A New Brew

A new cafe in the city takes tea as seriously as its coffee

It’s a part of town that perks up around midnight. For housed in Sector 22s Hotel Aroma is one of the citys first cafes that remains open round the clock. The cafe at Hotel Aroma now has company in the neighbourhood. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf,a US-based coffee and tea chain has set up shop in the adjoining Hotel Aqua Marine. Situated in the lobby section,the cafe boasts of 60 covers. The contemporary design and earthy tones of the place are instantly appealing.

Since its a cafe,the seating is comfortable and lounge-like with a view of the hotels greens on two sides. We find ourselves a spot in one of the corners and notice the cardboard packaging boxes (meant to be used for seating or extra tables) that dot the cafe,complete with stamp detailing. Signifying arrival of new batches of coffee and tea,they surely add flavour to the ambience.

Started in 1963 in Los Angeles,USA,Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is present across the world in more than 25 countries. Though affectionately called The Bean,the brand is credited for rolling out the first original ice blended beverages. A look at the menu and you realise that the ice blends are indeed the front-runners followed by deep roast coffees and a plump (surprisingly) array of teas. To get a taste of the signature beverage,we start off with a caramel ice blended drink. It arrives quickly and we like the brown paper wrap it comes with,which makes it easy to hold an ice-cold glass. The drink was nice and flavoursome but something we have tasted before.

Steering towards the tea,it takes a while to make the final choice. With the likes of classic black teas to flavoured black tea and green teas to herbal and fruit infusions,the tea here is taken very seriously. And like the coffee,they too come from different parts of the world Sri Lanka,China,Australia,South Africa,Japan and India. We settled for a herbal infusion called African sunrise. The serving cup was rather large and the tea leaves (in this case from a hand-harvested honey bush) came loosely held together in a special pyramid-shaped tea bag. The shape,we are told,is the latest innovation in the tea industry,as it gives the tea leaves extra space to breathe and release flavour. The colour of the tea,reddish orange,is reminiscent of a glowing sunrise,not just in Africa. The flavour was mildly sweet with an aftertaste that lingered on.

Like other cafes,The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is well-stocked with eatables and goes a bit gourmet in its approach. One can choose from all-day breakfast line-ups or indulge in a spicy paneer barbecue ciabizza or a spaghetti roast chicken and pesto cream pasta. We deviated towards the desserts and the Philadelphia cheese cake was highly recommended. The cheese cake was light with no signs of gelatin and scored full points for being original. The prices can be a bit of a deterrent but the portion sizes make up for it.

Meal for two: Rs 500 (including taxes)Location: Hotel Aqua Marine,Himalaya Marg,Sector 22,Chandigarh

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