Check out the new ‘tea cocktail’ menu at this fine diner in Kolkata

While Kolkata has already been taken by storm with the introduction of chocolate tea, coffee tea, Lonka (chilli) tea and more, now its time to welcome G & T.

The AM PM Bar which boasts of some of the innovative cocktails in the city went on an adventure at the Glenburn Tea Estate and has now come up with four tea –cocktails, made with Darjeeling and Assam Tea as permanent additions to its menu.

The brain behind the cocktails, head mixologist Pankaj Singh Gusain talks about his inspirations while the curation was underway, He recalls, “When you want to make anything with tea, you automatically start thinking what to pair with it. At Glenburn Tea Estate, there were many herbs which I could have used in a cocktail or some ingredients which complement tea, like blackcurrant.”

He explains the four newest additions, “Berries in the Bungalow has strawberry black tea [from Assam] and black currant syrup; Plantation Afterhours with Moroccan mint tea; Garden Breakfast Smash has Darjeeling green and second flush tea cordial; and Tea House Tales has ginger and lemon.”

With cha and ta [ tea and more] being a favourite phrase in Bengal, when at the restaurant you cannot miss out on their signature bar bites and munchies like Avocado Chana Chaat, Burrata Pizza or Banana Leaf Bhetki to name a few.

Talking about the collaboration, owner Rajan Sethi mentions, “AM PM promises a lot of collaboration, this time with Glenburn, and we wanted to make it go beyond a product-driven collaboration. A team from here went to the Tea Estate to know about the tea journey and their produce. We got the tea here, tried a lot of recipes and came up with cocktails which will be a permanent feature in the bar menu.”

With tea being an emotion for Bengali’s and a sensitive space how did the idea of fusing tea with spirits come into being? To which Sethi answers, “People were too afraid to experiment in Kolkata and this is where we saw our opportunity. The concoctions are made keeping in mind the preferences and tastes of the people of Kolkata.”

Husna Tara Prakash, from Glenburn Tea Estate throws light on the Spring Trail that took place in April and also about the sprawling tea estate in Darjeeling. She reveals, “The Spring Trail is one of the most exciting things we have done, of late. Glenburn is a 1600 acre Tea Estate up in Darjeeling. The Trail happened in the first weekend of April. Everybody travelled up to Darjeeling. The chefs went into a local market in Kalimpong and our forests and foraged for some ingredients. They produced a delicious Nepali thali meal that was paired with an interesting cocktail. A meal was curated by Chef Vanshika, one by Chef Shaun Kenworthy which was centred on tea. What happened during the trail was that they went to our herb and vegetable gardens and picked all these botanicals and created infusions.”

She further adds, “Calcutta is sensitive about tea but the sad thing is that nobody is really trying to protect tea. It’s a beverage that is dying, especially Darjeeling Tea, because not enough people are drinking it; and also there is fake Darjeeling tea in the world. A lot of tea estates are selling out. Glenburn hopes to be the last one standing and be a beacon of Darjeeling Tea.”

If you are planning a vacation up in the hills, you can also follow the Spring Trail at the Estate. Giving us a sneak peek on the future plans she reveals, “We are also planning to have a chef’s retreat end of August.”

Available at AM PM, Park Street Kolkata