Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Over a Cold Cuppa - Paper Boat (Tulsi Tea / Ginger Lemon Tea) - {A Product Review}

It was a pleasant surprise to see a suspicious mysterious looking package in a hot looking jute bag at my doorstep; and I immediately knew the Paper Boat team was back again to do what they do best ~ concocting recipes, awakening nostalgia, kindling memories et al......

I have always been a coffee lover but drinking tea has actually become a therapeutic exercise for the last 2 years. To quote a text on a t-shirt I saw on someone "It is a brew that sees me through". Why 2 years you may ask? After getting back to work, I quite look forward to the "chai" delivered by the ayahs in our school in a small ever-silver tumbler. To say that the meager amount of liquid has become my healer for the day will not be an understatement.  Now I am a chai junkie, piping hot brew laced with a generous dash of minced ginger and a touch of cardamom is a solution to all the almost all the 
problems :D

Other than the hot chai, I kick-start my day with green tea. And yes I enjoy the occasional tall glass of iced tea during those sweltering days. So all this new found love for tea has culminated in me amassing knowledge on tea and yes I am going to share a few nuggets with you.
  • The second most widely consumed beverage now; had to wait for almost 3000 years till it could become an every day drink. Earlier it was used for medicinal purposes.
  • While many of us know that tea was discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung when a tea leaf accidentally fell into his bowl of hot water, do you know the history of Iced Tea? Well it does not have a grand legend like its piping hot counterpart but back in 1904, Richard Blechynden couldn't sell his tea in a fair because the day was hot and no one was buying. He thought of adding ice cubes and it was an instant success. 
Now coming back to Paper Boat's products, I am a fan of their Shake & Sip drinks and I looked forward to sample the two variants of tea that was delivered - the Tulsi Tea and the Ginger Lemon Tea. The team from Paper Boat has a quirky knack of attracting instant attention with their stylishly designed pouches and this one is no different. Both the pouches sing "an all natural/gluten free/free from any genetically modified material and a notch down on sugar tune rather strikingly" and I was instantly hooked.



The drinks are made from black tea leaves. I liked the drinks; they were good but to me it lacked the punch my taste buds craved for. A stronger hint of tulsi in tulsi tea and a power-packed dash of ginger is definitely required to make them a reinvigorating affair.



Drawing from the local flavours and brewing it to appease the taste-buds is the tagline of Paper Boat and I wish the team hears my humble pleas....



Looks & Cost :-

The drinks come in attractive looking pouches. Weighing about 250 ml, each pouch is priced at INR 30/- Both the drinks look almost the same.

Thumbs-up to:-
    • Thirst-quencher & refreshing if served chilled
    • Aesthetically packed 
    • Promises real drinks with no junk
Serving Suggestion:-

Shake well and serve chilled. 



Final Word:-

I love the passion and the attitude of the team and their products have great potential to be 'the go-to drinks'. I wish the two variants of tea could be reprocessed in order to capture the essence behind them. I also wonder how they would taste with green tea leaves as their base and yes I totally look forward to the team going the full throttle and showcasing the flavours of India.

Thank you Team Paper Boat for sending me the beverages for review. The views expressed here are strictly my own

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing it. I will surely try to find it in the shop next time.

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  2. I had this packed tea. I wont say its bad but rather ok type. Liked it./..

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  3. Blogging is the new poetry. I find it wonderful and amazing in many ways.

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  4. Hey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.

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