I’m not one to boast (much), but I’ve heard customers refer to Kasa’s chai as The Best Chai In The City, and I have to agree.
What makes our chai special is that it is REAL chai.
The kind you’d find on a train between Delhi and Agra.
Our chai is brewed slowly with loose leaf tea from Assam, whole milk, freshly ground whole spices and roots and then generously sweetened with sugar. It’s like a cross between a Oaxacan hot chocolate and an English tea. No offense to Starbucks, but I have no idea what their chai actually is!
Indian people are obsessed with chai, kind of like San Francisco is obsessed with the perfect cup of coffee.
I deliberately avoided learning how to make
chai (or ‘cha’ as we say in Punjabi) or to drink cha for a couple of reasons:
1) If you make a good cup of chai, it’s all over for you.
Literally everyone in your family, throughout the day, will be using this phrase: ’Ek cup cha banale please’, or ‘Please make me a cup of tea’. It is always said with a look of pleading in their eyes, and a healthy dose of guilt tripping in case you were thinking of refusing to feed their caffeine addiction.
As much as I love feeding people, I had to draw boundaries somewhere or I’d be permanently in the kitchen. So I would purposely make a mediocre cup so I’d never be asked again!
Not to mention, people are demanding when it comes to their chai. More milky, less milky, stronger, sweeter, less sweeter, hotter…it’s an endless list of demands to get their chai, just as they like it!
My grandma (who was permanently on a diet) would request 1/2 spoon of sugar, and ALWAYS say it wasn’t sweet enough and then add another half a spoon!
2) I really don’t enjoy being a slave to addictions, and so do not partake in soda, caffeine or tobacco, as a strict principle of life.
Suresh, on the other hand, hardly spends ANY time in the kitchen but is the ultimate chai maker and is extremely critical about a good cup. All credit for Kasa’s chai goes to Suresh and the Kasa crew for perfecting the art of brewing the chai.
I must admit that Kasa’s chai is slowly sucking me in. I find myself some days thinking how a delicious cup of
Kasa Chai would make my day so much better! For now I’m limiting myself to Sunday evenings only.
I do apologize to some of our customers who love our chai but wish we’d offer soy, or sugar free, or low fat, or caffeine free or some combo of the above. We try to keep things at Kasa simple and authentic and how we know best. This is a very authentic cup of chai, just like chai vendors in India where there’s only way to order it.
And if you’ve already gotten the Kasa Chai bug, we also sell hot boxes of Chai for your next event! Just call the catering line at 415-341-7345.
Any other places in San Francisco or around the world where you’ve had an AMAZING cup of chai?
Anamika
Across the street from you! Samovar has amazing masala chai.
I love Samovar. The decor and philosophy is beautiful, and the staff are always so friendly. I’m also a huge fan of their brown rice, egg and tofu bowl. I haven’t tried their chai (always try to stay caffeine free!)
The owner of Samovar is also a wonderful passionate person about his tea and business!!
Came across this blog and website for Kasa while reading another food blog and researching places to eat in SF as part of an upcoming holiday (I live in Dublin, Ireland).
I must say that I have never so far been able to appreciate what most coffee shops here (including Starbucks) sell under the label of ‘chai’ or ‘chai latte’ and wonder how people who have this would react if they ever tasted real Indian chai
Though Indian restaurants don’t figure high on my list of must-visit places (coz I cook Indian a lot at home myself), the promise of homestyle food at Kasa is definitely tempting and I may drop in when I’m there