Balaji Coffee Tea Co

Our shop, Balaji Coffee Tea Co, is tucked away at 256/312 in Old Thargupet, near the Chincholi Phatak. If you walk down this lane, you’ll probably smell the coffee beans roasting before you even see the sign. We’ve been in this spot for a long time, and the walls are stained with the smell of tea and coffee. It’s a small space, mostly filled with large sacks of beans and crates of tea leaves from different regions. We spend the whole day weighing out bags for customers who’ve been coming to us for decades. The floor is old stone and the ceiling is high, which helps keep it a bit cool when the sun is beating down on the street outside. Old Thargupet is a crowded place, lots of carts and people pushing through, so it’s always lively. We don't do any fancy packaging, just plain bags and a bit of string to tie them up. Sometimes the grinder breaks down and we have to spend an hour fixing it while customers wait and chat. It’s a slow kind of business in a fast part of town. We know most of the people who walk in by name, and we know exactly how they like their coffee blend. There’s no seating area here, just the counter and the smell of fresh grounds. It’s a basic operation but it keeps us busy from morning until we shutter up for the night.