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There’s a biography in each brew at Ambi’s Chai Bar in Pennant Hills. Every ginger-charged, pepper-buzzing sip reveals some history about this tiny kiosk’s customers, workers or the owner, Ambi Thind. He can make up to 28 kinds of chai (including a Biscoff and cinnamon special that evokes Christmas) and many of the vividly spiced teas are named after people he knows – from Brooksy’s Chai to Maddy’s Mzungu.

But it is his life story that’s essentially told through every pour. And to explain how he ended up serving the best chai you’ll drink in this city, let’s start in Kenya, where he was born. “Chai was at the bedside in the morning. It was at lunch, it was at dinner,” Thind says. “Chai was everything. As a lot of Indians migrated to East Africa, they took along with them chai.”

The African population then upped the spice levels, pushing more pepper, cinnamon, cloves and other potent flavours into each cup. “The chai that I’m making is called the African-Punjabi chai,” Thind says. “That’s why my chais are quite different to the stock-standard chais you get in India.”

They’re also shaped by his memoir-worthy international experiences: boarding school in the Himalayan foothills; joining NATO forces in Cold War Germany; working on family farms in Zambia. His hockey era followed, with Thind repping Africa and four UK counties in the game. “Hockey brought me to Australia,” he says.

As coach for a young women’s team, he brought flasks of home-brewed chai to training nights. “The girls started saying, ‘What is this? This smell is fragrant. It’s fantastic.’” They wondered what the tea could taste like with chocolate and other experimental flourishes – so he created brews according to their wishes.

Thind retired from coaching years ago, but his menu is full of tributes to his players. Ashlee’s Chai is a spice-heavy load, with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and other punchy ingredients: it crackles with flavour, without slamming you hard.

Brooksy’s Chai is powered by ajwain seeds, an ingredient that’s new to me. Used for medicinal purposes in India (it’s given to children to soothe stomach aches), it’s known for being bitter and pungent. But when I sip the drink, there’s no harsh, off-key note: every other element (the black tea, pepper, cardamom, ginger) is so well-tuned, I end up savouring a wonderfully harmonious brew.

For tea sweetened with a wedge of Cadbury’s, try Maddy’s Mzungu. Thind explains the in-joke: “Mzungu means white person in Swahili. So only a white person would want to put a piece of chocolate in a chai.” But that doesn’t mean it’s under-spiced. “It has over 40 peppercorns in it,” he says.

The strength levels of each tea are indicated by elephant symbols: there are “tame” options for anyone needing gentler chai. Each glass zings with flavour – even the most battle-tested tastebuds will feel revived.

Every drink is carefully spice-simmered and brewed freshly with turmeric, smoky black cardamom or other spices, and a sign warns there can be a 20-minute wait. “Each chai takes a while,” Thind says. “It’s not for the people that are trying to catch a train.”

But your patience will pay off: you’ll want to replay each chai-savouring moment once it’s over.

This is why his venue draws long queues. Each chai is optimised with freshly crushed or added spices. It’s why your throat buzzes with pepper, ginger and black cardamom when you drink here. It’s why you feel instant lift-off from the heady aromas when you walk into the bar: there are 18 spices sprinkled, pounded and stirred into the teas.

There are also the stories in each cup: the rooibos flavour in honour of Ishy, a regular; the lemongrass and chocolate edition for an employee nicknamed Jamila. The food has a biographical element, too – the roti with gently spiced chickpeas (chole) or curried chicken (nkoko) have Punjabi influences – and is served with yoghurt for cool relief. Then there’s a Nutella-sweet roti with pineapple, inspired by one of his managers.

Ambi’s Chai Bar opened quietly in 2018, but new outposts launched in North Sydney and Canberra this year, and you can see why there’s such community fandom for it. It’s named Ambi’s Chai Bar, but it’s now ours, too.