What better way to beat the rainy-day blues than to sink into a cup of warm chai?

When the first stormy day of the semester came, I nestled into a warm nook  to work the day away. The nook in question was Chad’s Chai, located in downtown Winston-Salem. 

This was my bewildering and mirage-like experience inside the unassuming chai shop. 

My first impression of Chad’s Chai was that it was exceedingly homey for a minimalist tea house. Orders are taken at a circular island in the center of the shop, then subsequently made and served. On either side of the island are two ceiling-high trees growing in large ceramic planters.  

Comfortable mid-mod couches square off sections of the shop, flanking an elevated stage toward the back, blanketed with plush rugs for traditional Japanese-style floor seating, complete with round zabutons and low tables. 

I settled into one of the couches near the window — and the window-orchids — to watch the rain. Not long into my weekly reading of “The Personality Puzzle,” by David Funder, an intriguing personality entered the shop, leaving me puzzled. 

He was a lanky man, wearing a Hawaiian shirt decorated with orange blossoms. He had a styrofoam plate that held two chili-dogs and a heavily dented Hydroflask. A mailman followed suit, wearing his mailman’s uniform, unprotected by umbrella or raincoat, so that all the mail he was carrying was soaked to the marrow.

Sensibly, the chili-dog man behind me said, “Is the mail getting wet like that? Who wants the wet mail? It’s ridiculous. I would get mad.” 

I was glad he found the scene just as perplexing as I did, because I, too, could not fathom who would want the wet mail. 

I got up to order a “Dirty Misty Mountain Chai” with notes of yerba maté, black tea, cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, ginger and cardamom – which I got with their signature non-dairy nut blend. The blend “is a house-made blend of oat milk and almond milk with some vegan creamer made from lentils to provide extra creaminess,” according to Chad’s Chai. 

After I grabbed my chai, I sat back down on my couch. Not minutes later, a group of Wake Forest graduate students began to eye the vacant seats near me. They were looking around to suggest that there was no other place for them to sit, and so I moved my belongings and invited them over. They sat next to me for two hours speaking loudly and leaning toward me as though they wanted me to hear their conversation, but also apologized frequently for their volume. 

The only girl in the group squealed, “Sorry for disturbing you,” and blew me a kiss upon their departure. This gesture made no sense to me, as I did not know her at all, but it made a lot of sense in the context of the things that had already happened in the shop.

I ordered another chai, the “Chai Ya Yai!” which is a black tea blend with strong notes of cinnamon, black cardamom, ginger, chili pepper, black pepper, star anise, clove, marigold petals and chipotle pepper. 

Chad’s Chai only serves tea, stating, “Loose tea simply helps you slow down and be more connected with nature. It is beautiful, both dry and wet, as it unfurls in the water. It’s about authenticity. Never anything artificial or even ambiguous.” And it’s true, nothing about their tea tastes artificial. 

A strange serene man entered the shop and caught my attention, and a friend who was with me texted, “There’s this scruffy old dad sitting near me and he keeps, like, bringing his stuff in with one hand, like he brought this cup of milk in his palm held up like a platter a waitress would hold, something is weird about him.”

He talked to the chili-dog man, and as he left, the entire staff said goodbye to him in unison. I had a hunch it might be Chad himself, partly because of the Chad’s Chai shirt he was wearing, partly because of the behavior of the employees. A Google search confirmed it was him. 

Just before close, a sweet employee came up to my friend and me and said “Before you go, we have a ton of Peachy Keen and Green Peace left over, would you like some?” I asked him which was better, and he suggested Green Peace. We both thought this was a very nice and sustainable effort by the shop, and the Green Peace was refreshing. 

My rainy day at Chad’s Chai felt like a dream. I recommend that everyone “chai it,” if they can.