Chai garam...

Manpriya Singh 

When the typical chai craving strikes, nothing else will do. Courtesy the widespread coffee bars tea time is usually relegated to home, friend’s home or at best any nearby tea stall. 

Well, with Chaayos, a chain of tea bars, they hope to change that, starting with its maiden outlet in the city at Elante Mall. “Well, this is the 5th city after Delhi and Mumbai and our 37th outlet,” founder Nitin Saluja cites the overwhelming statistic of his venture since the first in 2012. 

Choose your chai 

Well, this one is likely to be good news for hard-core tea lovers who like their cup…just their way. “We are serving 25 varieties, which can be further customized into as many as 12,000 kinds of teas. There are four milk options, two sugar options and two chai patti options and 12 add-on options,” he adds further. 

Meanwhile, there’s lemon iced tea, the most basic of iced teas, is likely to please those who do not like anything extra in their tea. “Just in case you do, you can always give instructions and they customize,” chips in the co-founder Raghav Verma. 

Tea with a twist

Novel, interesting or simply crazy, howsoever it might sound, but there is no dearth of unusual tea options on the menu. So, starting from the signature desi chai to the kulhad chai (saffron masala chai served in a traditional Indian kulhad) to cutting chai (masala chai) to even the pahadi chai (Kashmiri kahwa); there’s aam papad chai! Wait, the menu browsing has just begun—there are Chatkaara chai (well, it’s supposed to make you pop), God’s chai (Kangra masala chai from the hills). However, the summer invites more interest in refreshing iced teas and there’s homemade iced tea to aam panna (goodness of mangoes with freshness of iced tea). 

Adds Nitin, “You also have to try our hari mirch chai though Modinagar shikanji is my favourite.”  

Back to the menu and oh yes, there’s a desi filter coffee as well, relegated to the bottom, just like teas are at coffee bars! Going by the number of guests already crowding within hours of its launch, it seems that the tea’s good old place of pride stays right where it was.