JOIN USCreativity has no limit. That’s why 32-year old Jiten Sucheda used his imagination and decided to add some newness to a traditional tea stall – a common kiosk found in every nook and corner of the City.
But Jiten came up with a novel concept this year in February to start a unique tea shop innovatively named ‘Jugmug Thela – Artisan Chai and Coffee’ that has some interesting tea flavours – both seasonal as well as some international flavours in tea and coffee.
One may think that the ‘Jugmug Thela’ might be an air-conditioned café in a mall or a plush shopping plaza but Jiten runs the tea shop outside malls and sometimes melas, on a mere wooden table reclaimed from a discarded shipping pallet. Kettles and jars filled with different kind of tea leaves and sweeteners occupy this table to create a refreshing cuppa for the chai and coffee lovers.
“Tea and coffee culture is all around the world and in India we all are fond of the street side tea. It’s a place where we sit and catch up with friends or get talking to some strangers on mundane, debatable topics. That’s the charm of a tea stall. So why not make it more interesting, giving tea-lovers a unique experience overall,” asks Jiten.
His thela serves drinks like Raw Mango Iced Tea, Cinnamon Iced Tea and Hot-chat-pa-tea. “We are focusing on the key ingredient of the beverage as per the seasons and the location. Like for summer, we have the raw mango chai which is very different from other iced teas. There is no artificial flavour in it – instead we simply add mango pulp to it. Similarly, we have our own masala chai which has 12 secret spices. For those who don’t like masala chai, we have Darjeeling and litchi flavoured tea,” shares Jiten.
Similarly for coffee lovers, Jiten has imported coffee from Vietnam and Costa Rica. He also has coffee from Kerala and Karnataka. All these are priced anywhere from Rs 50 to 150. The shop also serves cookies, cakes and salads.
By running this shop on streets, Jiten intends to break free from the walls of the modern cafeteria and bring quality beverages to the public environment. “Owing to the rapid urbanisation, city folk look at these stalls as ‘being filthy’. They don’t realise that these chaiwallahas are human too. Through this initiative we intend to bring the street vendors and the social atmosphere back in urban consciousness.”
Currently, the makeshift thela is open twice or thrice in a month as it is difficult for Jiten to run full time owing to his professional work as a technology consultant, having trained as a graphic designer. He says his shop will never become permanent because he has no plans for that. “I started this with a concept and if I make it permanent then I will be creating a barricade for myself,” says Jiten.