Carving a niche for themselves in Chennai—which is somehow synonymous with filter coffee—has been both a challenge and an opportunity for Jahabar Sadique and Balaji Sadagopan, the co-founders of Chai Kings, a tea retail chain.
In a city where the aroma of filter coffee seems to waft through everywhere, Chai Kings has managed to stir a chai-centric movement of sorts. Filter kaapi (as it’s called by the locals) may be deeply intertwined with Chennai’s identity, and the city may be renowned for its ubiquitous coffee houses, but it is chai that’s the preferred beverage for the most part, says Jahabar Sadique, Co-founder and CEO of the Chai Kings network of tea outlets…
