Tea story

The good old “tapri wali chai” — tea from a roadside seller — is not going out of fashion any time soon, even if fancy tea variants continue to flood the cafes, chai bars and vending machines.

Be it those quick breaks in between office hours or a unifying agent for college students, tapri chai — traditionally made with milk and sugar — has had a different charm.

Tea experts and owners of different cafes and tea brands maintain that tapri chai might be reinvented with style, but the flavour that it gets in its original setting will never go out fashion.

“Tea as a subject is gaining a lot of interest amongst the evolving consumers. Tapri chai continues to be the mainstay and preferred morning cup of tea. It will continue to be so for a long time considering the depth and volume of our population,” Subrata Mukherji, Business Head at Typhoo India.

However, Mukherji said the younger and new-age consumers are also exploring new tastes, healthy brews and are looking for exotic varieties. Raghav Verma, co-founder, Chaayos, believes the tea industry is witnessing a lot of innovation. Citing hygiene as one of the bankable factors, Verma said: “Before chai cafes came into the picture, tapri chai was the only option. Now with cafes, they can enjoy their cup of tea at a good cafe and be sure about hygiene.”—IANS