Grown and exported from a tea-drinking nation, coffee has come a long gulp. It now sits pretty on the menus of restaurants that are picky about serving regional Indian coffee. Carnatic Cafe in New Friends Colony and Greater Kailash II in New Delhi began acquiring fans for its filter coffee. Pavan Jambagi, who runs the cafe, says, “I source coffee from my friend’s estate in Baba Budangiri of Karnataka. He roasts and grinds his coffee in Bengaluru and I buy all of my supply from him.”
Rahul Dua of Cafe Lota has similar bidding. He serves coffee from estates across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on rotation. “Our coffee is sourced from Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters on the basis of tasting notes. At any time, we have three-four single origin coffees available. The list is balanced with various roasts, levels of acidity and taste profiles. Currently, we are serving coffee from Bibi Plantation, Attikan Estate and Karadykan Vienna Roast—all from Karnataka. All our coffees are specifically ground for French press, which is our serving equipment of choice.”
There are many who found opportunity in selling coffee online which is picked from select estates, roasted and delivered to homes of coffee aficionados. When Matt Chittaranjan and his wife Namrata Asthana of Blue Tokai came to Delhi in 2012, they missed the local roasting shops in Chennai. Instead of lamenting, they simply set up a roasterie. “A lot of coffee from Indian estates gets exported to the UK, US, France, Japan etc. and we thought Indians should have their fair share. We started buying beans from estates like Biligiri Ranjan Hills, Coorg, Hassan, Bababudangiri and Aldur in Karnataka. We also source coffee from Yercaud and Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu,” Chittaranjan says. The roasterie recently opened a small coffee shop where one can get acquainted with the roasting process besides sipping freshly brewed coffee. The main effort for the couple has been to educate people and help them develop a taste for brewed coffee instead of instant coffee.
Kunal Ross of The Indian Bean sells coffee sourced from small estates in India. These are single-estate coffees from Kodaikanal and Yercaud in Tamil Nadu, BR Hills, Coorg and other regions in North Karnataka, and even Arakku Valley in Andhra Pradesh. Ross says, “We select coffee on the basis of the region it is grown in. Besides sourcing premium single estate coffees, we emphasise on providing a medium to dark roast of coffee. We use an air roaster so that the sucrose in the coffee stays intact and that ensures the brew is not bitter.”
To cater to the needs of the coffee drinker who looks for different elements while picking coffee, Ashish D’Abreo, one of the five partners at The Flying Squirrel, says, “We get 90 per cent of our coffee from our own estate in Polibetta, Coorg, which is run by Tej Thammaiah, our partner and a third generation Coorgi coffee planter. Our artisanal coffee is grown with care and a lot of thought. We have coffee that grows amid citrus patches, another one that grows between vanilla and other spices, and yet another that grows in a thickly forested area,” he says. Everything that happens to the bean, right from where it is grown to how and where it is dried, adds to the taste profile.
The Flying Squirrel, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters and Indian Bean, all insist packaged coffee lying on supermarket shelves loses its character soon and that is where they up the game. Aiding them are the coffee market’s evolving technologies. Bonhomia, one of India’s first coffee and tea capsule brands, introduced a single-serve brewing machine ‘Boho’. “Using capsules give instant results. These machines are best known for producing high-end brews consistently and at the touch of a button,” says Tuhin Jain, CMO Indulge Beverages. “These capsules are espresso machine compatible and come in choices such as Free Love (intensity 5), Dark Deeds (intensity 8), Organic Bliss (intensity 4) and Black Veil (intensity 9), lending themselves to be made into cappuccino, cafe latte etc.,” says Kunal Bhagat, CEO, Indulge Beverages.
Blue Tokai
The main effort here is to educate people and help them develop a taste for brewed coffee instead of instant coffee
The Flying Squirrel
We have coffee that grows amid citrus patches, another between vanilla and other spices, and yet another in a thickly forested area
Bonhomia
One of India’s first coffee and tea capsule brands, it introduced a single-serve brewing machine ‘Boho’ that gives high-end brews consistently
Cafe Lota
At any time, it has three-four single-origin coffees available and all are ground for French press which is its serving equipment of choice