If coffee is about the kick, chai is about creativitea

I cranked up our Nespresso machine for an espresso at the start of my work day. If you were to close your eyes and think of one property that you would associate with coffee, I am sure it would be ‘a drink that wakes you up.’ 

What about tea? I know that my mother cannot start her day without her morning cuppa as well as the one post her afternoon nap. Kick can wake you too Is there more to tea? I am not a tea drinker, but what I have learnt from my show, Chai Mumbai, is that tea sparks creativity. Let me cite a few examples.

Harshad Rajadhyaksha: Homely tea episode

With Harshad Rajadhyaksha

Harshad was taught to make tea by his mom when he was a kid. He felt a sense of satisfaction in making it. Having mastered the art of making tea, young (er) Harshad wanted to do more with it. He liked to experiment with ingredients to add to the basic tea masala and milk used in making tea. This could range from cloves one day to green chilli the other day. The latter made the tea ‘blazing hot,’ as he puts it. The proportions of ingredients that he used would change too. The family looked forward to his experimentations says Harshad, though they did not know what to expect each time!

Harshad’s job as a CCO in Ogilvy does not leave him with much time to make tea nowadays, let alone experiment with it. Yet the influence of his tea-making days has stayed on with him.

One might say that Harshad’s early experimentations with tea unlocked his creative talent which led to his topping his batch at Mumbai’s prestigious Sir JJ School of Arts, rising to the top in the Indian advertising industry and creating the much-acclaimed photo series, a Close Shave called Mumbai.

Shital Kakad: Homely Tea episode

Shital Kakad

Shital is a homemaker who loves food. She took up food blogging a few years back. Now she is a  recipe developer, owner of a cooking studio and publisher of a food e-magazine called Chai Shai aur Baatein.

We got to taste 3 different teas when we went to her house. The first was a reasonably traditional one. Made with the chai masala recipe that Shital had inherited from her mother-in-law. The distinguishing factor of which was the use of sooth. Dry ginger powder. 

The other thing that set the tea apart was its lightness. It was not as milky as most of the teas that one had during the shoot of the series. Shital said this is because she and her husband prefer to have tea which is a balance of tea and water. She said that the couple makes it a point to take time out in the midst of their busy schedules to have tea together.

The other two chais she made were deviations from the norm. The first one had rose petals. Based on her memories of trips to the middle east.

The other had a masala which was a mix of turmeric and fennel powders. Shital believes in Ayurveda. Turmeric in the masala is meant to produce heat. The cooling effect of the fennel balances it.

Each of the three teas that we had that afternoon had a part of Shital in them.

Pooja Dhingra: Tastemakers Tea episode

With Pooja Dhingra

Pooja is the founder and CEO of Le 15 Patisserie. She is one of the biggest food social media influencers in the country. If not the biggest.

We did not go to her house for the show. We went to the Le 15 Patisserie central kitchen. Which is like a second home to her.

We got to learn that tea was the secret sauce behind a lot of what she has done. Chai was the first thing that Pooja had made. The start of a journey which led to our enjoying fabulous macarons, cupcakes and cakes from her stable.

Pooja says that she used to go to a chai ka tapdi (tea stall) run by a man named Vijay during her early days of setting up the business. This was her moment of calm in the midst of the chaos around her. Memories of this tea, along with tips given by Vijay, went into the making of the chai macaron that she presented at an international confectionery event.

Her first foray into the FMCG segment, Dipkie cookies, was inspired by her pandemic experience of having chai and biscuits at 4pm every day with her folks.

Her love for tea is so strong that tea finds its way into her hot chocolate range as the chai masala hot chocolate.

Now tell me, don’t these stories prove my hypotheses that if coffee is about the kick it gives, tea is all about creativity? Would love to hear about your thoughts on the same.

The homely tea episode

Tastemaker’s tea