The Way of Tea

I wish multinational chains would open ‘tea houses’ in India. Why do Starbucks, Costa and Café Coffees keep sprouting all over the place? After all we are as much if not more tea drinkers than coffee drinkers. Tea has also been around longer than coffee has. (I don’t know this for sure, I’m just guessing.) Are the big chains afraid of competition from the local chai wala? But the young English speaking middle classes don’t usually patronize these street corner shacks unless they are within hundred yards of a college campus. So what are they afraid of?
I honestly cannot think of a good enough reason why we don’t have Costa Tea and Café Tea Day. I wouldn’t mind spending a lot of my time at a tea place and experiment with different kinds of teas. I really don’t care for the fare they serve in Starbucks. They are massive amounts of vile and joyless boiling liquid served in huge paper cups intended for people who are not anywhere interested in coffee. The coffee ‘to go’ is a disaster waiting to happen for careless people like me with unsteady hands. And umpteen number of sugar and milk pouches disappear in it without making any difference whatsoever to the colour and taste. Whenever I go outside India I have this terrible time finding the right cuppa coffee. Just strong enough, hot enough and sweet enough for my Indian tastebuds. But I always come a cropper. And my visits to each of these regular coffee shops are a disaster. I tried endless varieties but to no avail. The latte is too milky and bland and the froth completely kills the coffee for me. Cappuccino is too little and strong and jolts my stomach into a burning frenzy. The caramel is too sweet plus who wants toffee in your coffee? The mocha is too unfamiliar to one bred on Nescafe and south Indian fare. It makes a mockery of my Indian taste buds. I yearn for my regular desi cuppa- just the right blend of coffee, milk, water and sugar- not too unwieldy to lug around and become a liability, but just the right strength to keep my stomach happy and fuel my senses to the desired level of chirpiness.