Tea for the tea connoisseur in Leeds and West Yorkshire

Hey there, tell me something: are you a coffee-drinker, or a tea addict? Have you succumbed to the present-day passion for coffee, or are you still a proud Brit tea-drinker? And if so, what kind of brew do you go for? Fancy chai lattes, Earl Grey, smooth premium blends? The cheap stuff in the bargain wrapping from the bottom shelves? Pound shop multi-packs, builder's brew, PG Tips or some nice Typhoo?

It isn't as if there isn't plenty of choice out there, both on the shelves and in the cafes, teashops, coffeebars too. (Are we including herbal tea? We could be here all day if we're including herbal tea. Perhaps rooibos, or redbush, and chamomile, at least – since they're the closest equivalents in the herb-tea selection to the real thing.)

But why am I asking, and why am I writing about tea in the first place, though? Well, it's in my mind at the moment, due to the fact that I've been sampling some of the exotic teas of West Yorkshire. Exotic by way of India and Turkey, at least. The first I sampled at the really excellent curry stall in Hebden Bridge open market. This is The Dosa, who sell 'authentic Indian street food'. Along with gloriously fresh and tasty chicken curry – heavy on the coriander, and all the better for it – and numerous vegan and gluten-free dishes, the stall also offers Indian Tea. I don't think by this that it means simply 'Indian as opposed to delicate china tea', although I didn't think to ask at the time.

Whatever it is technically, it turned out to be milky, hot, sweet and very spicy – much more so than a regular chai from a fancy coffeeshop. And delicious! I could do with about a pint of it, right now!

The Turkish tea I tried out a few days later, and that was a different experience altogether. In Leeds covered market – where a lot of stalls have been cleared out at the bottom of the market house, to make space for eateries – there is now a Turkish food stall. This stall is known as Mr Mackerel, purveyors of Istanbul street food. And this spot, also, offers its own specialty tea. Turkish tea, hot as anything, served up in a pretty, graceful glass like a miniature vase, on a matching glass saucer. No milk, although sugar if you want it, and with a faint hint of citrus about the whole shebang. Delicious also!

I can sincerely recommend both establishments, then – or at least, the excellent tea that they serve. Try it out, and if you're a tea lover then you won't be sorry! And now I'm off, on the prowl, to find what other exotic teas I can find in the humble, unsuspecting locales of West Yorkshire...

Image: Maxpax  via creative commons licence.