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Mr. Gour invented his colorful layered teas 10 years ago, when he was selling tea from a bamboo shack. He says he realized that teas from different leaves have slightly different densities. It took a year of experimenting before he could sell teas with more than two layers. Over the years, he learned to expand to seven.
The kind of layer tea Mr. Gour makes is unique to the Srimongol area. An iced three-layer tea has become popular in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, but those drinks include one type of tea and are typically layered with palm sugar on the bottom, evaporated milk in the middle and tea on the top. What makes Srimongol's special are the discrete layers of tea blends.
Mr. Gour mixes different types of locally grown tea—three black teas and one green tea— from four types of bushes, with milk and various spices. Each mixture has a distinct color and taste, and he pours one on top of another to create seven distinct bands. Customers sip each layer slowly: Trying to figure out what's in each one is a fun act of gustatory detective work. The top layer of the seven-layer tea has hints of cinnamon; the layer below has a slight citrus flavor to it. Mr. Gour says the fourth layer from the top and bottom layer get the most reaction from his customers. The fourth layer is a black tea mixed with condensed milk, while the bottom layer is a sweet, syrupy green tea with cloves, cinnamon and 'secret spices.' (Customers can choose to have one to seven layers of tea in their drink.)
In a country that consumes more than 55 million kilograms of tea leaves a year, Mr. Gour's layered tea has turned him into something of a celebrity. He has shared a cup of his tea with many of Bangladesh's top politicians, including members of Parliament and the governor of Bangladesh Bank. Bangladeshi newspaper clippings about his tea cover one wall of his open-air shop. In January, he opened a second tea cabin, just down the street from his first one.
A seven-layer drink costs 70 taka, or about one U.S. dollar. It may not sound like much, but most cups of tea in the area cost about seven U.S. cents.
Just how, exactly, Mr. Gour layers the tea is a closely guarded secret. Mr. Gour heads to a back room so he can make his concoction away from prying eyes. He has trusted the recipe to his three sons and brother who work at the shops—only the five them are allowed into the tea-preparation room.
Though imitators have popped up around town, offering their own layered teas, Mr. Gour is leading the competition with most layers. He says after years of practice, he will release a 10-layer tea later this year.
So, is the tea worth the trip?
With its varied flavors, tea connoisseurs are bound to find at least a layer or two they like. The fourth layer from the top stood out with its strong spices, likely some mixture of ginger and cinnamon in a black tea, while the popular bottom layer was a bit on the sweet side (though would have tasted great as a syrup on ice cream). Mr. Gour claims the flavors 'will live with you a lifetime,' but there's no one tea flavor that makes that memorable of a mark. It's more about the experience and drink — as a whole: the mystery of the ingredients, the rows of tea bushes just outside the shops and the chance to drink from the hands of a Bangladeshi tea master.
Nilkantha Tea Cabins are on Kalighat Road just a few kilometers outside of the town of Srimongol in Sylhet division, Bangladesh.
參考譯文：
早在10年前，當他還在竹棚里賣茶的時候，古爾就發(fā)明了色彩層次差異鮮明的多層茶。他說，他早就意識到，不同茶葉泡出的茶水比重略有不同。經(jīng)過一年的試驗之后，他開始向顧客出售分層數(shù)量超過兩層的茶水。幾年之后，他逐漸將層數(shù)擴展到了七層。
古爾的這種多層茶在斯里蒙戈爾這個地方屬于獨一份。雖然馬來西亞的沙撈越有一種很受歡迎的三層冰茶，但是那種飲料里面只有一種茶，杯中的三層通常分別是杯底的椰糖層、中間的煉乳層和最上面的茶水層。斯里蒙戈爾分層茶的獨特之處在于其神奇的層次是不同品種的茶葉泡出來的。
古爾將當?shù)厮姆N不同品種的茶葉——三種紅茶和一種綠茶——泡好之后倒在一起，再加上牛奶和各種調(diào)味品。每一種液體的顏色和味道都不一樣。將一種液體傾倒在另一種上面，就能創(chuàng)造出顏色層次截然不同的七層茶水。茶客一層層地慢慢啜飲：他們竭力想弄清楚每一層到底都有些什么，舌頭就像是在尋找罪犯蛛絲馬跡的警員，很有趣味。七層茶最上面的一層有淡淡的肉桂味；第二層有些許輕微的柑橘味。古爾說，茶客們對第四層和底層的反應最明顯。第四層是加入了煉乳的紅茶；底層是一種略帶甜味、醇濃似糖漿的綠茶，里面加入了丁香、肉桂和“秘密調(diào)味品”。（茶客可以選擇七層中的任意一種或全部七種。）
在這個每年都要消耗掉5500萬公斤茶葉的國家里，古爾的分層茶讓他小有名氣。他曾經(jīng)先后和孟加拉的很多頂級政治人物共飲一杯茶。這些人中有國會成員、央行行長。他將孟加拉報紙上報導他的文章剪下來貼在墻上，目前這些文章已經(jīng)貼滿了他那間露天茶鋪的一面墻。今年一月份，他在與第一家小茶館同一條街的不遠處開了第二家小茶館。
一杯七層茶的價格是70塔卡，折合約1美元。這看似不算貴，但你知道嗎，當?shù)卮蠖鄶?shù)茶一杯才賣7美分。
分層茶具體是怎么調(diào)配出來的？古爾對此諱莫如深。每次，他都要進里屋去調(diào)配茶水，以避開人們窺探的眼睛。他只將配方告訴了在茶館干活的三個兒子和他的一個兄弟——只有他們五個人可以進出調(diào)配茶水的那間屋子。
雖然小鎮(zhèn)里經(jīng)常冒出模仿者，推出他們自己調(diào)配的分層茶，但是在茶的層數(shù)上，他們都比不上古爾。他說，他已經(jīng)練習了好幾年，準備今年晚些時候推出十層茶。
為了喝杯茶，值得跑那么遠嗎？
因為一杯茶里有好幾種口味，所以品茗客至少能找到一層或兩層對自己口味的茶水。從上往下數(shù)的第四層味道濃烈，就像是紅茶中加入了生姜和肉桂，而很受人歡迎的底層則略帶甜味（雖然有人說和冰激凌上的糖漿一樣甜）。古爾說，這些味道“可能伴隨你一生，”但是光是其中的一種味道無法給人們留下如此深刻的記憶。讓人們難忘的是整個品茶的體驗的過程：神秘的配料、茶館門外成行的茶樹、孟加拉泡茶大師親手配置的香茗。
古爾的兩家Nilkantha茶館（Nilkantha Tea Cabins）位于Kalighat路，在孟加拉錫爾赫特區(qū)（Sylhet）斯里蒙戈爾鎮(zhèn)外幾公里處。
