BENGALURU: If proposing to your partner in front of the Eiffel Tower seems a little too cliched or expensive, try something different. Treat her to a cup of coffee on which is written, “Will you marry me?”
This can be made possible with Ripples – a machine manufactured in Israel – that’s used by some cafes and hotels in the city to print personalised messages for customers.
The machine, along with other equipment imported from various countries, is distributed in the country by Kaapi Machines, Indiranagar. It can be used to print messages on the foam of coffee, beer, cocktail or any foamy drink. “It’s all about the love for coffee. And, in order to instill knowledge about how to brew the perfect cuppa, we also host workshops for coffee enthusiasts who want to look beyond filter coffee,” says Mansi Raicha, brand and marketing manager, Kaapi Machines.
Those interested can undergo training or just attend a session to see what goes behind the counter at cafes, one of which is taking place on November 30. With intensive crop-to-cup workshops, and sessions on barista skills, latte art, manual brewing, and cupping, they have even prompted homemakers to open cafes. “I came looking for a machine and didn’t even know what I wanted. Later, they guided me how to set up my outlet,” said Sheena Khurana, owner of Sixteen Grams Coffee in Gurugram.
According to D S Shravan, who owns Beanrove LLP, a coffee roastery in Bengaluru, “The community meet-up is a platform to showcase, test and get feedback for coffees. It connects planters, traders, roasters, baristas, cafe owners, equipment distributors and home brewers.”Geetu Mohnani, a coffee consultant who emerged as the first woman to win National Barista Championship in 2018, adds, “Meet-ups give an opportunity to meet new audiences, and are also a platform to understand expectations and needs around coffee and the industry. This helps me innovate as a coffee consultant.”
With increasing demand, Kaapi Machine now supplies grinders and espresso machines to popular cafes such as Starbucks and Flying Squirrel, hotels like ITC, and co-working spaces like WeWork and CoWrks. “As new technologies crop up in the market, the demand doubles up. This is how cold brews became popular. Use of less sugar and Nitro is what new cafes are experimenting with,” says CEO Abhinav Mathur.