One Stripe Chai was founded by Farah Jesani, the daughter of South Asian immigrants. After graduating from the University of Georgia, Farah moved to New York City, where she quickly fell in love with the specialty coffee scene and started to dream about opening her own coffee shop. While frequenting the best coffee shops all over the city, however, Farah realized that none of them offered the flavorful and high-quality chai that she grew up drinking. She always avoided ordering their “chai lattes”, which always came out too sweet or too bland and were often made using powdered mixes. As a chai aficionado who had grown up dunking Ritz crackers in chai, Farah decided to quit her consulting job and bring this South Asian beverage back to its roots. 

Farah started experimenting with different combinations of black tea and spices with the goal of developing an easy-to-use chai concentrate for baristas. She worked with a coffee shop manager to test it out, and after countless iterations, Farah finally landed on the right recipe. She visited tea gardens across India to find the perfect supply chain partner — one with ethical practices and biodynamic farming techniques. Prior to COVID, Farah was selling her chai concentrates in over 70 coffee shop accounts but lost her customers almost overnight due to the pandemic. Faced with the decision to either close her business or pivot, Farah decided to sell directly to consumers online. She spent a few months developing a masala chai blend that consumers could make at home, and business took off once the blend was launched. Today, One Stripe Chai has redefined “authentic” chai, crafted to be enjoyed from the comfort of your home.