Smell the Coffee

Tea, once India's favourite brew, is being given run for its money with resurgence in coffee-drinking habits. With the advent of the twenty-first century, India has embraced myriad global influences in its culture. One of those influences to touch India in recent years is the coffee-drinking culture. Who would have thought that land which is famous for its heavenly teas from Assam and Darjeeling would fall under the aromatic spell of a primo, semi skimmed cappuccino? But it is true; the coffee-drinking habit, especially among the upwardly mobile populace of India, is growing rapidly and is here to stay. Over the last two decades, the café culture in India has gained not only momentum but also maturity. This can be attributed to the increase in disposable incomes among select but sizeable pockets of urban India, the growing influence of western culture, especially among our young demographics, and the increase in working population. Thanks to the changing habits and lifestyles, and the healthy disposable incomes, we now have a plethora of coffee shop outlets across the main cities of India.

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Coffee is one beverage, which has seen the transformation no other beverage has seen in recent times. From a status symbol or elites' drink - branded for centuries - it has undergone a metamorphosis into a mass drink, the drink of the youth of today. In fact coffee has created a genre as far as lifestyles are concerned.

Coffee drinking is different from tea drinking. Coffee is sold as a status symbol and an experience or even an event, whereas tea is mainly the drink served at home and almost serves as a necessity that doesn't need justification, but few latest ventures like, Chaayos, Wagh Bakri are trying to push tea to a different level by creating a niche for themselves and also positioning tea upmarket.

The Market

India is a country where traditional values still rule the roost but frequently come into conflict with modern ideals. So the thought of India becoming a leading nation of coffee drinkers in the near future, though surprising, is not an impossibility. Here it deserves a mention that though coffee drinking habits were very much prevalent in South India, it never became a pan Indian phenomenon.

Coffee has been grown and exported from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south for over 150 years. There are 170,000 coffee farms there. We all have tasted special South Indian coffee brew served in metal cups, and it is pretty good and often wonder why that type of coffee is not served in the chains. But then in India one would walk into a shop to experience a unique ambience and soak in or drink up a culture that doesn't exist outside of India's cities and towns.