Our Story

Vastu Chai was created in 2004 from a passion for high quality tea and a desire to offer an ethically sourced & intentionally grown tea line to enthusiasts. Our Traditional Masala, is a blend of loose leaf black tea and eight different spices based on my family recipe, which has, over time, evolved into a rich, perfectly balanced chai masala. The recipe was inherited from my mum, passed on to her from my grandmother and great-grandmother, who all originate from the state of Gujarat in Western India.

The concept of Vastu Chai materialized after attending the World Tea Expo in 2006 with my parents. Because of their connection to the culture and fluency in a few languages, we made contacts with tea farmers and spice growers from India. Later that year, Vastu Chai became one of the first Fair Trade tea companies in Canada.

 

Vastu

Vastu is the connection between our being and nature, unveiling the fine balance of the art of living; Vastu is to be vibrant and blissfully satisfied. Begin your journey…discover your Vastu.

To attain our full potential, it is essential to find balance and maintain equilibrium in our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual states. To seek this balance, is to focus on the Vastu principles of happiness, health and well being.

These Vastu principles guide us into our conscious mind, a place of awareness and clarity where we are grounded in our

My Great Grandmother who lived to be over 110

surroundings and are one with the universe. We can be connected in this way, by taking time out to be ourselves, to be present, to be in the moment…a Chai moment.

Vastu Chai reflects this balance by offering social, environmental and intentional options, sourcing from Fair Trade certified (transfair.ca) and Organic certified (pro-cert.org) small-scale farmers in India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. All the teas and spices are plucked, dried, sorted, and blended with the utmost care and intention by farmers. This is evident both when hearing them speak about the process and also in the flavour of Vastu Chai.

Fair Trade and Small Farms

It is still amazing for me to think that each tea leaf is plucked by hand, and then to wonder how to sustain this type of agriculture. This has lead me to support small-scale farming and has led Vastu Chai to become part of an alliance of organic small farmers (trust-organic-small-farmers.org) in 2008. Closer to home, in Canada, I am involved with our local Community Gardening Society (canmorecommunitygarden.org) and a CSA (community supported agriculture)-modeled small business which sustains smaller scale organic, biodynamic farmers locally (farmbox.ca).

Traditional Masala and Rooibos Masala blends were introduced in 2007 and are available throughout western Canada. Masala means ‘mixture’ and generally refers to spice mixtures (i.e. Garam masala used in cooking). I am excited about the latest additions to the Vastu Chai line — Green Tea Masala and Pure White Tea, were introduced autumn 2009 (see Our Chai page for more information on these blends). Vastu Chai is blended and packaged by Fair Packers (fairpackers.co.za), a company two-thirds owned by the Rooibos small farmers in South Africa. Since Rooibos is grown and harvested from January to April, the farmers require additional work to sustain their small farming lifestyle. Note that 90% of the Fair Packers workers are women who work on the farms and many are single mothers.

It has been exciting to be a part of the evolution of Chai including creating different brewing methods, inspiring discussion & thought, and meeting great people along the way. It has been fun!

I hope that Vastu Chai continues to be part your own personal Chai evolution.