Strange but true: Tea is eaten in Myanmar, reveals Global Tea Digest

Did you know that in Myanmar tea is not just drunk but eaten as well?

“Fermented or pickled tea is a national delicacy of Myanmar. It is eaten as Tea Leaf Salad,” records Tea Glossary section of the just released ‘Global Tea Digest 2016’ (GTD).

“Some facts about tea are as fascinating as the very beverage. We have recorded many less-known facts about tea production and drinking round the world,” GTD compiler Rajesh Gupta told BusinessLine .

Among the interesting highlights in GTD are: China tea compressed into a ballot to protect it against atmospheric changes is ‘Ball Tea’.

Taiwanese tea-based milk shake added with fruit jellies and tropical balls creating bubbles is ‘Bubble Tea’.

Chinese green tea from Zheijiang province is rolled into small pellet-size ball and dried. So, it is called ‘Gunpowder’. This tea’s colour is also like gunpowder.

The 7th Duchess of Bedford gave birth to ‘afternoon tea’ drinking practice in the 19th century as she drank tea to stave off hunger pangs between lunch and dinner. Finger sandwiches, cakes or pasties accompanied the ‘afternoon tea’.

Chinese and Japanese tea mixed with stalk and dust and moulded into bricks under high-pressure were carried by Asian travellers to drink tea on their way and it was called ‘brick tea’.

‘Handkerchief tea’ got its name from large silk handkerchiefs which the Chinese growers used to collect their very tippy tea.

‘Chunmee tea’ is Chinese green tea resembling the shape of human eyebrow.

Tea transported on camel from China to Russia in the past was called ‘Caravan Tea’.

In Tibet, ‘Butter tea’ is boiled tea mixed with salt and soda, strained into an urn containing butter and dried barley and churned. It is served is a basin with lumps of butter.

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