– Ganesh Persaud brings authentic Chai revolution to Guyana
The tantalising aroma of freshly brewed chai has taken the meaning of ‘storm in a teacup’ to a different level, as it wafted through the streets of Campbellville, Georgetown, on Friday, captivating the senses of everyone in its path, and taking local tea lovers by storm.
This irresistible blend of natural spices and tradition is the creation of Ganesh Persaud, a professional tea enthusiast, excited to bring the authentic taste of Indian chai to Guyana.
This occasion was during his “Chai and Chat” event, where he engaged with the public and key figures.
Whereas many people have to go far to coffee shops to get ready-made chai, Ganesh has created a system where people can buy chai and make it at their convenience.
The teas are made without the use of any machines, ultimately promoting healthy living.
Ganesh Persaud Alongside High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Dr Amit Telang, and Dr Mrs Deepali Telang
Speaking to Persaud, he revealed that the genesis of his journey, which only kicked off this January, has seen more than a hundred purchases since.
Before he started making chai that drew people to its lovely taste, he was captivated and hooked on it himself.
“Well, I love tea. I’m a lover of tea, so when I went to India last year to study, I drank a lot of chai and then when I came back, we started to make chai at Earth Farm.”
After leaving India, he would usually go to Armadillo Earth Farm, where they had a common practice of making chai, and everyone would taste it.
Armadillo Earth Farm is a local, all-natural Earth Farm, sustained mainly by volunteer work.
“So we have this little tradition at the farm, which we call the round table. So we would sit, and after every event, everybody would sit and give their comments and, you know, we’d have discussions and we would put on a big pot of chai. And everybody would make chai.”
He added that he was encouraged to start his venture at one of these occasions, and what started as a hobby has now developed into his desire to bring an authentic chai experience to Guyana.
According to him, this start was like a mere joke and served no great importance to him.
“It was passed as a joke when I heard someone say, ‘why don’t you do chai to sell?’ I was like, I’ll think about it. And then it came into being at the beginning of this year. So on my birthday, actually, in January, which is the 9th of January, chai was actually birthed, the actual chai. And we moved on from there, and it came to this.”
The products, he declared, are carefully packaged for the public, promoting a healthy way of living for Guyanese.
“It’s manually packaged, like I said, it’s all herbal; we want to promote healthy living, so that is why we don’t use and machines, and we have these wooden bowls and all these things that we use to mix and to package. We also have special bamboo-made bowls and spoons that we use to do the filling and to do the mixture and all of that.”
On that note he mentioned a key ingredient in one of the chai flavours that they create, which is used to make into powder.
“So we buy ginger locally, and we go through the process of dehydration and then make it into the powder so all the spices are added, the right quantity is measured and placed, mixed and filled into one bottle, then we move on to the next bottle.”
No chai is made by mass production, instead, every bottle is individually mixed.
With this careful approach to making the chai, every drop still lingers on the taste buds, making people crave more and, ultimately, craving for a healthy lifestyle.
“So far, we haven’t gotten any negative reviews. Everybody loves chai because chai is an Indian tea. It has a lot of medicinal values and Ayurvedic values to it. It helps with blood pressure. It helps with sinus and so many other things,” he said.
Simple as making a cup coffee, he drew the reference in stating how easy it is to make.
“Yes, you will have to add your milk and your sugar of preference. But the mixture, everything is there. The tea leaf, all the spices and everything, so you just pour it as if you’re making coffee, and there you have chai in five minutes,” Persaud assured.
His eyes are now set to higher heights for the business, aiming to make it a staple product in Guyana.
