I would like to start off by saying i like tea in many, if not most, forms*
i love the scene of lush green tea plantations (though i am aware of the exploitation that often takes place behind the scenes- call this childhood conditioning). i like the crisp aroma of freshly cut tea leaves, the roasting smell, the lovely aroma of an empty tea warehouse, the smell of single and blended tea leaves, and the beautiful taste that tea in it’s many-but-not-all forms can give you. i dig a well-steeped black tea, dont mind some green in the tea, i love the ‘chai tea’ i had in the states, i like the ‘allam(ginger) chai’ i have at the bus stop near my house and the prince of teas – the famous ‘irani chai’ that is brewed for hours on end in the many cafes in hyderabad, and that’s just the beginning…
given all that love however, i cannot make a good tea. i have no such issues with coffee mind you – i have been able to make decent coffee that is appreciated by everyone from grandparents to the occasional visitor whose taste buds i have the pleasure of destroying. but the problem is that i am mostly indifferent to coffee in it’s many varieties – the smell of coffee is ok, but it doesnt take me to the happy place that tea smells do. it lacks that je ne sais quois that comes with finishing a small cup of happiness reinforcing tea…
ok im done venting.
* – jasmine, chamomile and all that non-tea tea is just soup by another name. take it up with someone who cares…
doop HQ 
Bummer.
I love chai. I wish I could have the chai of which you speak.
it is quite heavenly, i assure you :)
I just googled… there’s actually an irani chai blog! While reading some of it, I ran across falooda/faluda… sounds like bubble tea. It looks good. Is it?
i was kinda sorta aware of that blog – falooda’s almost but not entirely quite unlike chai, in that it’s more of a indo-middle-eastern ice cream float.
that too is awesome.. will post a pic of falooda soon :)