Traditional Masala Chai

In the 1830s, the British East India Company became concerned about the Chinese monopoly on tea. After discovering the existence of the Camelia Sinensis Assamica tea plants in India, then began to cultivate their own tea plantations.

While tea was incredibly popular in the West, most Indians found it too expensive. In 1901, the Indian Tea Association decided that to make more money, they needed Indians to drink tea too.

In order to popularise tea, the Indian Tea Association set up vendors, known as chaiwalas, at major railway stations, outside of factories, cotton mills and coal mines, convincing employers to give Indians a mandatory tea break every day. Each chaiwala wanted to stand out from the crowd, so they started adding spices to their tea, like black pepper, cardamom and ginger, developing their own special masala, or spice mix.