Kapemai Story

Kapemai’s journey began 32 years ago, sparked by two remarkable people. Our father — a man of simplicity, honesty and dedication — met his perfect balance in our mother. Together, they were like yin and yang, each a necessary counterbalance to the other. Our father is an unwavering optimist, guided by his belief in hard work, while our mother brought grounded caution, always prepared for anything. It was the perfect balance of optimism and care, woven seamlessly together. 

Brought up in the villages of Mao, Manipur, our parents were the first in the family to receive an education. With a lot of resilience and determination, they created something uniquely their own, crafted with their own hands. Following in their footsteps, We — Kholizio and Chorokape, the Kapemai Brothers — are building a legacy. A legacy that our parents began with love and intention. 

We spent our childhood nurturing the garden our father cultivated in front of our house. Being a botanist who had discovered many species, he had an eye for flora. Caring for the garden, deepened our connection to nature, understanding how it gifts flavours that nourish the soul. 

Like every answer to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, Kholi had a bunch of answers: doctor, engineer, writer, professional gamer and so on. While Choro’s one dream was to be in the Indian Army and serve the nation. He would always have ironed clothes even for hangouts with friends and would train hard day and night. We could say he was obsessed with it. 

But in 2020, things changed for both of us. Choro has graduated from college and was excited for his march towards his dream, but COVID ruined the way. Kholi had taken a gap year to prepare for CAT, not because he was interested but because our eldest sister had done so. Choro felt like giving his brother some moral support so applied for CAT and surprisingly outperformed Kholi. Soon, we both found ourselves at IIM Trichy, studying for our MBAs.

After two years of online classes, and living in the college bubble we graduated to corporate roles. Kholi excitingly joined iQuanti, a digital marketing agency in Bangalore while Choro became a key accounts manager of TATA AIG in Chennai. While Kholi’s first year at work went smoothly, Choro was not having the best time at TATA. He lacked purpose which was something essential for him, especially to make an impact in people’s lives. In his second year at TATA, Choro transferred to Mumbai. Even though the change in skylines made things easier, it was short-lived and in December 2023, Choro parted ways with TATA AIG to do something meaningful. 

Something about Choro that everyone who knows him knows is that he loves tea. He is the kind of person who has a tea mug that says “chai lover” and would drink chai from it 4 times a day. Growing up in the hills of Shillong explained his affection towards Tea. So when it came to starting a business together, Tea was something that was etched in our hearts. So as every MBA guy with a business idea in mind, we started doing market research and found that there was something vital we could contribute to the community of tea lovers. 

We soon started developing products with a focus on quality. We wanted our tea to taste like our childhood. Brewed with the perfect leaves, to the right amount. We wanted every cup of our tea to affect people’s lives and make it better. We also believed in innovation and tea was our playground. So we experimented with different blends that create unique experiences with every sip. 

Kapemai Tea stemmed from our family. Where an intentional chai break would be engulfed in the sweet aromas of tea that brought us together. Kapemai wants to invoke that sense of belonging in every cup with our teas.