Join Us

Tea Tales

The cup that cheers is overflowing

18 Apr, 2015 by Phantom

The cup that cheers is overflowing

For decades together, the only boutique outlets to buy leaf tea were Aap ki Pasand in Daryaganj and Mittal Tea House first in Sunder Nagar and then in Lodi Colony Market. If you wanted to drink a cup that cheers, you had to head to the nearest hotel and pay an inordinate sum for tea made with a tea bag, or find the nearest chai-wallah in a roadside stall or cart and stand on the roadside and quaff your tea.

That is all a thing of the past. Cha Bar, the first outlet to actually make tea the beverage of the cognoscenti, has a menu that consists of over a hundred offerings. The tea ranges from Assam CTC to Darjeeling, and goji berry infusions to Moroccan mint tea. It’s not just the leaf and its provenance, but the method of brewing and the ingredients that are added, which range from Kerala Ayurvedic tea to Kashmiri Kahwa. Add Japanese matcha and Chinese chrysanthemum, and it is no doubt that you need never repeat a tea for months together.

One wonders why the coffee bars preceded the tea bars by over a decade. After all, it is chai that is the beverage most of us have grown up with. So Chaayos has entered the market with inverse snobbery: quirky signages and tea in glass tumblers, where the add-ons like ginger, lemon, mint, pepper, cardamom and green chilli are what make the brand. Personalized tea is a way of life for us at home, and Chaayos has cashed in on that.

The other player, Anandini Tea, has approached the business from the trade. Young Anamika Singh uses her family tea estate in Kangra as the foundation and creates spice, floral and fruit top notes to create one of a kind blends that she showcases in her diminutive store in Shahpur Jat.

Written By



Appearing incognito is The Phantom's style, so we are keeping this identity under wraps. What we can tell you is that this is one food critic that has earned the respect of restaurateurs and foodies alike. With an astute palate and an adventurous spirit, ​t​he Phantom Critic has more than 20 years of experience writing about food and reviewing restaurants

50% Offer

Other Related Food Trends | All About Food in Delhi

Download EazyDiner app for Table Booking

Get the EazyDiner App

Earn 200 EazyPoints on registration.

Book Best Restaurants in