What it tastes like
Warm spice over a light green base, in the Kashmiri kahwa style — spelled khawa, qahwa or kehwa about as often as kahwa, and the same drink under all four — gentler and more perfumed than masala chai, which is built on black tea and milk. The spice sits beside the tea rather than on top of it and the cup stays light throughout.
Where it earns its place
Cold-weather and festive service, hotel and fine-dining tea menus, and any board where a regional reference will be understood without a paragraph of explanation. It is a genuine point of difference next to a room full of fruit teas.
What to add
Hot and unadorned. If the kitchen garnishes, slivered almond or a strand of saffron on the surface is traditional — added at the pass, not brewed in.
Getting the water right
Green tea is the one tea a counter can ruin by being efficient. Boiling water strips it — the leaf gives up its bitterness before it gives up its aroma, and what arrives is astringent and flat. The declared 70 to 80 degrees is not fussiness; it is the difference between the cup you paid for and a cup nobody finishes. In practice that means taking the kettle off before it boils, or letting it stand a minute after it does, and steeping for two to three minutes rather than leaving the leaf in while you serve someone else. This is orthodox leaf, so it will also take a second infusion — the first is bright, the second is rounder and softer, and both are worth serving.
Green Tea
