Chai or Tea

What’s in a name?

 

Chai is actually just the Hindi word for tea. 

And tea is nothing less than a way of life in India, an inextricable part of our culture.  It is the essence of Indian hospitality. It is the great unifier in a vast multi ethnic land. 
 

The history of tea in ancient India is mostly anecdotal. The indigenous tea plants- camelia sinensis assamica were growing wild in the jungles of the Brahmaputra valley in Assam and the tea leaves were used as medicine by the local tribes long before the British East india company established tea gardens in Assam and started producing tea for larger consumption.

Later tea seeds brought by the British from China which could not grow in the hot and humid weather of Assam were planted on the hills of Darjeeling and the idyllic blue mountains of South India. The cooler climate and the soil were both  conducive to the growth of these tea plants with smaller leaves - camelia sinensis sinensis.  The tea industry in India flourished along with the British love of tea.  The credit of popularizing tea with milk in India also goes to the British. 

But soon Indians gave their own unique touch to the tea.  They started cooking their tea with certain herbs and spices with milk and sugar and so the much loved beverage called chai was born. 
 

Although traditionally black tea has been the brew of choice in India, today many kinds of tea are being made by small passionate tea farmers. The different tea growing regions of india are beautiful and diverse geographically each with their own customs and language. The teas produced in these regions are also as different , unique and incomparable in character.
These are the teas that we bring to you. 
 

Our aim and endeavor is to bring you the best tea from the pure and beautiful heartlands of Indian tea while  building relationships and supporting  small tea farmers.