One of my earliest childhood memories is of taking a tram from Belgachia with my mother, getting down at Shyambazar, walking to Fariapukur to the famous Orphan Tea shop and standing in a queue holding her hand while she bought the household’s monthly supply of tea. This was in the 80s and Orphan Tea was considered to be one of the best shops in the city. It was stacked with chests containing various varieties of loose tea – Darjeeling, Assam. There were little steel drums on the front counter, with ‘Cha’, written in both Bengali and English. Orphan Tea lost its glory long back and with the advent of ‘cha bars’ and cafes, so have many of these standalone tea shops in the city. Now, we no longer stand in a queues to get our caffeine fix. All we have to do is walk into a cafe and order what we want. One such cafe or ‘tea boutique’ as it is called where you get a very good variety of tea is First Flush, located near Golpark.

Silver Needle Tea at First Flush

Push the red door open and you set foot inside a warm, cozy and welcoming space. I felt like I walked inside the living room of someone’s house instead of a cafe and I loved that. There are cane tables and chairs, racks displaying books and even sarees and jewelry. Plus, there is ample space so you don’t feel cramped. Basically, an ideal place for some ‘cha’, ‘ta’ and ‘adda’

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