India In A Cup

Founder Brook Eddy blends South Asian flavors and philosophy in Bhakti Chai

By Wendy Swat Snyder

Bhakti Chai sprouted from a classic NPR driveway moment—the radio network was covering a story about Swadhyay, a way of life in India that espouses transformation through self-study and collective awareness. Brook Eddy listened, intrigued. She was unemployed and straddled with student debt, but full of moxie. Perhaps she could find her purpose in life by studying this group’s approach. She hopped a plane to Bangalore and immersed herself in Indian culture—never dreaming her personal journey would become a book, and lead to a multi-million dollar tea business.

From Bangalore to Mumbai to Boulder, and everywhere in between, your storytelling in your memoir and travelogue Steeped: Adventures of a Tea Entrepreneur is compelling. Talk a bit about the people and places you experienced.

My first trip to India was in 2002. I had just completed my Masters and was kind of naive: I thought, ‘oh, maybe I’ll just go and check out this movement,’ so I applied for a grant. I met the founder of Swadhyay and his daughter, went to their holy services and then out to the farm where people were practicing these devotions through community service. I hung out with Hare Krishnas—fell in love with a Croatian Hare Krishna—they took me on all these temple tours. I was able to experience kirtan—public displays of devotional dancing and singing and chanting—it was very powerful. I traveled the countryside interviewing locals and drank a lot of teas. Depending on whose home you were in, each cup was a little different.

How did your experience in India lead to your founding Bhakti Chai?

When I came home, I was still unclear about my purpose—my path and my work. I ended up working as a development director for a women’s organization, and I had twins unexpectedly. I was making a chai at home just for myself, putting together different flavors I’d tasted in India, trying to reproduce a ginger tea I really liked. I started giving it away as holiday gifts and people really loved it, and I thought maybe this could be a little side hustle. I was working full time, raising these twins by myself. Maybe I could sell this tea on the side to make some extra money. Two years in, I was able to quit my full-time job and start the company. I hired people and, as we grew, moved my tea-making operation from my kitchen to a brewery that I built. 

Your tea has an amazing flavor profile. What makes Bhakti Chai special?

We use fresh cold pressed ginger root—that’s our signature ingredient. When I was first developing the recipe, I was pressing organic ginger in a juicer, and really getting all of its health benefits, immune-boosting properties, and it’s so flavorful. That was very rare when I started using it, 17 years ago. Some products didn’t even have tea in them. And we were purchasing tea that was fair trade, organic and sustainable.

Recipe development and food production is complicated—have you had formal training?

I didn’t have professional cooking experience. I’ve always loved flavors and cooking, travel and food. I appreciate learning new recipes and trying new things. We were the first company to sell cold brew ready-to-drink dirty chais in Whole Foods in 2010, and we were one of the first ready-to-drink matcha drinks on the market in 2015. I’ve always loved food trends and flavor profiles, and have always been a little bit ahead of them.

Talk about your philanthropic platform G.I.T.A.

It’s an acronym for Give, Inspire, Take Action. G.I.T.A. Giving is our charitable contributions program that began out of the Swadhyay ideaI of devotion to the divine through action, helping others. Bhakti means devotion. I really wanted Bhakti Chai to assist women and girls, so early on we set up monthly tithing to feminist organizations. Now we do it through our website. Sometimes it’s Global Fund for Women or The Women’s Foundation. We’ve funded college scholarships, women’s organizations in Brazil, Peru—where we get our ginger—and India. We were one of the first Benefit Corporations in Colorado. We go through a rigorous certification process—every part of our sourcing, the way we give charitable contributions. It’s a structure for companies that are mission-driven that exist to provide a wider public benefit, not just for the profitability of their stakeholders and shareholders. 

G.I.T.A. Giving grew out of the way I started the company, the DNA of the company, informed by studying Swadhyay and really wanting the company to do good, and making sure we’re not building a tea company on the backs of tea pickers in India.