A rich aroma of tea engulfs the environs as one step inside the tea-café- Kulhad Chai in Munawarabad area of Srinagar. The café is winning hearts of people by offering different types of tea.
Kamil Fayaz, owner of Kulhad Chai, started the tea café in December 2021 and says since then there has been a huge rush of tea lovers in the café.
Butterscotch, vanilla, lemongrass, Tandoori and Paan are some of the flavors of tea served to customers.
Having perceived the idea while staying outside Kashmir, he wanted to bring different flavors of tea to Kashmir and to him it has been a beautiful journey.
“People like the variety of tea flavours we offer and the ambience. This season we are also adding blueberry and cinnamon flavors,” he said.
The rich and aromatic varieties of flavors are imported from outside Kashmir with a company they have monopoly with. “The company cannot give the flavors to any other except us,” he added.
The tea is served in Kulhad cups, an earthen teapot. He said the idea of serving tea in earthen pots is to add the fragrance and flavor of tea. “The flavors hit you differently when it is served in a mud pot. It has health benefits as well as people traditionally used to make use of earthen pots only,” he said.
For a person who doesn’t like flavored tea, plain tea in Kulhad is served to them. One can also get a good range of snacks with the tea there.
The earthen pots are imported from Delhi, Gaziabad and Uttar Pradesh. “We tried to get the Kulhad pots from here only by approaching the locals but that didn’t work.
“In getting pots from outside, many pots get damaged but it doesn't reflect on the price and quality we offer,” he said.
To gear up for the summer season, the café also provides refreshing drinks like Kulhad Lassi , Kulhad mocktails, Kulhad mojitos.
“We have a variety of summer drinks to offer too but I believe during evening time, people get tea cravings no matter the temperature,” he added.
Hailing from Jawahar Nagar Srinagar, Kamil has done MBA from a university in Delhi. He stepped into the field of entrepreneurship by setting up a departmental store.
He said, “During Covid pandemic, I was thinking of exploring more business ventures so I started a Paan shop which was also liked by people. We offer more than a hundred varieties of tobacco free Paan. We are trying to expand the business of Paan and Kulhad chai to the Rajbagh area as well.”
Kamil believes to win the hearts of people, one has to make quality the priority.
He said, “If quality is good, you are going to rock. We have a tremendous market of food here in Kashmir. From Wazwan to ice-cream, people are crazy for food. People trust us and we should be able to build up on their trust.”
The young entrepreneur has a message for youth.
“Start as early as you can and start with a small step. I am ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in idea generation. I can also get people trained. Helping each other will help all of us to grow.”
He further said that introducing new things can really help in gaining popularity among customers. “Try to get something different. Don’t do what others are doing already,” he added.