Tips for Selecting Gifts for Tea Lovers
Knowing All About Tea & How to Identify Quality Tea
Tea is one of the world’s most loved beverages. Chinese legend suggests that humankind has been drinking tea since 2737 BCE and it has been a popular choice for everyone from royalty to common folk for eons; hence it isn’t surprising that it be taken so seriously by many cultures!
Many tea lovers like to indulge in different blends of teas. There are scores of tea flavors, but each is best experienced by tasting it with care. For instance, black tea should be fresh and full-bodied, while green tea shouldn’t be too acidic and should taste fresh as well. Typically a good tea feels smooth going down the throat and has a sweet aftertaste.
Get To Know More About The Tea You Buy:
The shape and colour of the tea leaves vary by each tea type and usually speak volumes about each. An unbroken tea leaf is most preferable for the purists, be it in a bud form or leaf. When examining dry and wet leaves, there are a few things to be kept in mind, for instance, wet leaves should be fully open as it allows you to see how the leaf is oxidized, while in dry green tea, its processing can be deciphered by its colour. Hand fried leaves look pale yellow, while baked green tea is dark and steamed tea is leafy-green like spinach. When you brew green tea, it closely resembles the colour it was when it was picked, and age affects the colour of the tea water, making it brown or murky green.
Other significant factors of identifying good quality tea include its aroma and touch. Dry leaves hardly have any aroma, while green tea has a light, soothing fragrance that ranges between a chestnut smell to a light orchid fragrance. When exploring scented teas, the scent is preserved over multiple infusions; if the quality is poor, the tea loses its aroma pretty quick. In touch, you can ascertain if the leaves are coarse or smooth, they crumble easy or are heavy. A premium green tea feels smooth and wet leaves are tender and the quality of one that crumbles easy says its either been baked too long or is too old.
Go for Hampers & Gift Sets
Hampers and gift sets are designed after careful consideration to deliver excellent tea experience. They are ideal for all kinds of occasions and add a certain class to the gifting experience. From Herbal Tea Kits to Tea Balls that bloom into flowers when steeped, as well as botanical filled tea bath brew pockets and tea subscription boxes to around-the-world assorted flavors to tea fragrant perfumes, fizzy & fermented kombucha tea kit to cocktail tea mixers - there is a bewildering variety to choose from when it comes to tea gift sets or hampers.
But before you go ahead and buy one, it is important to ensure that you do your research on the quality of the product you’ve chosen, and have explored its variants and reviews to your absolute satisfaction; for your thoughtfulness behind the gift is much more valuable than the price you pay for it!
Tea Making Accessories
Aside from the best brews to sip on, there are unique and eclectic tea accessories that you can choose to gift. For instance, an adjustable temperature kettle helps eliminate any guesswork when it comes to ascertaining if the water’s hot enough for oolong tea or cold enough for a green tea, as it helps you dial into the right temperature for preparing the tea.
When it comes to tea storage, it is important to ensure that it is kept in an airtight and light container that is also durable. Further, as a tea drinker evolves from tea bags to loose tea leaves, it widens their taste palette and in that respect gifting your friend a strainer that will help them appreciate loose leaves as easy as it was for them to dunk a tea bag, will not only maximize their flavour needs but also be a durable gift.
Top Tea Gift Sets in India
Goodwyn Tea Cube Gift Box
The Goodwyn Tea Cube Gift Box is a thoughtful gift for your loved ones, clients, or visiting delegates at work. Lightweight and easy to carry, this gift boxes a perfect souvenir that comes with six flavourful premium Indian tea leaves, packed in elegant cube boxes of 50 gm each. The gift package includes 6 varieties of Indian flavoured teas which are known to be beneficial for health, in terms of improving one’s immune system, lowering cholesterol, detoxifying the body, relieving stress, regulating blood pressure and dissolving headaches.
The contents of the Goodwyn Tea Cube Gift Box include Masala Chai blended with traditional Indian spices, Rhino Assam, a black tea apt for all times of the day, Darjeeling First Flush, one of Darjeeling’s finest, Jasmine Green infused with Jasmine Blossoms; Kashmiri Kahwa – a traditional blend of spices with green tea leaves and Darjeeling Tea. The gift set is priced at Rs. 949 on goodwyntea.com.
