Texas drinks tea by the gallon, but the tea most Texans grew up with was cold, sweet and poured over ice. Black tea brewed the other way, hot, strong and simmered with milk until it turns the color of caramel, has quietly built its own following here, and it is not a small one.
That style has a name: karak. Loose black tea is boiled rather than steeped, then finished with milk and, depending on the cup, cardamom, ginger or saffron. The result is thicker and sweeter than a Western cup of tea and far stronger than the word "tea" usually suggests.
In Houston, that cup found an audience immediately. Along Hillcroft, where restaurants and grocery stores serve communities from across South Asia and the Gulf, karak is not exotic. It is the ordinary end to a meal and the reason to sit outside at midnight.
FiLLi built its name on this brew in Dubai in 2004, and the version people order most is Zafran Chai: karak infused with saffron. It is richer than a standard cup and slightly floral, and once someone tries it, they usually stop ordering anything else.
The appeal in Texas is easy to explain. Black tea brewed strong holds up to spice, to sweets and to weather that swings from humid to cold in a day. It is also social. Nobody orders a karak to take back to their desk; they order it because they intend to stay for a while.
If you want to taste it properly, order it hot and unhurried: karak or Zafran chai, a paratha or a plate of chaat alongside, and no rush to leave. That is how it is drunk in Dubai, and now in Houston, Sugar Land and Carrollton too.