After my first experience with chai I was positive that I would never be a fan. It was on my second last day in Kenya at café situated in a very western shopping mall (sadly it just highlights how our western influences are slowly – and sometimes not so slowly – permeating every corner of the earth). I figured where better to try chai for the first time than a nation whose food is heavily influenced by Indian cuisine? Unfortunately, the drink in question was lacking in flavour and sickly sweet. So much so that I struggled to finish it, which is saying something as I pride myself in not being a fussy eater. By that point I was on my last few Kenyan shillings, therefore it was disappointing to see them disappear on such an ordinary beverage. The memory sticks out as it was one of the only ‘negative’ encounters that I experienced during my five weeks in Kenya. Is it too strange to say that the chai was more mood-dampening than my brush with typhoid? It probably is, but after hearing so much praise about chai I had very high (and perhaps unreasonable) expectations. Continue reading