Octavious G2C On the Go Infusions Gift Set
The Octavious G2C On the Go Infusions Gift Set includes an Indian Masala Instant Tea Premix and a Cardamom Instant Tea Premix, both of which make for a perfect cup of Masala Chai. A famous Indian brand known globally for its homemade masala chai, this Infusion Gift Set is a travel gift pack, made with natural tea extracts and aromatic Indian spices that include cloves, cardamom, ginger, black pepper, and cinnamon. Each premix comes in an individual tin packing weighing 980 gm, and each tin serves 10 cups each. With a maximum shelf life of 12 months, get this masala chai gift set from Flpikart for Rs. 599 only.
Tea Culture of the World Leaftales Signature Collection Gift Set
This tea gift set is as exquisite as exquisite is its name. It's is an assortment of fragrance and flavors with different tea blends created with ingredients that add a twist to an otherwise ordinary cup of tea. With some of the bestselling tea infusions that can turn even a non-tea drinker to a tea enthusiast, Tea Culture of the World brings in fruity, spicy, sweet and floral varieties together in one pack, ranging from iced teas to hot brews.
The Signature Collection Gift Set includes Spicy Mandarin – a brisk black tea with fragrant spices and fresh oranges, Moroccan Mint – a smoky flavored green tea laced with fresh mint, Flowery Bouquet – a delicate blend of rose petals, licorice roots, green tea and hibiscus, Lemongrass Ginger – a tranquil blend of green tea, ginger and lemongrass, a booklet and a mesh ball. The Tea Culture of the World Leaftales Signature Collection Gift Set is priced at Rs. 1,199 on Amazon.
The Ancient Ayurvedic Brew Gift Set
A perfect assortment of tea packed in an exquisite reusable gift box that brings in a touch of luxury to any occasion, the Ancient Ayurvedic Brew Gift Set from The Indian Chai includes a variety of expertly curated Dosha Teas for tea lovers and tea connoisseurs that will cleanse, rejuvenate and revive them any time of the day! The gift set includes an easy to use silicone Tea Infuser; Cooling Pitta Dosha Tea, apt for easy digestion, food assimilation, and enhanced sensory skills; Balancing Kapha Dosha Tea, which makes for different body elements that provide the base for the physical body and the Calming Vata Dosha Tea, that enhances the body’s able functioning and its various integrated systems. The Indian Chai Ancient Ayurvedic Brew Gift Set can be bought from theindianchai.com Rs. 1,299.
Gardner Street Leather Tea Chest
The Gardner Leather Tea Chest is an elegant and exquisite leather tea chest with felt-lined compartments that snuggly store 6 different varieties of tea bags or tea leaves. Measuring 14 x 20 x 6.5 cm and weighing 702 gm, you can choose your tea from the assortment of flavors and uses each tea comes packaged with, right from benefits of stress relief, weight loss, to energy boost, skin & hair health, to detox, digestion, and sleep. Gardner Leather Tea Chest include pyramid tea bags, and you can choose from Detox, Heal, Glow, Light, Berry Good, Chinese Whispers, Flower Power, Lemon Aid, Moroccan Mint, Kashmiri Kahwa, Lavender Love, South African Rooibos and Blue Youth. The tea gift set is available on gardnerstreet.in for Rs. 1,650.
Organic India Super Deluxe Wooden Gift Box
Organic India brings some of the finest handmade varieties of healthy Tulsi Tea blends in a Super Deluxe Wooden Gift Box with 4 different flavours of Tulsi Tea of 25 tea bags each. The Tulsi Original is a 100% certified organic tea made using a perfect blend of 3 varieties of Tulsi Leaves; Tulsi Chai Masala is an excellent blend of freshly ground spices, finest Tulsi and premium Assam Tea that not only works on eliminating stress but also supports the immune system and overall well-being; Tulsi Ginger Tea is an anti-stress and immune system enhancing blend with amazing health benefits and aromatic fragrance of ginger factored in; Tulsi Green Tea Classic is a healthy and refreshing blend made using a perfect blend of tulsi herbs and green tea. The Super Deluxe Wooden Gift Box from Organic India is priced at Rs. 1,195.
