play important roles in everything from bone strength to immune function.

Natural Anti-Inflammatory and Heart Health Support
The active compound in cinnamon, cinnamaldehyde, is known for its anti-inflammatory effects, helping to reduce inflammation throughout the body. This is linked to a lower risk of chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. In fact, studies suggest that cinnamon can help reduce LDL cholesterol levels, further supporting heart health.

Much like tea itself, cinnamon is also rich in antioxidants, which help neutralize harmful free radicals in the body. This can lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, making every cup of our Crofter’s Chai or Honey Spiced Tea a powerful boost for your overall wellness.

Supporting Brain Health
Exciting new research also suggests that cinnamon could help protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Cinnamaldehyde has been shown to inhibit the buildup of a protein called tau in the brain, which is associated with these conditions, potentially slowing their progression.

Sourced with Care, Crafted for Health

At Tchai-Ovna, we ethically source the highest quality Sri Lankan True Cinnamon to ensure you’re getting the best of this amazing spice. It’s just one of the many health-giving ingredients in our carefully crafted blends. So, as you enjoy a cozy cup of Crofter’s Chai or Honey Spiced Tea, you can feel good knowing that it’s not only delicious but also supporting your health in a number of ways.

Drink up and Thrive!

Honey Spiced Tea – https://tchaiovna.com/shop/product/honey-spiced-tea/

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Crofter’s Chai (Seaidh a’ Chroiteir)A Journey Through History

Website Admin — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 08:52:21 +0000

Serendipity can be found in the worlds first black tea! One of many of our ingredients of antiquity.

At Tchai-Ovna, we have a rich history of crafting innovative tea recipes that pay homage to both tradition and creativity. Our beloved Yogi Yogi Chai has been a customer favorite for years, evolving into the beautifully balanced, spicy blend it is today.

Building on that success, our tea artisans wanted to create something new—a recipe that captures the essence of Scotland. And so, Crofter’s Chai (Seaidh a’ Chroiteir) was born. Unlike our Yogi Chai, which features Assam black tea, Crofter’s uses smoked Lapsang Souchong, a tea with a deep, smoky flavor that evokes the peated whiskies of Scotland’s Highlands and Islands, especially the Isle of Islay. We even added Scottish Gaelic to the packaging, celebrating the cultural connection.

But who first dreamed up smoked tea? Lapsang Souchong isn’t just unique in flavor—it’s also said to be the first black tea ever produced!

The Origins of Smoked Tea
The story of Lapsang Souchong dates back to the Qing Dynasty in 17th-century China, in the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian Province—an area famous for its oolong and green teas. According to legend, a passing army disrupted the local tea production by using tea leaves as bedding, leaving them unfit for traditional drying methods. To save the crop, tea producers decided to smoke the leaves over pine fires, creating the first batch of smoked tea. This accidental creation became a hit with Dutch traders, who appreciated its long shelf life on their voyages back to Europe. Soon, Lapsang Souchong was a favorite in both The Netherlands and Britain.

Thanks to this serendipitous invention, black tea, and particularly smoked teas, became the drink of choice for many Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries. So, the next time you sip a warming cup of Crofter’s Chai, you’re experiencing centuries of tea history, all made possible by a little creative problem-solving and some unwashed soldiers!

Savor the History
Whether you’re enjoying our Crofter’s Chai or any other black tea, take a moment to appreciate the story behind it. From ancient China to the windswept shores of Scotland, every cup holds a piece of history.

Crofter’s Chai – Seaidh a’ Chroiteir – https://tchaiovna.com/shop/product/crofters-chai-seaidh-a-chroiteir/

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Tradition and Innovation : Crofter’s Chai (Seaidh a’ Chroiteir) & Honey Spiced Tea

Website Admin — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 08:46:55 +0000

As the autumn breeze starts to roll in, we’re excited to share two of our most cherished seasonal blends: Crofter’s Chai, or in Scottish Gaelic, Seaidh a’ Chroiteir, and our delightful Honey Spiced Tea.

Crofter’s Chai brings a bold twist to the world of tea, with the smoked Lapsang Souchong black tea alongside the warming blend of organic spices creating a flavour reminiscent of a peated Islay whisky. Perfect for those cozy autumn afternoons! However, if you’re looking for something a touch more mellow but equally delightful, the Honey Spiced Tea is a beautiful harmony of Sri Lankan “true cinnamon” (Cinnamomum verum), caramel-infused black tea, and a hint of nutmeg. We recommend savoring it with a drizzle of honey and your favorite milk!

A Blend of Cultures and a Nod to Tradition
At the heart of these blends is a celebration of both Scotland’s rich Gaelic heritage and the culinary influences of India and Sri Lanka. By including Gaelic on our packaging, we aim to play a small part in preserving a beautiful, endangered language, while also bringing together flavors that feel both familiar and adventurous.

Ethically Sourced, Heartfully Crafted
Our relationship with Amar, a long-time friend and trusted tea agent from India, ensures that each spice used in these blends is direct-sourced from small farms, ensuring both quality and fair compensation. This allows us to keep our teas ethically grounded without compromising on flavor or value. When you sip our Crofter’s Chai or Honey Spiced Tea, you’re not just enjoying a cup of tea; you’re supporting traditional craftsmanship, sustainable sourcing, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Try them for yourself, and warm up your season with something special.

Crofter’s Chai – Seaidh a’ Chroiteir – https://tchaiovna.com/shop/product/crofters-chai-seaidh-a-chroiteir/

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