F&B

Bean to brew

Priya Kanungo

It's no longer just a caffeine fix. Nor is it good ol' Nescafe or filter caapi that your Tamilian neighbour swears by. The Baristas and Café Coffee Days do have a fan following among India's GenNext but then you aren't part of that crowd either. You'd much rather knock back an espresso shot not just for the fix, but also for the mean bean it's made from. Your discerning taste buds and search for that special aroma have brought you to ask for what's been rated the best bean-to-brew journey the world over. Till a few years back, drinking coffee in India meant a partiality towards milk and sugar to drown out the bitterness of the beans. There were few takers for black coffee. But today, the acquired taste of espresso shots (concentrated coffee liquor brewed by forcing very hot - not boiling water - under pressure through ground coffee) has gathered momentum. The fancy cream, chocolate and spice dressings are still doing brisk business, but people have boned up on what beans they want and have finally woken up to smell the coffee.

The Cappuccinos (1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 foam) and Café lattes (a Cappuccino with cinnamon cocoa powder topping and more milk) still rule the roost in India, as Akshay Tripathi, restaurant manager, The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi says. But it isn't unusual to find someone asking for an origin coffee (the beans for which come from a specific place) like Jamaican Blue Mountain or Sumatra Mandheling. Or be willing to pay Rs 850 for a cup of Kopi Luwak, also known as Civet coffee, which is available at the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi.

Says Atul Bhalla, executive assistant manager, ITC Maurya, Mumbai, "People are more aware today about their coffee, and they know what they want. Espresso shots and espresso-based coffees are becoming popular." And, as for the number of cups of the beverage that people down, Dhananjay Kumar, director, food and beverages at The Claridges says "It is about 150 cups every day".

It might be a fact that of India's total production of 3,00,000 tonnes of coffee per annum, only 30 per cent is gulped down domestically. But still, it is a Rs 2,000 crore market, and growing.

And the world now knows it too. That's why they are making a beeline for the refined Indian, whose wallet is bulging like never before. Recently Italian company Illycaffe tied up with the Narang Group to set up 35 espressamente cafes across the country in the next five years. Incidentally, Illy specialises in blending nine types of pure Arabica (there are two main species of coffee beans - Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is lighter compared to the full-bodied Robusta, which is stronger and has a woody aftertaste) picked from South and Central America, India and Africa. Apart from supplying their brand of coffee around the world, they also supply to most of the five-star hotels in India today.

Positioning themselves as a cut above the other coffee chains in the country, Rohit Narang, joint managing director, Narang group says, "We want people to consider our café to be a lifestyle destination. In any case we will be pricing our coffee upwards of Rs 100 for a cup, compared to the Rs 50+ that some of the existing chains are charging." So ambience is the big ticket here, apart from, hopefully, the absence of a crowd. Also, the comforting fact that the cup of cheer could have otherwise cost you upwards of Rs 250 in a five-star. About adapting to local tastes, Andrea Illy, CEO Illycaffe says, "We want to retain the brand identity that we have across the globe. But we do believe in adapting to local tastes to a certain extent, which I call 'glocalisation.'" So you might choose to tuck into some chicken tikka croissants on the side to complement your espresso.

If chicken tikka is the Indian connection for Illycaffe, masala and cheese scrambled eggs it is for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a US coffee company that has set up shop in India in partnership with Blue Foods. Speaking about the venture, Sunil Kapur, MD & CEO, Blue Foods says, "We offer 22 varieties of coffee and this includes the rare Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee bean too."

So apart from just the cup that gets you full of beans, the added attraction of coffee-friendly food is sure to get you to these cafes. And who cares about the money. It's the coffee break that matters. Just make sure you know which bean to ask for. Here's to coffee and conversation.