Filter coffee anywhere, anytime

BENGALURU: If you are an avid coffee lover and miss the taste and aroma of filter coffee when you travel outside Karnataka, here is an instant solution.

Mysuru-based HABICAF (Habit and Coffee) has come up with a readymade coffee decoction that will give you authentic coffee filter anytime you desire. They will be in Bengaluru from April 28 to 30 as part of the Organic and Millet Nation Trade fair at Palace Grounds.

HABICAF which started marketing and selling its product in October last year is getting a good response. Vijai Bopanna hails from Kodagu, and for him, coffee estates were a common sight at his native, Gonikoppa. “I tried a couple of other ventures before starting HABICAF a few months ago. As packaging, we are supplying filter coffee decoction in a sachet with a nozzle,’’ he says. The sachet is specially designed to retain the aroma of the coffee, Bopanna adds. He says that they make filter coffee with the coffee powder from his hometown.

“We use the traditional method to extract decoction, just like we do at home, but in a larger quantity. We add Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) - approved preservative that keeps the decoction fresh for longer time,” he adds. M S Jayashree is his partner in the venture. If the seal is not opened, one can use the decoction up to six months. If the seal of the nozzle is opened, it can be used up to 20 days without the need for refrigeration and 30 days when kept in a refrigerator. Each sachet contains 200 ml of decoction and can prepare 30 to 40 standard sized cups of coffee, depending on how strong the person loves his or her coffee.

According to Bopanna, most of the coffee beans are procured from Coorg, Sakleshpur and Chikmagalur. For civet coffee, they are procuring beans from Indonesia. “We are coming up with many other flavours other than the regular coffee. Our flavours will be Vanilla, Cinnamon, Hazelnut and much more. We also coming up with herbals. There is cold brew coffee which can be served cold and without milk,’’he adds.

HABICAF decoction is available in Mysuru and Bengaluru. “Very soon we are planning to sell our products through an e-commerce platform,’’ he says. “Right from getting the beans, making powder, adding chicory, extracting decoction, 90 percent of our processing is natural,’’ he adds.