A cup of tea does more than ease tiredness; it goes with conversation, stories and a moment of calm. Tastes have changed over time, and so has the world of tea: alongside ordinary black and milk tea, various herbal teas are now popular with health-conscious people. Among all the familiar flavours, an unusual drink, bamboo leaf tea, has become a centre of curiosity for visitors to the National Tree Fair.

The month-long National Tree Fair, which opened on 9 July on the ground beside the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital, runs until 9 August. Sales and crowds have picked up in the fair's final days. Among countless saplings of flowering, fruit and forest trees, one bamboo nursery stands out: Quantum Bambooriyan is attracting visitors with saplings of local and foreign bamboo species, decorative bamboo products and some novel touches.

Rows of bamboo saplings greet visitors at the stall. Some learn about different species, some take photos, and some buy saplings for their homes or gardens; many simply look around out of curiosity. But the biggest crowd gathers in one corner, where bamboo leaf tea is served free of charge.

Many are surprised by the name. After a sip, the surprise changes: some are taken with the taste, while others laugh and say, "So in the end you made us drink bamboo tea!" This unusual offering has made the stall one of the fair's attractions.

According to the stall, bamboo leaf tea, widely drunk in China, is a store of organic silica, which is called vegan collagen and is very beneficial for the body, especially for keeping skin and hair healthy. They say its antioxidants boost immunity and the tea eases pain in various bones.

Saifuddin Saif, supervisor of Quantum Bambooriyan, said this was the organisation's second time at the National Tree Fair. It brought a bamboo sapling nursery last year too, and has served visitors free bamboo leaf tea from the first year.

"We were the first in Bangladesh to work on bamboo leaf tea," he said. "Because it is novel, people are showing a lot of interest. Many come out of curiosity and then give us their views on the taste."

He said the drink is called "bamboo leaf tea" in China, where it is quite popular, and that interest from there led them to promote it in Bangladesh. The tea at the stall is made from the leaves of fountain bamboo and the local swarna bamboo, and many visitors also ask them for information.

Bamboo leaf tea is not currently available commercially in the market, but there are plans to market it commercially in future, he said.

Visitors said the stall is not just a nursery but a meeting of nature, learning and new experience. Besides selling saplings, it is making people aware of the diversity of bamboo, its role in protecting the environment and its many uses. In the fair's final days, bamboo saplings and a cup of bamboo leaf tea have both become part of visitors' memories.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.