It started with an emotional catalyst
This article serves as supplement to Our Story and covers more personal details.
Recently, Viraj and I became serious about starting something.
We both do well in our careers but have been in our industries since graduation. There's a certain monotony and boredom that accompanies doing the same thing for nearly a decade.
There were times we had tried to start things, but there was always an excuse for why we never got serious—a lack of urgency because we were young and thought we had all the time in the world, a lack of focus, a lack of confidence.
Many people can find success and productivity by forcing themselves to get up and do things. But I’ve learned you can’t manufacture a raison d’être. Only when you truly live and feel your purpose do you become serious.
I will refrain from discussing the details, but we both had defining moments when we realized that time stops for no one. We would either make this happen or spend the rest of our lives wondering what could have been.
So, after many years of debating and entertaining ideas, we finally decided it was time to dive in. The only question was what to do.
So why chai?
Viraj, an Indian man, has had chai ingrained into him since birth. Many of us wake up and have a cup (or five) of coffee almost religiously—for Indian people, it's chai.
They have chai in the mornings. They have "chai breaks," which can occur mid-morning, mid-afternoon, or throughout the day. They may or may not have it with lunch; some even drink it in the evenings and at night.
It's prolific, and it permeates the fabric of Indian society. Chaiwalahs (“tea makers”) are found on almost every corner of a busy city, serving eager customers.
At some point, it made its way to Western countries, and now you can find chai in almost every café or coffee shop, even in suburbs and smaller cities. But the chai that these places serve pales compared to authentic Indian masala chai.
Some are sweet, some are spicy, but almost none taste anything like what an Indian uncle or auntie would serve you. Viraj immediately noticed this when he first came to the U.S.
And there are likely many reasons for this:
- Authentic chai is hard to scale. Chai is made by boiling milk, water, tea, and spices in a pot. However, this requires cooking equipment and messy cleanup.
- Authentic chai can get expensive. Aside from milk, which cafés need anyway, purchasing fresh spices and tea leaves in bulk can quickly add up cost and overhead at volume.
- People still don’t know how authentic chai tastes. Although diversity is improving, many people have only ever tasted Westernized chai. It’s hard to imagine what you don’t know.
I was amazed when Viraj made me my first cup of chai at his house. I remember how warm and pleasant the spice was, the way it enveloped and coated my whole mouth and lingered for minutes afterward.
Most notable was the maltiness of the tea – if you’ve ever had milk tea at a boba shop before, you’ve probably tasted deep, malty black tea flavor combined with the creaminess of milk. So I was genuinely surprised masala chai wasn’t served more commonly and in more places.
If there were a chai shop near my house, I would stop by at least a few times a week for a sip. Fans of Asian and Indian food will find this beverage right up their alley.
We saw genuine market potential here. Combine this with our penchant for being foodies and hospitality enthusiasts, and we knew we had found something we could be passionate about.
What’s next? What’s the 100-mile view?
Viraj and I are still learning the ropes of running a business. We knew a lot of work was involved, but jumping into it headlong has helped us realize the immense time, effort, and money it takes.
For now, we are focused on ensuring we get a high-quality product to market and meeting people face-to-face this summer at the University Hills Farmers’ Market. We want to build our reputation with local Coloradans first, who have a keen eye on fresh, natural products and whose culture and food scene are rapidly evolving as more people move in from other states and countries.
Beyond that, we have ideas – some involve grand dreams we’ve been harboring, and others will naturally involve feedback and demand from you, our customers. Time will only tell 🙂
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