Tea Trails by Le Meridien unlocks the destination with aromas and flavors of tea

We all love our tea in our own special way. Some love it
brewed, some devour it mild, while some take it in the original form. I come
across people who start their day with a hot cuppa before starting their day.
My family loves their teas in the crack of dawn to charge their batteries for
their day ahead.

Tea is the Great Indian love and I could not disagree with LeMeridien. The hotel knows how to please their guests in every which way and
what better way than devouring guests with the soothing aroma of tea.

The itenary was perfect. A warm welcome by the hotel staff
and we came across guests and bloggers who were excited about the journey
called #teatrails.The name itself leaves a lingering memory as I write about my
experiences with Le Meridien.

We board the bus like happy school children, looking forward
to the destination. Water bottles and snacks are handed over and the bus begins
to move. The journey isn’t a new one as I am from Delhi, but the way it was perceived
that day was cherishable.

A lovely guide in the form a school teacher named Seema helped
to make the journey enjoyable. A tea lover, Seema grew up literally drinking
tea. She walked us through different varieties of tea or chai as she was
calling, while highlighting the significance of tea drinking.

We were lost in her delectable story of tea to realize that our
first pit stop was right before us. Dilli 6, a destination unlocked with aromas
of food and beverages that have been going on since decades spells a certain
aura that is irresistible. A fleet of rickshaws await for us ready to take us
for a ride amidst tiny lanes and streets of Chandni Chowk. Our rickshaw puller
is well versed with English and he surprises us with a “hello, how are you?”.

The streets are vocal with flavors of Dilli as each corner or
lane has some street hawkers selling stuff. As I look around, a smile appears
on my face.

We reach a small tea stall that looks quite ordinary but has
a certain vibe that pulled us towards it. Two gentlemen in their early fifties
are seen making chai and rabri while smiling. These men are the proud owners of
Kailash Chandra Jain Tea shop.

The family has been into serving people
chai since 70 years till now. The Jain family, known
for their warm hospitality and love for chai welcomes us
with a warm smile and a tray of kullars
with piping tea.

The name ‘Chalu Chai’ (Masala Tea) was coined with reference
to tea made fast but tasted special. This tea was indeed different with
saffrons and almonds floating in the brewed tea. It tasted delicious indeed. A homemade
matthi was served that was the perfect partner with our beverage. The entire
group enjoyed interacting with the Jains.

The tea was over and we boarded the rickshaws to move on to
our buses. While Seema continued with another page of her chai stories,
I commended on her valuable knowledge of teas.

We soon arrived to Hindi Bhawan, ITO, our next destination that
was unlocked. An old man can be seen making tea very diligently. It is the path
with books written by him takes us for a surprise. He is Laxman Rao, a tea maker and an author of 24 books to his
credit. Holding a tray of tea glasses he greets us with a warm smile.

His body language
spells confidence and he takes pride in talking about his children whom he has
taught very well. He goes on to talk about his passion for writing. His inspiration
coming from established authors, whom he talks about with a wide smile on his
face. Confidence and humility is reflected on his face as he goes on to talk
about them.

This established man who still sells
tea by the roadside, came to Delhi from Amrawati more than 2 decades back and set up a small shop of
cigarettes and pan. He moved on to making tea and still continues to do so to
earn his livelihood. While the home fire continues to burn, it was his inner fire
that ignited him to write biographies.

He collected the money from his
earnings to publish his own books that are now famous. Laxman Rao, is a man who
is well known for the ardent journey and the passion for becoming an author.

His
teas taste as soulful as his speech when he takes us on his journey of life. Moving
and heartwarming, his story was so inspirational, that we bought the books with
his autograph. Having completed his MA in Hindi from Delhi
University, he now also plans to do PhD and write books for his entire life.

Mr Rao has written 24 books in Hindi,
which are available on Flipkart, Amazon, and Kindle. We thanked him for his time and boarded
the bus to move towards our destination – Le Meridien. The journey was coming
to an end, but one more surprise was awaiting us at the hotel. A refreshing drink in the hotel and we were revitalized
already.

Le Merdien, well known for their hospitality
takes their events very seriously. While the main aim was to unlock the destination,
the final touch was added with an interaction with a tea sommelier – Vikram Mittal.
An engineer by profession, he is a professional tea taster and a lecturer. He brings
along with him an experience of tea crafting that is a family business.

To
complement the experience, exotic teas were available in beautiful handcrafted paper
mache, wood, brass and silver containers.

Five tea kettles with different teas
were placed for the guests to taste. A tea tasting card with columns of Tea
name, Dry leaf, infused leaf, taste, flavor and the overall experience was
given to us for rating the teas. It is surprising how each tea tastes
differently.

The tea tasting session was wrapped up after
a selfie roundup with Mr. Mittal. The scrumptious buffet was spread at the
hotel that looked very enticing with breads, eggs, cutlets, tikkas, biryanis
and much more.

It was the perfect day with tea connoisseurs
who do their job well with panache. And again, Meriden has unlocked the destination
with aromas that shall linger in our memories for a long time.

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