Feb 83 min read

Share Happiness; Share Memories with Artisan Duka’s Hand Painted Kenyan "Mabati" Style Cups

Growing up, tea-making happened at least 3 times every day in our home. Tea was like a “hello” as well as a “good night.” It was how you welcomed the day, and then how you said goodbye to it. It was also how you said “Karibu” or “welcome” to anyone who walked into the home - whether from a long day at work or as a visitor. No, you didn’t ask if they wanted tea… that would be considered rude. Of course, they wanted tea!

At around 8 pm every night, like clockwork…mom would ask, without removing her gaze from the soap opera of the day, “noo ukuruga chai?” Who will make tea? Her question was always perfectly timed to demand a little sacrifice. Making the tea would mean ungluing the eyes from whatever drama was unfolding on the screen to go to the kitchen and make the night-time chai that would escort us all to bed like VIPs. It was, of course, understood that the tea was best served fresh - and therefore could not be made earlier. It was also understood that a good chai in Mom’s opinion would be brown but not light brown - and not too deep a brown either. The goal was caramel-colored perfection.

My father had his own 'chai' stories to share with us as we grew up, and he shared them as one would pass on a cherished tradition - with great passion. In particular, I grew up hearing the story of Great Grandma Hanna’s precise and highly specific formula for making chai… I heard this story, again and again, growing up - often as a contrast to our “eyeball it” approach to tea-making (no measurements, just eyeball it), arguing that protocol and precision were critical to success in various spheres of life and work. At other times he simply shared it with nostalgia - as a fond memory from his childhood.

Whatever the context, Grandma Hanna’s chai was always depicted by my father as the epitome of all chais'. As he recollected the taste of Grandma Hannah’s tea, his eyes would grow wistful and he would assert most assuredly that at that moment, the exact taste of her perfect chai was present in his mouth. We all licked our lips but came up short without the actual memory to hold the fort to his convincing claim. But he pitched it like a salesman.

The recipe was shared just as he recollected it from childhood, without the measurements. He would watch (from a strategic spot from where; sitting in his mother's kitchen, he could watch his grandma's tea-making ritual). Hannah would pour a precisely measured amount of water into her clay pot, and place it on her three-stone fire. In advance, she’d already boiled the milk that had come in from her cow that morning. Then she would add a specific amount of boiled milk. Once her tea came to a boil, she would remove the pot from the flame, and place it on her mud floor. Her measured tea leaves would be scooped in next, and the pot covered for 2 minutes.

By this time, “Wa Nyaga” as Great Grandma Hannah fondly called my father, knew the time was right to make his way to his favorite spot at her hearth, just as Hannah sieved her sweet, milky tea into the metallic pot and served it into his classic, orange "mabati" style mug. "Can you imagine that first sip of pure, Hannah-curated, caffeinated chai perfection?"

Grandma pointed out to him, and later to us (through the power of story), the importance of precise protocols and processes. It was in this way that she could deliver an excellent cup of tea, every single time.

What kind of stories, recipes, and memories have been passed on in your family? At Artisan Duka we believe that happiness is not perfected until it is shared.

Our Mabati Style Hand-painted Cup can be a special carrier of memories, and of course, of chai. This is the same kind of cup many children from the 60s, 70s, and onward drank from at the hearth of their mothers and grandmothers.

We’ve added a special twist, with the hand-painting of custom images that capture your precious family memories. You can also use them as planters, placing a plastic pot inside them as a holder for your favorite succulents.