The Serious Business Of Tea

Once considered an F&B stand-by, specialised, brand-crafted tea blends are the order of the day at several hotels. The sudden surge in tea experientials makes for great commercial sense.

- Madhulika Dash

Let us be upfront and admit that there is nothing new about tea lounges or afternoon teas. The colonial ritual (and the term) emerged from the power corridors of the Viceroy House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan). After independence, India’s hospitality industry adapted this quaint tea ritual largely to cater to their foreign guests. The first hospitality brand to tweak the British ceremony into an elaborate experiential was Sea Lounge at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, way back in 1903. The lounge is considered an institution today and has been constantly reinventing the art of creating luxurious concepts revolving around the ubiquitous tea—or chai, as we Indians like to call it.

Today, almost every luxury hotel boasts an elegant tea lounge that serves several varieties of tea with light refreshments. Usually, the lobby doubles up as a tea lounge, unless the hotel has a dedicated space for it. For budget hotels, tea is more a breakfast necessity and guests can choose from a selection of four: Earl Grey, Darjeeling Tea, Assam Tea, and a familiar dust blend called Masala Chai.

The history of tea experientials

Back in 1950 to 1980, tea was considered an essential ‘experiential’ in the hospitality industry. Abhishek Basu, Executive Assistant Manager, F&B, The Leela Mumbai, says, “While the amount served was less than two to three grams per serving, hotels earned a good profit margin for the cost the tea was sold at.” More importantly, as Chef Paul Kinny, Director of Culinary, St Regis Mumbai, points out, tea has helped create another avenue to showcase a hotel’s offering, although “most hotels showcased the quintessential coffee shop products” far more prominently.