There’s something about the coffee culture in India - it’s not quite as famous as the chai culture, but arguably is just as deep-rooted. Apparently, a guy called Baba Budan sneaked coffee beans from Yemen to India in the late 1600s. He then planted them in Karnataka - no wonder there’s so much coffee grown and consumed in South India, especially in the rolling coffee estates of Coorg. There’s even a blend of beans called Baba Budangiri by Toffee Coffee Roasters.
(here’s one of the first animations I taught myself on Procreate)
Just like most Indians, I was introduced to coffee through the chicory-infused filter coffee. I still find comfort in it - and so did my mother who went to a South-Indian college in Mumbai and had a Tamilian best friend. Walking the gallis around Matunga, I imagine every corner in the 90s smelled of filter coffee. My boarding school in Coimbatore only allowed coffee to us over-studied teenagers during exam time - we convinced them that coffee inspired us to study through the night. During my third year in college, I found myself trying black coffee with a squeeze of lemon - only during peak exam prep time. Looking back, it was shit coffee. Too strong, too hot and masked by nimbu. But it did the job.
Soon, I became a regular at a cafe in Thane that really changed the definition of coffee for me (and I think for many other people in the neighbourhood) - Bean Theory Coffee. The community that the cafe created since the beginning has always been interesting, but most importantly it introduced a lot of different coffee brewing techniques. Until then, a cappuccino was my default but slowly I started experimenting with different coffee brewing techniques. I didn’t even know it back then but I was quite spoilt when I lived in Berlin, because my roommate only used coffee beans + had an automated bean grinder + had a frikkin De’Longhi coffee machine.
I wasn’t into coffee back then, but I did enjoy my morning cups of coffee - I think it’s because of her that I started having coffee every morning. And I didn’t even have any gratitude or understanding of the luxury a coffee machine like that meant. Culturally, coffee and cake (Kaffee und Kuchen) is a very Berlin thing to do. Germany and Belgium share this culture - people get together between 2 pm and 5 pm for conversation and catching up. It’s very similar to our chai pe charcha! Even when I stayed at my aunt’s place in Belgium, we’d have some baked products like banana cake or a mini waffle with our coffee.
Turns out every country has its version. When I was in Italy, I tried their espresso and it remains one of the most nerve-wracking, DNA-changing experiences of my life. It’s supposed to be had black without any milk or creamer, but they put a ton of sugar in their little cup to balance out the very strong bitterness! There’s a tiny biscuit on the side - and that’s it! That’s breakfast! Paris, France on the other hand - the default coffee to go with your morning croissant is cafe au lait i.e. coffee with milk. The croissant of course is beautifully crisp, flaky and buttery. The trend remains - coffee and something sweet and warm from the oven.
After I moved back to India, an ex-boyfriend who was enthusiastic about coffee introduced me to the world of home-brewing. To be honest, I didn’t even know that all the fancy brewing techniques I’d been hearing of were so accessible! So if you’re like me and were wondering - it is. I started my little journey with an Aeropress, a hand grinder for beans and a bag of Sleepy Owl coffee. The Aeropress comes neatly packed with its filter papers, a bean scoop, a funnel and a stirrer. A few months later I found out that my cousin Krish also is obsessed with coffee - so we made a little coffee experimentation corner at home! We used the Aeropress to brew with the classic method and the inverted method, followed by a taste test and of course we compared very important notes such as which coffee tasted better. It’s from Krish that I learnt that coffee can taste “muddy” or “clean”. Because of him, I have completely cut out instant coffee from my diet. He even gifted me a fun apparatus called the Prismo, to make espressos from an Aeropress. The way I use it is probably not as intended though, because I simply like the fact that it’s leakproof and doesn’t require filter paper so it makes travelling easier. Since then, I’ve travelled with the Aeropress, the Prismo and a bag of ground coffee multiple times!
And what good is a partner that doesn’t thoroughly spoil you? So of course, Josh bought us moka pots and filter coffee and the South Indian filter and matching mugs. I have a kettle (and broke the drip coffee machine) and also a bunch of mugs. I even went to the extent of making a pour-over coffee maker from Terracotta when I did my little pottery class. Then I went to Vietnam with my friend, and gosh is it a coffee lovers paradise! Fun fact: the Vietnamese use condensed milk for their coffee because during the war, everything was rationed and fresh milk and sugar were hard to come by. Canned goods, however, were way more affordable and available; so that’s what they used! Resulting in amazing coffee. Note - I did not try or buy Kopi Luwak (civet coffee). 1) It’s simply not possible to manufacture so much civet coffee compared to the demand so I’m sure a lot of it is fake and there’s no way we can really make the distinction and 2) to produce so much of it, the civets must be abused for production. James Hoffman, a coffee expert, made a whole video on it that I saw after my Vietnam trip and it confirmed my suspicions.
I still got around 3 kgs of coffee back home along with the Vietnamese filter machine called phin. Our hostel owner in Hoi An recommended the coffee itself, and she also showed us how to brew it step-by-step. And of course, it has a ton of ice. Now every time I brew myself a Vietnamese, I think of the train conductor who pushed a cart along the compartment with a recorded voice repeating, cà phê… cà phê… cà phê… cà phê till we bought some. My coffee expeditions have reduced the amount of coffee I consume in cafes now but unfortunately, I have become a bit of a coffee snob. In good cafes, I tend to order an Iced Americano. What is your usual coffee order?
Drinking my cold brew as I finish writing,
Vedi
P.S. - The reason I wrote about coffee today is The Baker’s Dozen banana bread and Alipore Post’s newsletter on morning coffee.
Damn! All the coffee pictures from all those places in the world!! I love reading your travelling stories, makes me feel I'm right there with you 🌸✨️🤌