If you are in the mood for some free coffee and want to learn more about your favourite coffee, the ‘India International Coffee Festival 2014’, which is on till January 25 at The Lalit Ashok, is the right place for you.

From different coffee tastes to blends, the festival, spread over two halls, has a lot to offer. And most of the stalls insist that you try their coffee or take a sample back home. There are many sights at the festival that will make you stop for a moment, be it a huge coffee bean replica at the central stall showcasing coffee machines, or a traditionally dressed man preparing coffee at the Hatti Kaapi stall.

The stall representatives are very appreciative of the exhibition and the space they have got to showcase their products. Most people like filter coffee and a new addition to this market is filter coffee decoction, says S Srinivasan, a representative of Cheenu’s, a coffee brand. “The shelf life of this decoction is ten days. It stays fresh and doesn’t need to be refrigerated,” he vouches.

Another stall owner, Nagaraj, from Continental Speciale says most people still prefer pure coffee over flavoured one. “Every year, its consumption seems to be increasing by five per cent or more. This festival has tried to inculcate many things for coffee-lovers,” says Nagaraj.

There is a section dedicated to coffee machines called Kaapi Machines. Simon Green from Bunn, a coffee machine brand which has a stall here, says that it is great to be a part of the exhibition. He also feels that innovation in India is, in many ways, at a higher level compared to various places of Europe. “A lot of diversity in coffee can be seen here, which is amazing,” exclaims Simon.

The crowd at the exhibition consists of youngsters, coffee entrepreneurs and planters. Aishwarya, a stall sponsor says, “I’m here to understand what is new and trending in the coffee industry.” Arun Kumar, a teacher with Dairy Science College, was there to know what can be done to reduce the loss of flavour content while processing. “This is a major issue as sometimes, around 60 percent of the flavour is lost during the processing of coffee bean. The solution, which this festival has offered, is encapsulation,” he says.

Sarah McKenzy, a visitor from the USA, says that she has been observing the different innovations in the country with regard to coffee. “It is also nice to see how serious coffee is in this country. The Coffee Board stall is very educative. It showcases many of the beans they have and also explains how the drink has a lot to do with wellness, especially normalising the blood flow and even offering anti-oxidants to the body.”