Chai Bar by David Rio: Choose your chai

In India and Pakistan, the recipe for the milky concoction of spices and black tea can depend on whose house you stop by.

Most versions begin with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, though not always.

David Scott Lowe and Rio Miura, founders of tea and coffee company David Rio, just opened Chai Bar by David Rio, which offers more than nine variations on chai every day.

Back in 1996, Miura, a designer from Miyazaki, Japan, and Lowe, an entrepreneur from Montana, fell in love with each other and with tea in southern Japan.

Once back in San Francisco, they served serious green teas to friends, who didn’t share their appreciation.

“We saw chai as the perfect bridge between coffee and tea,” Lowe said, a way to connect the two halves of their lives.

Miura was throwing chai parties with new friends from India she had met in English class at Berkeley Extension.

The couple experimented for several months in their Bernal Heights apartment looking for an instant blend that would appeal to both sides of the Pacific.

Next came Tiger Spice (the closest to classic), Tortoise Green Tea (a smooth, sweet take) and Boldly Spicy (red pepper flakes add bite).

[...] their blends are brewed to order at the Chai Bar, along with all manner of coffee and tea, such as the Steph Curry ($5), which is a citrusy Arnold Palmer with a hint of cardamom.

[...] you can taste or order his creations by asking for the latest on the “secret menu,” which Lowe says will change every month, depending on what moves him.