Abhishek Rai’s dream that took over a decade to brew, now stands in a relaxed, narrow alley of Delhi’s Shahpur Jat. Rai, the founder of Shack Coffee Co, first thought of opening a café in 2007. Inspired by people across the world who were doing “exciting things with coffee”, he says, he wanted to build a space that combined books, radio, and a sense of community.
Shack, opened in 2022, is a simple, warm, and welcoming café. Rai roasts the beans himself and sources coffee from plantations, like Balanoor and Attikan in Karnataka, and MSP in Tamil Nadu. Besides coffee, there are cold sandwiches, toasts and salads.
Quality over quantity
“Less is more,” he remarks, referring to the list of limited menu items.
The space evokes comfort. A blue-green almirah belonging to Rai’s mother, takes a corner; paintings and photographs given by friends and relatives, hang on the walls. A small brown coffee table–once Rai’s dining table–is surrounded by little stools. There’s even a tiny outdoor cubicle "shack", as Rai calls it, for when the inside gets too full. A yellow tarpaulin has been stretched across the four-walled room to make a makeshift roof. A little store room, built adjacent to the café, is used to store the sourced coffee from various plantations.
But what really makes Shack Coffee Co special is its purpose.
Brewing ideas
“I call this a café for bootstrappers,” says Abhishek. A bootstrapper, he explains, is someone who builds their own business without any investors. He further adds that everybody is heartily welcomed at the place. One might find a writer scribbling away while settled in his usual, spot by the window; a cartoonist too focused on his sketches, slurping his cup of coffee aloud; or just the locals dropping in for a morning toast.
“I’ve been writing a newsletter for several years now, and we invite people who do their own thing, to meet, collaborate, and find support here,” says Rai.
The idea of bootstrapping, much like the café itself, is inspired by Indian tradition of adda and jugaad. It is a place of random walk-ins and shared experiences. People who come in hang out for long while sitting with a single cup.
During his post-graduation in Delhi in the early 2000s, during the global ‘Third Wave’ coffee movement (pertaining to premium coffee-brewing methods, and artisanal roasting) Rai was already involved in different community projects.
The name 'Shack' itself carries history. Originally meant for a small café in Bengaluru that Rai wanted to open with a friend, it now carries emotional meaning. He further explains that in German, the word Shack translates to ‘cottage’ or ‘hut’. “My place is just like that (a cottage). Small and cozy where people can be informal and be themselves.”