Apart from Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni, if theres one thing that Indians almost unanimously love is chai/tea. “It’s a daily drink, so there’s a sense of ownership on it. There’s a variant of tea according to every individual in this country, and every variant is unique in its own way,” says chef Manish Mehrotra as he explains the reason why Indian netizens, almost unanimously criticised a video posted by a Twitter account which gave people the recipe of making chai latte. Ingredients such as star anise, cinnamon, maple syrup and coconut milk among others, seemingly irked the Indian twitterati, who were quite angry with their reactions, and also joked that the aforementioned ingredients were better suited in the preparation of biryani than a cup of hot tea.
“These days everything in the West is based around exotifying things from South East Asia. I mean chai is such a daily ingredient here, but there in the West it is not. So they think its some exotic beverage, while for us Indians, it is not. So all these ingredients, don’t make sense to us, and that’s why on Twitter users were not very welcoming of this fad,” adds Mehrotra.
Restauranteurs, too agree with Mehrotra, and feel that the concept is bound to fail in India, if it ever makes it to the country, that is. “India is very particular about its Chai taste. Its Kadak or Masala chai that rules when it comes to Chai Shai and its nothing else that works in Northern region. Chai tea is a powerful blend of tea, herbs, and spices that has been cherished for centuries in India as a means of improving health and enhancing peace of mind, While Chai lattes are often made with either a soluble powder or a syrup imitating a chai flavour which just don’t gel well with Chai taste running in our culture,” says restauranteur Kanishk Tuteja.
{{/usCountry}}Restauranteurs, too agree with Mehrotra, and feel that the concept is bound to fail in India, if it ever makes it to the country, that is. “India is very particular about its Chai taste. Its Kadak or Masala chai that rules when it comes to Chai Shai and its nothing else that works in Northern region. Chai tea is a powerful blend of tea, herbs, and spices that has been cherished for centuries in India as a means of improving health and enhancing peace of mind, While Chai lattes are often made with either a soluble powder or a syrup imitating a chai flavour which just don’t gel well with Chai taste running in our culture,” says restauranteur Kanishk Tuteja.
{{/usCountry}}“We sometimes confuse “doing just anything” with innovation and creativity. I am afraid that the story with and around Chai Latté is one of those cases, and the instantaneous ease of sharing information through the social media sure does not and did not help. One cannot just mix casually different ingredients, use some attractive descriptions and combinations of familiar words such as Chai and Latté and expect the formula to work magic,” Kazem Samandari another Delhi-based restauranteur.
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