Tea is one of the most of versatile of drinks, lending itself well to improvisation and creativity. As you have read above one can flavour tea, scent tea, spice it or even cook with it. We are lucky enough to be able to provide just some of the specialities that can be found around the world, from Scotland to Taiwan. In addition the industrious staff of Tchai-Ovna are constantly at work researching, devising and concocting new recipes and innovations in the art of tea making in order to tantalise the senses of the tea drinker.
Yogi Yogi Tchai
£3.60, pot for 2 £6.50, pot for 3 £9.60
Yogi Yogi Tchai is based on the North Indian Tchai Masala and is inspired by the Yogi masters’ belief that the entire cosmos is situated in the body. It seems that an entire galaxy of spice is situated just in one pot. This rich, sweet, spicy, milky tea is blended using fresh spices, including black tea, cloves, cardamom and ginger though the legendary recipe of this mystic beverage remains in the sole domain of the Tchai masters.
Bombay Lemongrass Tchai
£4.20, pot for 2 £7.50, pot for 3 £10.20
Bombay, known as the gateway to India, is a busy metropolis that is in change. Here you will find superstars and ordinary fold living side by side, fast modern economic expansion and traditional customs and ways of life. Chai wallahs are essential for looking after the energies of the fatigued with a remarkably tasty local tea. Chai wallah Arun taught us his recipe of the hot, sweet and milky chai, subtly spiced with cardamom and zesty lemon grass which we liked so much that we felt compelled to introduce it to you.
Dhesi Tchai
£4.20, pot for 2 £7.50, pot for 3 £10.20
Our Dhesi Tchai recipe was taught to us by our Pakistani originating friends and we like it so much we thought we should put it on the menu. It is made from black tea, milk, cardamom, fennel seed and sugar served in tea glasses. To drink this is to experience the spicy tchai-khana shade of the ancient citadel of Bukhara. (Be prepared to wait for at least 10 minutes – it is a very special tea.
Fairies Blood £3.80
Freshly squeezed from the fairies at the bottom of our garden, this rich blood-red concoction is full of magical goodness from the fairies’ diet of strawberries, kiwi, mint, camomile, raspberry flowers and honey.
Tchai Hel £3.60
This is mostly made from specialty imported Iranian tea, brewed and spiced in a traditional Persian way, that is with cardamom, allowing a glimpse in one’s mind’s eye the vast lush river planes of ancient Mesopotamia. A very strong, highly stimulating black tea served in a glass and with sugar.
Bedouin Sage Tea – £3.40 / £3.60 with black tea
For centuries Bedouins have been nomads and shepherds, roaming the deserts from pasture to pasture. Tea has long been an essential part of life, helping to stimulate and refresh the weary traveller on long desert treks, and sage, which grows all year long, is a favourite addition to the strong black Persian tea which is often strongly sugared. High in anti-oxidants and thought to be a memory enhancer, early Arabic physicians even believed it aided immortality.
Please state if you would like it with or without black tea.
Tchai Nanna – Arabic Mint Tea £3.40
In the hot, dry climate of Arabia this is one of the most popular ways of staying cool and refreshed. A sweet blend of green tea and fresh mint, it is served with extra sugar at the side as the custom is to make it almost overpoweringly sweet. It is perfect to sip on a hot day whilst smoking a shisha.
Moroccan Apple and Mint £3.40
Made from real fruit pieces, this sweet fruity brew is made even more refreshing by the addition of fresh mint.
Tchai Zanjafeel
£5.20, pot for 2 £9, pot for 3 £12.5o
Under the guidance of Zahra, a new experience has graced our dusty old shop. Sweet fruity, spicy and golden in colour, this is a much revered tea recipe, usually prepared on special occasions. A dazzling concoction of green tea, ginger (zanjafeel), saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, lemon, and honey or brown sugar, if made in the right environment in the right way this tea can even inexplicably turn pink! (but you probably have to be in the Afghan foothills for this to happen). Please expect to wait a while for this tea…..
The Golden Flower of Healing £3.60
A fine blend of lavender, camomile and passion flower, this is good for a variety of ailments, such as sore heads, stomachs, nausea and insomnia. We like to put honey in this one.
Tiff’s Ginger Flower of Healing £3.80
An offshoot of Golden Flower ginger is added in order to create a spiciness that compliments the lavender and camomile greatly, first created for our poorly mate Tiff Peaches. We put honey in this as well.
Strudel Tea £3.00
Simple but inspired, this is apple strudel in a cup. You work it out. (contains sugar).
Rusky Citronovy Tchai £3.00
This tea is served in the traditional Russian way, Russian Caravan in a glass flavoured with lemon.
Spice Master’s special – Swadikap Soother £3.80
A creation of Spicemaster Tom, this is full bodied, honey sweet with a uniquely rich spiciness combined with the scent of lotus flower. If you have a sore throat, cough or cold this is one of our recommendations
Honey spice tea £3.80
A pleasant beverage which warms the soul and produces a sense of well being. A blend of black tea, milk, honey cinnamon and nutmeg.
Geoff’s Chocolate Mint tea £3.80
It’s a tea, it’s minty, it’s chocolaty and it’s quite nice actually (invented by ‘Psychiatric’ tea expert Geoff Widdowson). Made with fresh mint, chocolate tea, honey and milk.
African Goddess £3.60
Of deep, rich and juicy complexity this is surely the beautifying beverage of godesses, made from North Africa’s lemon and South Africa’s rooibos and honey.
Armenian Tey £3.40
This is a spicy wintertime tea, which is usually drunk for medicinal purposes. Less complex than Yogi Yogi this tea is brewed from cinnamon and cloves, to which milk is not added. The tea may be sweetened as desired.
Mary Poppins Tea £3.40
First concocted by cajovnice Marieke this tea is a blend of dark earthy pu-erh and fluffy raspberry flower with a twist of citrus and a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine (an perplexingly pleasant one) go down.
Dragon’s Breath £3.40
An old favourite of feisty cajovnik sax player Nelson, this blend of cavernously matured Pu-Erh and chilli is sure to give you a taste of what it’s like to breathe fire, but also to expel all the evil demons of the body.