Tea Lab The Essential Brew Box
The Essential Brew Box comes in a handmade paper box and unique packaging with a set of five luxury teas, litchi honey and a teacup strainer. The set includes Rose Green Tea, Kashmiri Kahwa, Cleanse, Lady in Red and a soothing Lavender Chamomile. The honey is 100% raw and light with a buttery texture with a pure litchi fruit flavour, making for a great addition to a buttered toast with a light cup of tea. The Tea Lab tea box is priced at Rs. 1,359 and is available on amazon.in.
Happy Elephant Tea Gift Set
The Happy Elephant Tea Gift Set is a hexagon-shaped gift pack with 96 tea bags of 12 exotic assorted tea flavours that will take you deep in the mild and mellow flavors and fragrance of a tea garden. Rich with oxidants, these assorted flavors will help derive holistic benefits for your mind and body, prevent cellular decay, relieve stress, act as an immunity booster and prevent ageing of skin owing to environmental toxins. Inclusive of flavors like pomegranate, peppermint, black chai, apple cinnamon, passion fruit, cranberry, peach, mango, relaxing tea, black early grey, blueberry and stimulating tea, the Happy Elephant Tea Gift Set is priced at Rs. 468 on Amazon.
TGL Luxury Tea Gift Box
A perfect gifting option that comes in a lightweight and convenient, sleek gift packaging, TGL Luxury Tea Gift Box is an assortment of loose tea leaves which will help you provide a stronger immune system, lowering cholesterol, immunity boost, stress relief, improving digestion, energizing and refreshing, in addition to many other benefits. With teas that have originated in countries like Mogo Mogo, China, Sri Lanka, and India, the gift box includes 9 tea flavors – Little Buddha, Imperial Earl Grey, Indian Detox, Miracle Mint, Kashmiri Saffron Kahwa, Orange & Mango Oolong, Geisha, Strawberry & Cream, and Mogo Mogo. Packaged in a contemporary classic wooden gift box the TGL Co. Luxury Tea Gift Box is priced at Rs. 4,079 on Amazon.
Goodricke Tea Chest - Premium Gift Pack
Ideal for gifting, the Goodricke Tea Chest brings to you eight variants of the company’s assortment of tea flavours that include 6 packs each of Roasted Darjeeling Tea, Khaass Earl Grey, Castleton Premium Muscatel, Khaass Premium, Barnesbeg Organic Green tea, Khaass English Breakfast, Barnesbeg Green Tea (Tulsi) and Barnesbeg Green Tea (Mint). It comes packaged in a lovely black wooden tea chest and is available at goodricketea.com for Rs. 1,500.
Bonus Tip: Unique & Funny Gifts for Tea Lovers
The most thoughtful gifts are the ones that always warm our hearts and are cherished for life. Gifts can be as simple or complex as we’d like them to be, however, if we choose our gifts based on the person we’re selecting them for, it makes the gift choice rather easy. For each tea enthusiast, there’s a perfect tea gift too, right from the best tea leaves to an ideal tea accessory, there are some really cool and out-of-the-box gift ideas in the realm of tea. Let’s explore!
- TEA TEES – You can have some vibrantly coloured or tea-subtle coloured t-shirts personalized with quotes like, ‘favorite tea shirt (with a tea bag in a teacup image)’, or a dinosaur drinking tea that says T-Rex.
- TEA LIGHT – Gift a pendant lamp that’s actually shaped like a cup of tea, with a tea bag pull switch.
- QUIRKY INFUSERS – There’s a whole lot of quirky and cute infusers for the tea geeks, right from the thematic star wars death star infuser to animal-shaped infusers, titanic tea infuser to 2-in-1 infusers with integrated teaspoons and hidden air vents.
- PRECIOUS T-LINERS – Some other funny and unique ideas can be a teapot & coaster with a Lionel Ritchie impression of "Hello, is it Tea you’re looking for!" Or a clock that with "A Clock knows that anytime=Tea Time", some unique teaspoons with teapots on the handle or hearts or roses, no-spill mug holder that keeps your teacup in place without any accidental spills, teapot knit hats with ‘tea’ knitted on it or crochet cozies. There’s a whole world of funny and funky gifts for tea lovers out there.
The Numerous Benefits of Tea!
There's no doubt that tea is loved by people all over India, but did you know about the tremendous benefits tea can provide from improving your immune system to providing antioxidants for the betterment of skin? We were as astonished as you are when we found out about how beneficial drinking tea could be, so if you've never had tea before, it's never too late to have your first cup!