Our story
A kulhad chai counter in the middle of Bargarh
Chaiyo Bar started in 2022 with a single counter at the Private Bus Stand and one idea: that the best version of an ordinary Odisha chai is worth a queue.
Chaiyo Bar is an independent kulhad chai, coffee and shakes counter operating two outlets in Bargarh, Odisha — near the Private Bus Stand and at the Gandhi Park gate beside Kali Mandir. Founded in 2022, it serves 22 chai flavours poured into unglazed terracotta kulhads, coffee boiled on the counter, clay-pot kawah and thick shakes, from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm daily.
In short: it is a chai coffee and shake bar in Bargarh that takes the terracotta cup seriously, and it is the cheapest place in the city to get all three drinks properly made.
Why we opened a tea bar
Bargarh has no shortage of tea counters. What it did not have, in 2022, was a counter that took the kulhad seriously. Everywhere else, the clay cup was a serving vessel chosen for speed. We wanted the opposite: the clay cup as the reason the drink tastes the way it does.
That meant sourcing kulhads from the potters around Bargarh rather than buying whatever was available, replacing them through the day instead of once in the morning, and refusing to serve chai in a paper cup even when the queue made it inconvenient. Those decisions cost more. We think the reviews show they were the right ones.
How we make the chai
The method is straightforward and it has not changed much since the first week. Strong CTC Assam leaf, water, milk and sugar in one wide pot, brought to a hard boil. Sugar goes in late so it caramelises slightly on the bottom of the pot. Ginger goes in for the last two minutes rather than the first, so it holds its bite instead of boiling away.
Then it is poured straight from the pot into an unglazed kulhad. There is no jug in between, because the last of the reduction is the best part and it belongs in the cup.
We have written the whole method up properly, step by step, in how we brew kulhad chai — including the four mistakes that ruin a pot.
Why there are twenty-two flavours
Because people in Bargarh already drink a lot of chai and they are bored of one kind. Six signature blends, six sweet infusions, four masala preparations and six green, black and clay-pot teas. The vast majority of people order the same three things: the Bargadiya Special, a flavour chai, and a kawah.
The range is not a gimmick. It is a way of letting somebody who has had chai all their life find the one they did not know they wanted, which usually happens on the fourth visit, not the first.
The coffee and the shakes
Hot coffee is boiled on the counter, not dispensed from a machine, because a machine cannot make elaichi coffee or ginger coffee and those are two of the four things we serve. It also means the coffee and the chai never share a pot, which matters more than it sounds like.
The cold coffee and the shakes are blended to order from brewed coffee and real ice cream. A syrup-based shake is faster and cheaper and tastes like syrup with a cold drink added, which is a different product. We take the two extra minutes.
The second counter
The Gandhi Park outlet opened later, at the park gate near Kali Mandir, and it exists mostly because the bus stand counter was full. It turned out to have its own crowd — the evening crowd, mostly, since the park fills up after six.
Both counters run the same menu, the same prices and the same hours. We get asked this a lot, so: yes, the pricing is identical, and yes, the kulhads are the same clay.
Come and see
We are open 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, every day, at both outlets. We take cash and every UPI app. There is no Wi-Fi, no indoor seating and no air conditioning, and we would rather tell you that before you walk over than after.
Call +91 90408 08063 if you are coming as a group of ten or more.