Cultured Tea


When the British left the sub-continent and Pakistan was created, they left something so refreshing that it instantly became a part of Pakistani culture, The TEA. Tea along with water and soft drinks is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Lahore was where Tea gained popularity among the locals and today Pakistan is one of the leading tea drinking nations in the world.
Most commonly the tea times in Pakistan are breakfast, lunch and evening. An average tea lover in Pakistan drinks tea three times but if that person is offered tea 5 or 6 times he/she wouldn’t mind having it. The labor forces addicted to tea or let’s just say it as Chai prefers much stronger and sweeter than the rest.
Karachi with its rising population and growing demand of Chai has the most number of dhabbas, a small café, usually run by Pathans, in Pakistan. One thing you will always see in a dhabba is that it’s never empty. You will find at least a customer or two having doodhpatti with and without paratha.
The tea used in Pakistan is the black tea. The cultured tea is the black tea with milk and sugar depending on the consumer’s choice.  A very interesting aspect of the tea culture in Pakistan is that if a person is invited into a Pakistani home, they are offered a choice of beverage between tea and soft drinks. And as part of the culture in Pakistan, tea is offered to those that are hired for labor purposes. Chai and doodhpatti are the two most common names given for tea in Pakistan. Chai is an Urdu language word whereas doodhpatti is milk and tea merged into a single word.
I cannot see an end to this Tea culture Pakistan has and neither do I want to. The tea consumption within limits is not at all bad. In fact the tea culture has brought friends and families close together and is a reason to get break from the daily busy life.