Styled in a Victorian ambience with high ceilings and giving the vibe of a government quarter, 'Tea Centre' at Resham Bhavan near Churchgate station has been standing for more than 57 years. With more than 100 varieties of teas, the tea centre has come a long way in promoting Indian teas in whatever way it can.
The tea centre is owned by the Tea Board of India and Cyrus Chinoy is one of their consultants for the past 7 years. "There are no other beverages available besides teas. No lassi, chaas or aerated drinks are served here. More than 95% of teas served here are black, to be consumed without milk. The most popular one is the Kulhad masala chai served in earthen cups and the in-house recipe of hot buttered apple tea. The teas range between Rs50 and Rs130," said Chinoy who claims that it is the only place in the city making iced teas with authentic tea liquor and not pre mixes.
Teas here are sourced directly from the planters and estates in Darjeeling, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and the Nilgiris. With green tea and black tea, the centre also serves white tea which is made from tea buds plucked at a certain time of the year. Chinoy claims that the centre has around 300 regular customers and some have been around since its inception. Usually frequented by government employees and ministers in the bygone days, the centre today sees a mixed crowd. "I run into so many old couples who tell me that they began their journey of love here or visited it during their courtship period," he said.
Business for green tea has grown by 50% according to chinoy as it has anti-oxidants and is naturally made. He said that the awareness around teas has gone up tremendously in the last 5 years. "The best tea in the world according to me is the Darjeeling tea. Everyone should try the first flush tea once in their life," said Chinoy who drinks 8-10 cups of tea in a day.
The tea board of India tries to promote teas to tourists and others and have a website explaining the same. "The main objective to begin the tea centre was to promote Indian teas. Mumbai is a tourism and economic hub so the decision to open a centre here was taken. We have had to use to PPP model to run the place sometimes. We promote the teas by organising tea tasting events and distributing booklets among others. People can buy teas outside the centre as well," said BP Yadav, the development officer from the Tea board of India.
Mumbais relation with tea has only grown with cutting chai and roadside stalls. It has also made itself available on e-commerce websites like shop.chotuchaiwala.com. Many tea rooms have sprung up in the city with XVII tea room being one of them which began 2 months ago. "There are already more than 4 tea rooms in the city catering to tea lovers and many more will crop up as the trend is setting in. We did not want to add more complex teas in our menu but we are surprised with the type of requests and the knowledge that our patrons bring us. The market is more mature than we expected. Tea is beginning to be accepted as a beverage and there is a huge demand in Mumbai. A few years ago, people did not know the difference between a herbal and a green tea but that's changing too. Right now we have 30 varieties which includes coffees, hot and cold chocolates but we are expanding our menu with more complex teas," said Naveen Manglani one of the partners who have set up XVII tea room.
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