Tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the world and has been enjoyed by humanity for millennia. For many, tea, like coffee, is a part of every day.
Like coffee, tea is experiencing its third wave. Slovakia and the Czech Republic excel in its consumption, and you will not find as many teahouses as Prague in almost any other European city. The teahouse boom was most pronounced at the turn of the millennium, and people were attracted to the pleasant spaces mainly by the touch of the Orient and the peaceful atmosphere. However, the fashion wave has subsided over time. Many teahouses are gradually getting rid of the esotericism and are focusing much more on the quality of the product and services themselves.
As an example, we present some archive teas, in which we often find woody tones, flavors of overripe fruit and sometimes an interesting smokiness or peatiness, very well known to lovers of Scotch whisky from the islands. For an inexperienced person, a large number of different types of tea and also Asian names can seem intimidating. Therefore, it is necessary to familiarize the service with the taste preference for wine, for example, and work our way analogously to a tea that satisfies our tastes. For a lover of quality gastronomy, the path to tea is usually very simple. Because whether we drink wine, tea or coffee, we gradually build and improve our palette of flavors that we can recognize, and thus increase our enjoyment in any gastronomic area.
Bratislava's teahouse scene includes Čajovňa Zámocká, Literárna čajovňa, Čajovňa v Podzemí, and Čajový Dom. Each has a different atmosphere, but they have one thing in common: interesting and often rare teas from all over the world.
In the field of gastronomy, there is always something new to discover and expand your knowledge. Today, it is almost standard for a modern gentleman to master the basic knowledge of wine and coffee. However, tea is increasingly becoming part of the gastronomic consciousness, and we will come back next time with a short guide on how not to get lost in its world.
Tea was brought to Western Europe commercially by the East India Company, where it became extremely fashionable and later an integral part of British culture. In addition to its pleasures, this hot drink also had extraordinary political consequences. In 1773, a new British law on the importation of tea resulted in the so-called Boston Tea Party, which significantly fueled anti-British sentiment in the colonies and, as we know, led to the independence of the United States of America from the British Empire.
For many years, tea has been associated with esotericism, spirituality, and last but not least, it has been presented as a miracle drink for weight loss. However, we must not forget that it is primarily a food, and just like wine or coffee, the sensory experience should come first. Tea will surprise a wine or whiskey lover with interesting flavors that may be familiar to them based on sensory memory, but in completely different combinations and dimensions.
A teahouse is a great place to relax, work or have a business meeting thanks to the peaceful environment. In most better teahouses, guests are given the choice of whether they want their tea ready-made or whether they want to prepare it themselves in several infusions. We especially recommend the second option, because each infusion has a slightly different taste and the ritual of preparing tea itself is a relaxing activity. One often forgets that one is in the city center.
The historic drink is gradually starting to make its way into high-end gastronomy, and several restaurants are experimenting with pairing food and tea. In Bratislava, the FOUZOO restaurant is an example in this area, where sommelier Tomáš Šajgal, in addition to traditional wine pairings, also offers food and tea pairings. In Prague, among others, the Eska restaurant offers quality tea.
