Chaayos

Chaayos is not a tea boutique; it is the Mumbai chai habit turned into a café chain, run by a company registered as Sunshine Teahouse Private Limited. Some twenty outlets are spread across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, from Turner Road in Bandra West to Churchgate, Powai and the Phoenix Palladium mall in Lower Parel, so the nearest one is usually a short walk rather than a trip. What it adds to the cup is a shop: the chai patti it brews with is also sold in packets.

The take-home shelf is short and deliberate. Three of the four packs are spiced chai patti in 100 g: the plain Masala Chai, an Adrak Elaichi with ginger and cardamom, and a Ginger Tulsi. The fourth is a 400 g Desi Chai Assam Gold, black tea without spice, which is both the largest bag and the only unblended one. Everything sits at two price points, so the choice is about which spice you want in the pot rather than how much you want to spend.

The online shop goes further than the four packets: instant tea sachets, a Chaayos chai masala spice powder for building your own, pyramid and whole-leaf tea bags, herbal infusions such as chamomile, gift sets and the snacks the cafés serve alongside the chai. Orders ship across India, and there is a café locator and a toll-free line for the rest. The sensible way to use this place is the obvious one: drink a glass in a café first, then buy the bag on the way out.