India is the land of Tea. According to Wikipedia, tea was first grown in India in the early 1800’s, and by the 20th century India had grown to become the largest producer of tea in the world. The Brits, who adopted the whole tea thing from the Chinese in the 17th century, brought tea culture along with colonization. Indians were at first slow on the uptake. Despite being the world’s leading supplier by the early 1900’s, India proved to be a tougher consumer market. Determined not to be deprived of an opportunity to sell back their finished goods at tidy profit, the Brits launched a massive marketing campaign in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s which succeed in turning India into the largest tea consumers in the world.
Tea continues to be popular here, mostly in the form of sweet chais, which magically arrive at my desk every morning and afternoon courtesy of the office butler guy. Despite being served in these tiny thimble-sized cups the tea is quite tasty and helps somewhat in snapping me out of morning and post-lunch daze.
While tea is clearly the incumbent, coffee has definitely been making inroads. The most obvious manifestation of the emerging coffee culture are the two chains battling for Starbucks-like supremacy of the Indian coffee market, Barista and Café Coffee Day. Both Coffee Day and Barista clearly favor the European sitdown café experience. Even in off-peak hours a take-away order still requires a 5-10 minute wait post ordering, not including additional time to pay the bill after you have received your drink. The coffee is not too bad and they offer the pretty much the whole variety of drinks that you find at Starbucks. Quantity is a problem; grande and venti aren’t on the menu so you take what you can get, I recommend double ordering, it works for me. If I had to pick a winner I’d say it is going to be Coffee Day. With better locations, hip-colorful décor, slightly cheaper prices, and a far superior frappuccino; they are my pick to bring coffee to the masses.
Tea continues to be popular here, mostly in the form of sweet chais, which magically arrive at my desk every morning and afternoon courtesy of the office butler guy. Despite being served in these tiny thimble-sized cups the tea is quite tasty and helps somewhat in snapping me out of morning and post-lunch daze.
While tea is clearly the incumbent, coffee has definitely been making inroads. The most obvious manifestation of the emerging coffee culture are the two chains battling for Starbucks-like supremacy of the Indian coffee market, Barista and Café Coffee Day. Both Coffee Day and Barista clearly favor the European sitdown café experience. Even in off-peak hours a take-away order still requires a 5-10 minute wait post ordering, not including additional time to pay the bill after you have received your drink. The coffee is not too bad and they offer the pretty much the whole variety of drinks that you find at Starbucks. Quantity is a problem; grande and venti aren’t on the menu so you take what you can get, I recommend double ordering, it works for me. If I had to pick a winner I’d say it is going to be Coffee Day. With better locations, hip-colorful décor, slightly cheaper prices, and a far superior frappuccino; they are my pick to bring coffee to the masses.
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