Sipping on a steaming cup of tea on a rainy day is one of the simplest pleasures of life. Apart from rich, delightful flavours; tea drinking is also good for health during the wet months. It contains essential mineral and several antioxidants that bolster the immunity and helps the body to fight against germs and bacteria.

This rainy season, why not try some new ways of making tea so you can try out different flavours of tea and enjoy the unique benefits of each one too. However, before you start making the recipes, you should have a basic idea of different types of tea leaves that exits. It is important as different recipes will require varieties of leaves. There are two main variants of tea – CTC and orthodox tea. CTC or crush, tear, curl tea is an abbreviation for the processing technique adopted to produce this variant. The leaves are passed through several cylindrical rollers with sharp teeth that crush, tear, and then curl them into tiny balls.

Interestingly, this process was first seen in Assam in the 1930s designed by Sir William McKercher. Through this process, the tea leaves get fully oxidised and thus carry a strong flavour because of which these variants are mostly used in breakfast teas like Irish and English breakfast tea.

Orthodox tea variants are made using traditional tea making procedures. The procedure includes plucking, withering, oxidisation, drying and then carefully rolling the leaves by hand. The hand-rolling is also carried out diligently to avoid breakage of leaves as that might compromise with the quality. As a result, tea produced using orthodox techniques has a complex and multi-layered flavour profile.

Tea Recipes
Given below are some delectable tea recipes that you can make at home by yourself –

• Honey Ginger Tea –

These two ingredients are known for their medicinal properties. Also, honey ginger tea has been drunk in India since ancient times. The warm flavour of ginger complements the rich aroma of Assam Black tea, which can immediately perk up a gloomy rainy afternoon. Ginger helps in fighting cold, flu, indigestion, whereas honey is a good source of antioxidants. It is also a good alternative for sugar.

To prepare put some grated ginger in a mug of boiling water and add in your favourite tea. Steep the tea to desired strength and strain it out. Then, finally, scoop in some honey according to your taste. You can use both black tea or lemon green tea in this recipe. Furthermore, you can add fresh spices from your spice box to make your very own masala chai at home – a must-have on monsoon evenings.

• Fruit-infused Iced Tea –

It is a perfect drink for humid monsoon mornings. Add black tea bag and any aromatic, sweet fruit of your liking to boiling water. You can also use any other type of tea that you like. Do not steep the fruits for long; otherwise, it may turn bitter. You can, however, steep the tea according to your desired liking. Remove the fruit and tea and keep it in the refrigerator to cool. Add ice before drinking.

• Peppermint Tea –

Peppermint is an aromatic herb belonging to the mint family. It has a very soothing aroma and a cooling minty flavour and for which it is used in breath mints and candies. Peppermint leaves have essential oils like menthol, menthone, limonene which also contains several antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties.

To make a cup of peppermint tea, add tea and mint leaves to boiling water. You can also use peppermint tea bags if you like. Steep the leaves according to your preferred strength. Then, strain the leaves and add lemon juice and honey, again according to your taste.

Apart from these flavours, you can also try out unique tea flavours like oolong tea, flavoured earl grey tea, silver needle white tea which also goes perfectly with the monsoon season.