Meet Retd Army Captain V K Mehra and his wife Cuckoo, Who Run The Oldest And Busiest Tea Shop In Noida-NCR

Teasta Tea Shop: In 1995, Retd Army Captain V K Mehra (80) and his wife Cuckoo opened the Teasta Tea Shop in their Noida garage, making it one of the city's oldest and busiest tea shops.

Beyond the rich aromas of dhaba chai, a Noida teashop elevates the caffeinated beverage. Visit this tea store in Sector 37 of Noida, and you'll be taken back to the leisurely evenings of your college days. As the sun sets, the shop is packed with young people conversing and drinking hot coffee while wearing faded jeans and sunglasses. Teasta The Tea Shop, which was founded more than 25 years ago by Captain (retd) V.K. Mehra (80) and his wife Cuckoo, serves mouthwatering appetizers and indulgent drinks in NCR.

Teasta Tea Shop

With only a small amount of space taken up, the shop is still hidden among the dozen other restaurants. No matter what time of day it is, it always seems to be the busiest, with patrons fluttering in and out with tall cups of tea and coffee and tasty appetizers like gammon and cheese sandwiches, burgers, momos, muffins, and cookies. Even with the cashier and the cooks, the little store could only hold about 10 customers at once! Old kettles, a porcelain teapot, and hand-painted teacups are just a few of the vintage collectibles that line the interior's shelves and countertops. On the shelves throughout the store are numerous kettles, a porcelain teapot in the shape of a laughing Buddha, and several painted tea cups that Mehra has gathered over the years from his travels through South Asian nations. A small couch serves as the waiting area. Small stools are strewn over the sitting area, which is a narrow corridor outside.

16 Different Types Of Tea

Teasta provides 16 different types of tea, including the Soring Tibetan herbal tea that can be found in Dharamshala, as well as a few superb filter coffee blends. A clean assortment of hot and cold beverages is presented on three leafy menus, along with a list of delectable snacks like grilled sandwiches, baked muffins, and cookies. Pick up a cup of cool green tea, a crisp Nilgiri, or a cool cup of lemon tea; each one emits a subtle aroma and mouthwatering flavor. Caribbean Coffee, a no-milk combination, is one of the cold coffees that is enjoyable to sip.

Garage To Market

For Mehra, starting a business centered around tea wasn't an outrageous notion. He was already an expert on tea and would give talks about it, its advantages, and how to make the ideal cup of joe in army clubs and other settings. Every stage in the complex process, he claims, from the growing conditions for the leaves to the manufacturing and packing, affects the final flavor. Before moving to Godavari market, the couple operated their business from their garage for almost eight years. Even though it is now a popular spot in Noida, things were very different in the early 2000s. The majority of other eateries were only able to establish themselves as recently as four or five years ago, as other prospective businesses started taking note as the tea shop progressively acquired prominence and started seeing more and more clients.

The Makaibari Connection

The Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling is the source of the tea leaves used at Teasta Tea. Before selecting a sample for his cafe, Mehra makes sure to taste it. Mehra opened the tea shop's second location in Sector 46 a few years ago. In order for clients to understand the amount of effort and commitment that goes into brewing just one hot cup of tea, he frequently conducts lectures on the tea manufacturing process here. He claims that, absent a personal visit to tea gardens or plantations, it is not always possible for someone to be aware of how the final product was created. Instead, he imparts these lessons to them.

What makes Teasta stand out among the numerous big-brand tea shops that have opened in NCR is how the establishment serves delectable food while remaining reasonably priced; the teas and snacks are priced between Rs 40 and Rs 60, but their quality never waivers. All teas and coffees are made in-house, with less milk, bringing out the flavor of the beans or leaves while maintaining a healthy level of caffeine. The momos are provided by a third party provider, while Cuckoo bakes the muffins and cookies herself. There are roughly 16 different types of tea, including Darjeeling, CTC (crush, tear, curl), Kashmiri kahwa, sor-tib-tea, ginseng, jasmine, and saffron, among many more. The iced tea they serve is a favorite among customers.