Medha and Mayura Rao can be described as tea fanatics. Their love and an eagerness to give a different zing to the purest form of this aromatic beverage gave birth to what they call — 'Ausum Tea' — which in Latin means to be bold and daring, precisely describing the sibling duo.
"We wanted to target what is lacking in the market, which is more or less recipe-based teas. Something that rekindles perhaps a childhood memory. We saw that what was missing in the market was the flavour and choice available to people," says Mayura.
What started as an experiment in the kitchen has today grown into a venture that many have developed a taste for. Their few months of experimentation led to various tea-tasting sessions which garnered a lot of attention from people.
"We initially started our experiment in April this year and spent three months finding sources for the right kind of tea. We went to about 12 different estates until we found the right one to work with. It was in June that we started our first tasting session where we understood what people actually like about their tea.
Currently, we work with a single estate in Darjeeling that makes great white and green tea," says Mayura. The siblings' travels have offered them a great exposure and inspired them to start this venture. Mayura points out that tea has become a growing market in India and there are different places (cafes) that are dedicated to teas. What makes them different is they are making a completely different product out of it which is more like a signature recipe.
"We do something called as the 'hot mango mess', that we make sure reminds one of their childhood memories from the mango base and chilli. We haven't seen anyone else experimenting with fruit teas. It is a challenge to get the fruity flavour, and we have done a lot of experiments to get it right," says Mayura. Both of them have been receiving tremendous responses from people all over the city. And Mayura says word-of-mouth has helped them immensely to go forward. Are people open to experimenting with their taste, especially when it comes to their classic cup of tea or coffee?
Currently, we work with a single estate in Darjeeling that makes great white and green tea," says Mayura. The siblings' travels have offered them a great exposure and inspired them to start this venture. Mayura points out that tea has become a growing market in India and there are different places (cafes) that are dedicated to teas. What makes them different is they are making a completely different product out of it which is more like a signature recipe.
"We do something called as the 'hot mango mess', that we make sure reminds one of their childhood memories from the mango base and chilli. We haven't seen anyone else experimenting with fruit teas. It is a challenge to get the fruity flavour, and we have done a lot of experiments to get it right," says Mayura. Both of them have been receiving tremendous responses from people all over the city. And Mayura says word-of-mouth has helped them immensely to go forward. Are people open to experimenting with their taste, especially when it comes to their classic cup of tea or coffee?
"They are absolutely open to experimentation. In fact, it's quite surprising that the number of people who came for the tasting sessions were coffee drinkers. And we have seen a lot of converts," says Mayura.
"The common feedback that we have received is that our tea tastes unique and is fresh. We create natural ingredients to sweeten the tea instead of sugar which a lot of people find different. People love their tea with a bit of punch in the end," she adds.
Medha and Mayura Rao can be described as tea fanatics. Their love and an eagerness to give a different zing to the purest form of this aromatic beverage gave birth to what they call — 'Ausum Tea’ — which in Latin means to be bold and daring, precisely describing the sibling duo.
"We wanted to target what is lacking in the market, which is more or less recipe-based teas. Something that rekindles perhaps a childhood memory. We saw that what was missing in the market was the flavour and choice available to people,” says Mayura.
What started as an experiment in the kitchen has today grown into a venture that many have developed a taste for. Their few months of experimentation led to various tea-tasting sessions which garnered a lot of attention from people.
"We initially started our experiment in April this year and spent three months finding sources for the right kind of tea. We went to about 12 different estates until we found the right one to work with. It was in June that we started our first tasting session where we understood what people actually like about their tea.
Currently, we work with a single estate in Darjeeling that makes great white and green tea,” says Mayura. The siblings’ travels have offered them a great exposure and inspired them to start this venture. Mayura points out that tea has become a growing market in India and there are different places (cafes) that are dedicated to teas. What makes them different is they are making a completely different product out of it which is more like a signature recipe.
"We do something called as the 'hot mango mess’, that we make sure reminds one of their childhood memories from the mango base and chilli. We haven’t seen anyone else experimenting with fruit teas. It is a challenge to get the fruity flavour, and we have done a lot of experiments to get it right,” says Mayura. Both of them have been receiving tremendous responses from people all over the city. And Mayura says word-of-mouth has helped them immensely to go forward. Are people open to experimenting with their taste, especially when it comes to their classic cup of tea or coffee?
Currently, we work with a single estate in Darjeeling that makes great white and green tea,” says Mayura. The siblings’ travels have offered them a great exposure and inspired them to start this venture. Mayura points out that tea has become a growing market in India and there are different places (cafes) that are dedicated to teas. What makes them different is they are making a completely different product out of it which is more like a signature recipe.
"We do something called as the 'hot mango mess’, that we make sure reminds one of their childhood memories from the mango base and chilli. We haven’t seen anyone else experimenting with fruit teas. It is a challenge to get the fruity flavour, and we have done a lot of experiments to get it right,” says Mayura. Both of them have been receiving tremendous responses from people all over the city. And Mayura says word-of-mouth has helped them immensely to go forward. Are people open to experimenting with their taste, especially when it comes to their classic cup of tea or coffee?
"They are absolutely open to experimentation. In fact, it’s quite surprising that the number of people who came for the tasting sessions were coffee drinkers. And we have seen a lot of converts,” says Mayura.
"The common feedback that we have received is that our tea tastes unique and is fresh. We create natural ingredients to sweeten the tea instead of sugar which a lot of people find different. People love their tea with a bit of punch in the end,” she adds.