Calgary chai shops serve flavours and nostalgia from back home

When Balwinder Singh left his home in Jalandhar, India, in 2017 to start a life in Calgary, he quickly noticed a part of his daily routine missing in his new city. 

Despite the sizable South Asian diaspora, Singh couldn't find the Calgary equivalent of a chaiwala (tea vendor) dedicated to brewing authentic Indian chai.

"Chai is like the basic need of every Indian, I would say, especially in India and Pakistan," he said. 

"We drink [chai] like four or five times a day," Singh explained. "There's bed tea, then we usually call it 10 a.m. tea, and then there's 3 p.m. tea and there's supper tea as well. We wake up and we need tea … it's the culture."

To fill this need, Balwinder Singh along with his cousin, Jagdeep Singh, opened The Chai Bar, a restaurant in Calgary's Savanna Bazaar shopping plaza, in 2022. 

Two years and four more locations later, the buzz of Punjabi music, chatter and laughs, and a phone ringing off the hook from customers placing orders make up the soundtrack of The Chai Bar. The shops, decorated with bright murals and the scent of spiced tea, have grown into popular hubs for social gatherings.

"[Our chai] is very classic because we import our chais and all the flavours from India," Balwinder explained. "That's how we managed to get the authentic taste — because it comes from the soil."

For the uninitiated, Balwinder made clear that his shop's chai is not a "chai latte" you'd get at a coffee shop. Classic kadak (Hindi for "strong") chai involves boiling tea leaves and spices like green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves, he explained. Then milk and sugar are added, and the aromatic mixture is boiled together over heat.

The shop also offers a variety of other blends, with ingredients like rose, paan (betel leaf) and tulsi (holy basil) imported from India.

A place to gather

The social element is also central to the experience of drinking chai. As families and friends filter in and out of the bustling restaurant, The Chai Bar is constantly filled with conversations and loud laughs.

Balwinder said the shop's locations have become popular hangouts not just for South Asian diaspora groups, but others in the community as well.

LISTEN | How chai shops have become social hubs in Calgary: 

The Homestretch6:01The rise of chai

Over the last couple of years, chai shops have been growing in popularity across the city, especially in the Northeast. The shops serve chai, a traditional warm South Asian drink, and they've quickly become important social hubs teeming with customers.

"I think chai is served in every community, I would say. Of course, it's served in different ways," he said. 

Chai has broad appeal across communities, Singh explained, and people from all backgrounds take part in the South Asian chai culture he's fostered at his shop, because tea is common ground for many cultures. According to the United Nations, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water.

"I think chai is one of those little simplest things that I start my day off with [and] I end my day with it, too. Everything else happens in between," said Royce Rodrigues, a baking and pastry instructor at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology who is originally from Gujarat, India.

The growing popularity of chai

Rodrigues said drinking chai is more than a routine — it also has health benefits. In a warm South Asian climate, drinking the hot beverage may seem counter-productive, but a hot cup of chai signals the body to start sweating, in turn cooling it down.

The low cost to produce chai is also a draw for many, he added, and the accessibility of numerous chaiwalas back home make it a convenient option for taking part in the tradition multiple times a day.

"Calgary as a community is growing really fast," Royce said. "A lot of the immigrant population is coming in and I think one of the things that immigrants miss the most is those little things that can connect you to your home country. And I think chai is one of those."

For Balwinder, that's exactly what it was. He recalled working on the farm with his father back home in Punjab under the hot sun. His mother would prepare fresh chai and bring it out to the pair working in the field. Balwinder said it gave them the energy to carry out their laborious work.

Now, his childhood love for chai has resulted in a successful chain serving, on average, about 1,000 customers a day, according to Balwinder.

Given their rising success, the Singhs are now looking at expanding their franchise with new locations in Chestermere, Alta., Winnipeg and Surrey. B.C.

And while the high demand for chai caught Balwinder by surprise, he's looking forward to the future of his business.

"Everybody is just so happy that something like this opened up here in Calgary," he said. "That's why we're expanding it to all over Canada."