Modern Wellness with Tease Co-Founder Gayatri Lalvani

When Tease opened its doors in early 2020, Gayatri and her brother — the sibling duo behind the café’s cult wellness drinks — had no idea they were just 21 days away from the world shutting down. “It was surreal,” she reflects. “At first, we didn’t know how to move forward. But once we put in systems and safety measures, it actually became an opportunity.”

What should have been the most fragile moment for a new business became the foundation of something much deeper. With the city slowed to a hush, Tease quietly became a local destination. People found comfort in small rituals, in clean ingredients, in knowing exactly what they were consuming. Lockdown forced a level of curiosity and care that, in hindsight, couldn’t have been engineered.

“We saw a younger generation, especially, wanting cleaner drinks and asking more questions about ingredients,” Gayatri says. “It became this beautiful, organic education process — people wanted to understand what each drink could do for their wellbeing.”

The philosophy behind Tease reaches far beyond matcha lattes and pastel cups. The siblings grew up in an Indian household where turmeric, triphala and ashwagandha were everyday staples long before the wellness industry discovered them. Matcha, too, had long been a favourite — though her brother struggled to find a version in London that wasn’t laced with sugar or pre-mixed sweeteners.

Combining their heritage with a modern, functional approach to wellness felt like the most natural progression. When they began noticing the rise of adaptogenic drinks in the US, the idea clicked. London was ready — not for wellness as a trend, but for wellness with roots, culture and clarity.

“Tease was always meant to feel like an extension of your own kitchen,” Gayatri explains. “If you forget to add collagen or lion’s mane to your morning matcha at home, you can get it from us knowing it’s clean, intentional and grounded in research.”

Every drink is thoughtfully created — trialled, tested, refined — and their community trusts them deeply for it. When new blends appear on the menu, customers try them without hesitation. The integrity comes first, the flavour follows, and the wellness benefits sit quietly beneath it all.

Matcha has become Tease’s signature for good reason. “It’s the L-theanine paired with caffeine,” Gayatri says. “You get calm, focused energy — no spike, no crash.” Their sugar-free Madagascan vanilla matcha has become a cult order, its richness surprising even devoted coffee drinkers. “There’s so much history and nuance to matcha. People feel that.”

The wider wellness drinks landscape in London is changing too. “Younger customers are incredibly switched on now,” she notes. “They read labels, they ask questions, they look for transparency. It keeps us accountable — in a good way.”

While other brands pivot with every trend, Tease keeps its ethos simple: refined sugar-free, always; ingredient integrity above aesthetics; a menu shaped by genuine need over hype. That clarity has made partnerships a natural next step.

Their recent collaboration with Urban Greens — a brand aligned in values and philosophy — introduced Tease to new audiences looking for functional, clean nourishment. And more collaborations are already in development.

If there’s one thread that runs through every aspect of Tease — from the drinks to the team culture to the loyal customer base — it’s community.

“Community is everything to us,” Gayatri says simply. “It’s the heart of the brand.”

For anyone curious about weaving wellness drinks into their daily routine, she suggests starting with how you feel rather than what you think you should order. “That’s always our first question in store: how do you feel today? Once you know that, the right drink or adaptogen becomes obvious.”

Her personal go-to? A matcha latte with Madagascan vanilla, their homemade nut-blend milk and lion’s mane. “Energy boosting, brain boosting, completely clean — what more could you want?”

What began as an almost impossible launch has become one of London’s most thoughtful wellness destinations — built on culture, clarity and the quiet pleasure of small daily rituals.

www.drinktease.co.uk | @drinktease