Move over, green: Blue tea is weaving magic in Bengaluru's circuits

Bengaluru: After green and matcha tea, tea addicts in Bengaluru are using their chai-time to sip on blue tea. The vibrant blue-coloured brew, made from butterfly pea flower, has piqued the interest of both tea enthusiasts and the curious.

For Dipika Maiya, a city-based publisher, a cup of blue tea is a mood-lifter. “Whenever I need some me-time, I sit with my dog and have a pretty cup of blue tea,” says Maiya. The tea addict keeps an array of premium teas at her home and even hosts tea parties. “I, however, never share my blue tea. It’s a personal moment,” she says.

The offbeat brew turned green tea enthusiast Vineeta Sethi into a blue tea fan. After being introduced to it in Morocco, she frequently indulges in a transparent cup with blue tea for its drama. “When you squeeze a drop of lemon into the brew, the colour changes to purple. Magic always makes a pretty picture,” she says.

The city’s cafés are cashing in on the theatrics. In November alone, two eateries added it to their dining menus. Breaking away from the routine Chinese and jasmine tea, the recently opened Mahjong at WelcomHotel Bengaluru serves complimentary blue tea to its guests. “It is served in a transparent pot, which makes it social-media worthy. It aids digestion and is a good marketing tool,” said general manager Kuldeep Dhawan.

While Thai House has it on its tea menu, Atomic Lab has taken the brew to its bar menu. It has whipped up a blue tea-based gin cocktail. Consultant Gitanjali Budhrani said, “The cocktail has become a bestseller. Revellers upload videos on their social media handles. It has given our new joint free publicity.”

Tea Box, a boutique tea seller, claims a 160% growth in sales of blue tea since its introduction in April. “Blue tea is our current bestseller both online and offline. It has overtaken our previous bestsellers Kashmiri kahwa green tea. Bengaluru is our biggest market in India for blue tea followed by Mumbai,” says Smit Gupta, the head of retail business at Tea Box.

Source:-https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/move-over-green-blue-tea-is-weaving-magic-in-bengalurus-circuits/articleshow/66728651.cms