How to make Chinese Green Tea!

I’ve always been passionate about ‘Tea’ and it was apparently quite apparent to my friends from the middle kingdom. So, here are the different teas that our friends from China got us. I was told a lot of these are from the Fujian / Zhang Fu province, the home of authentic (high-altitude) Chinese teas.

Chinese tea pot, with the varieties of tea laid out

The image above shows the varieties of tea that we received – mostly samples. Also, notice the Bone China tea pot that we  had at home already – interestingly, either Porcelain or Bone China go best with Chinese Tea.

Here is a low-down on how to prepare Chinese tea, the ‘authentic’ way.

STEP 1: Choose the tea that suits your mood.. and wash your Teapot (Either Porcelain or Bone China work best), this is a Bone China tea pot..In this case, we chose a variant of Chinese Green Tea, among the options we had

STEP 2: First pour the leaves in the Tea-pot and rinse with warm water for 30 seconds. Then let the water flow out from the mouth of the teapot.. This is just to wash the tea leaves.

STEP 3: Pour hot water into the tea-pot and let it brew for 2 minutes (in case of Green Tea), the time can be more or less in case the tea is Red, Oolong or Jasmine. <You will notice bubbles forming at the surface and the sides as the tea brews>

STEP 4: After exactly 2 mins, pour the tea into a tea-cup and sip it. Unfortunately, the picture can’t capture the aroma and taste, but it is nothing like we’ve tasted before.

 

And these are how the tea leaves look – BEFORE and AFTER being brewed respectively.

NOTE: A set of tea leaves can be brewed multiple times – So what it basically means is once you empty the tea into a cup or a glass for drinking, let the tea leaves remain in the pot. After a while, you could again pour hot water into the tea pot and let it brew for sometime, before pouring out the contents into a cup again and sipping your tea.

A couple of points to remember here:

1. As you brew the same leaves, at each successive brew, increase the time by a small margin. For example, the first time, brew it for 1 minutes, 2nd time brew it for 2 minutes, and so on. Exact time specs depend upon the kind of tea, texture and quantity of water, etc.
2. You can brew the same leaves upto a maximum of 3 times (after which the essence/flavour begins to diminish), but remember to not keep the leaves overnight. Empty your tea-pot even if some precious leaves get wasted.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Let me leave you with images of how Green Tea leaves looked BEFORE being brewed and AFTER – see how they blossom and open up!

 

C-Tailing & Omni-Channel Commerce

At the recently concluded NRF’s (National Retail Federation‘s),  BIG SHOW 2013, attendees were introduced to an emerging concept in customer engagement by NCR, (the National Cash Register Company).

I actually liked how they positioned this new paradigm – they call it c-tailing (or Converged Retailing) for a C2B marketplace. While traditional business models revolved on either B2B or B2C businesses, C2B lays down that starting now, it is the consumers that will reach out to businesses and enable transactions, rather than the other way around.

Some key highlights:

1. Digital Discovery through ‘Experiential’ stores – guided by real-time social media reviews, etc.
2. Take on Showrooming head-on, by enabling WiFi inside the stores and matching online prices
3. Converged retail models including ‘Buy Online, Pick up at Store’
4. Personalized web portals for a more relevant online buying experience
5. Use Social + Mobile to enable Collaborative Shopping

Will be interesting to see how this space evolves. I’m watching closely!

Related links:

• An article on RetailCustomerExperience.com 
• ‘C-Tailing’ Blends the Best of On- and Offline Shopping
• An executive Breif on the subject by Retail TouchPoints.com

 

5 reasons why the buzz around ‘Narendra Modi for PM’ is good for India!

For the last 6 years that I have been blogging on TalkingTails.in, I have refrained from writing about politics. Unlike many of my more accomplished blogger counterparts, it was not because I wanted to steer clear of any sensitive subjects or anything. It’s just that ‘Politics’ didn’t seem like anything of any consequence to me. A few incidents over the past few months, a near-broken, opinion-less government, and a radical-(and seemingly progressive)-thinking, reasonably ‘new-age’ politician have forced me to think, and think aloud.

Honestly, the obvious headlines Modi made with his session at (Shriram College of Commerce (SRCC), New Delhi yesterday is what prompted this blog post. I don’t remember when exactly I first heard of Narendra Modi, but I am certain that whenever I have read/heard something about him, it was supported by a strong opinion – you either like him or you hate him, but you are most probably on either ONE side of the fence. To a question like “What do you think of Narendra Modi?” .. One would rarely hear, “Haan, thik hai”, as an answer.

And the first and foremost reason why I like this buzz surrounding Modi, is just that. It makes me FEEL like I have an opinion on our politicians.

I have always believed that the reason politics evinces such a lot of interest (even among the youth) in countries like the US, is because their leaders evoke charisma. They can speak, reach and echo. I am not going to get into discussions around “delivering on the promise”, because that’s a separate (and unrelated) subject altogether, but Narendra Modi has a voice and regardless of whether I agree or disagree, I want to listen to him speak. I want to hear him out. Unlike our current and a few former Prime Ministers, who sometimes read off a paper, feeble-voiced and expression-less.

And that’s Reason #2 why I like this buzz surrounding Modi. Something about him makes me want to listen to him.

Politics in India has always been about ‘Parties’ and rarely about ‘People’. Since the time that I remember, political campaigns, in India, have always been directed by ‘ideologies’, and ‘during XYZ’s rule this happened and that happened’. I always contrasted this with a France or a US, where elections were led by ‘the Individual’ and not ‘Party agenda and Election Manifesto’.

And that’s Reason #3, why I like this buzz surrounding Modi. A leader is about the ‘Individual’ that a country needs to look up to; and follow.

Having myself competed on a few things at reasonable levels, I have always appreciated the benefits that competition brings in. ONE solid candidate ends up making others more competitive. It sparks a rise among the ‘others in the fray’, that they better wake up or be left out. And that, I believe, is good for Indian politics. I am hoping it is this “competition” from Narendra Modi’ will wake up the sleepy, grand old, dynasty-led party of India to “perform” and get the country to benefit as a whole.

And that’s Reason #4, why I like this buzz surrounding Modi. He can even push his competitors to “Perform”.

Having been a student and practitioner of Marketing, I harbour this tendency to apply my Marketing lens to everything around me. Narendra Modi’s outreach programs (whether it is in Gujrat or over the internet – Facebook/Youtube/Twitter, etc.) are examples of an effort to reach out, listen and be heard. Not to forget, his legendary Google+ Hangout session, which I am sure ‘netizens’ (especially!) will remember. Moreover, I was (pleasantly) surprised when I read this article about how APCO Worldwide, a global PR Strategy and Consulting firm, is helping focus Modi’s messaging, public image and marketability.

And that’s Reason #5 (the last and probably also the least important), why I like this buzz surrounding Modi. It can make for an interesting case study in Marketing!

To be honest, I am really not going to be out on the streets supporting Modi’s candidature. I am sure there are 10,001 reasons why he should NOT be India’s PM. My only intent behind penning down my thoughts is to let my friends and readers know why I believe all of this buzz is Good for India!

As we gear up for 2014, may the best ‘Man’ (or ‘Woman’) win. Not the entire ‘political clan’ in general, regardless of the party. Jai Hind!