the economics · cup by cup
A real calculation, in your currency, for your habit. The numbers are sharper than you think.
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The home figure is real. A whole packet of CTC tea (100g, ₹40 in India) makes around 80 cups. A small bunch of ginger, 10 cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick, a few cloves: together, well under ₹50 for a month's worth of chai. Milk and sugar are the big variables.
| CTC tea (2 tsp from a 100g packet) | ₹0.80 |
| milk (½ cup whole milk) | ₹1.20 |
| spices (ginger, cardamom, etc.) | ₹0.40 |
| sugar (2 tsp) | ₹0.20 |
| water, gas, time | ₹0.40 |
| total per cup | ≈ ₹3 |
The street stall figure (₹10 to ₹20 across India, with ₹15 being a fair median) reflects what an actual chai wala charges. That includes their cost of ingredients, the gas cylinder, the rent on the stall location, the cups, and their entire livelihood. Shantanu's stall in Pune operates on numbers very close to this. His margin per cup is a few rupees. The volume is what makes it work.
| cost of ingredients | ₹3 |
| fuel (LPG cylinder) | ₹2 |
| cup (paper or kulhad) | ₹1 |
| rent and infrastructure | ₹2 |
| chai wala's margin / livelihood | ₹7 |
The chain figure (a global cafe-chain "chai latte" priced at roughly ₹250-₹330 in India depending on size, the equivalent of $5-$6 in the US) reflects a different economy entirely. The flavour profile is similar to masala chai. The price covers the location, the branding, the cup, the staff, the franchise fee, and the rest of the cost of running a global cafe. You are paying for almost everything except the chai.
Brewing one cup at home costs less than two minutes of your time. The recipe is on this site. It is one click away. Brewing two weeks of chai at home pays for the small kadhai you'll need to make it.
The chai walas of India have been beating global chains on price for a hundred years. So can you, at home, in 15 minutes.