That daily cup of coffee!

Despite Karnataka and the south of India housing coffee lovers and different coffee chains, the coffee culture has gone through a lot of changes and there are people who drink coffee more consciously now than earlier. 

While the City hosts the fifth edition of the ‘Indian International Coffee Festival’ from January 21 to 25, Metrolife talks to coffee lovers and others about their passion for the drink.

For many, the authentic cup of coffee still matters much more than just the ambience. 

Manjunath NM, a software engineer, has been going to Indian Coffee House, for the past 10 years. “I love to munch my masala dosa and sip on the authentic coffee that they serve. The flavour of the coffee is like no other, and that’s what keeps bringing me back,” he details.

Others say that to satisfy their filter coffee addiction, one has to go to a darshini or the Indian Coffee House. 

“It all depends on the purpose too. If one is going to a coffee place to enjoy the coffee, then coffee house or darshini is the places to be. But the special lounges and cafes are more about the ambience and less about the coffee experience,” says Ranjini Garani, a postgraduate student.

Samyukta Hornad, a theatre person, says that coffee and coffee places have become a social medium to belong to a group. 

“There are certain coffee places in the City, which see a niche crowd. One can see many people at the cafes of Alliance Francaise, Ranga Shankara, Koshy’s etc since they want to belong to the crowd there and be associated with them,” says Samyukta.

She adds that there are other spaces, where the youth just hangs out to spend time with friends.

“The concept of coffee spaces has changed drastically. Nowadays, business decisions and even presentations are done at coffee lounges,” she adds.

With coffee chains like Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) which started from Bangalore, the coffee scene changed drastically. Sumedha Iyer, a young professional who likes to spend time at CCD, says that coffee chains have become the place to be at. 

“One can spend as much time one wants to at such a place with just a cup of coffee. We all ‘catch up over coffee’ now, and hang out for hours together, even discussing work and helping each other with work projects sometimes,” shares Sumedha. 

She adds that instead of the regular coffee beans that one can buy at the store, she and her friends also opt for special flavours of coffees that are available at such chains.Darshini owners say that regulars always make it a point to come for their special cup of energy. Kishore Shetty, co-owner of Sri Devi Cafe at Cox Town, says that coffee drinkers have only increased by the day. 

“I have had regular customers for the past eight years, who come often to get their shot of caffeine. We haven’t increased the coffee prices as there are many people who just come to enjoy coffee,” adds Kishore. Despite the increasing number of coffee chains in the City, there are people who are going for other drinks like tea or  juices. Swetha Karthik, a mechanical engineer, says that she tries to keep away from coffee since it causes hypertension. 

“I get a certain high when I drink coffee, but then I feel exhausted when the caffeine rush is gone. And I need to have the next cup soon. So I shifted to lime tea. This has even helped my weight issues,” she says.