They've got you awake

We wanted to tie up with lesserknown estatesKoinonia Coffee Roasters I Freshly roasted beansFounder Shannon DSouzaSydneyborn Shannon DSouza of Koinonia Coffee Roasters knew he had made the right business move when he realised that customers were dropping by at their diminutive Chium Village cafe Khar just for artisanal coffee The space mdash Koinonia translates to community in Greek mdash didnt offer much else Also its not like its the most accessible location he says It was the quest to provide worldclass coffee using highquality beans in India that made DSouza move to Mumbai in 2009He travelled to Italy and Thailand where he picked up the nuances of roasting While his family already owned tea and coffee estates in India DSouza wanted to do his own research For now the beans are sourced from Kelagur Manjarabad and Poabs Nelliyampathy to Badra Chikmanglur and Marvahulla Nilgiris I felt Indian coffee was strongly associated with Coorg and hence chose lesserknown regions to show the diversity of the beverage he saysEach batch of this handselected speciality coffee is sampled before being roasted in the Probat Roaster For now he and his team are trying to educate people and grow the curated coffeedrinking culture Despite many players joining the market I feel theres enough room for everybody to experiment He has now collaborated with Foodhall Coffee Lab in BandraOrder Swiggy Zomato or drop by at the cafe at 6 Chuim Village Road Chuim Village Danda Khar WestMumbaikars love milkbased coffeeBlue Tokai I Whole beans cold brew South Indian filterFounder Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata AsthanaBack in San Francisco Matt Chitharanjan a former economist took to roasting coffee as a hobby It helped that he hailed from a family of passionate coffee drinkers I lived in San Franciso at a time when the coffee wave had just started so a lot of coffee roasters were emerging on the scene and were sourcing good quality beans using sustainable techniques he says When he moved to Delhi for work he was met with disappointmentMatt ChitharanjanThe coffee situation in Delhi was quite bad because whatever was high quality was being exported and what we were left with was average and low grade he says Wife Namrata Asthana and he decided to reverse the situation Both of them were at that point in their careers where we wanted to turn entrepreneurs And thus Blue Tokai was born in 2012 We have been investing in new roast profiles hiring people from Australia who could take us from the level we are at to international standards he says End of the day Chitharanjan says Mumbaikars love milkbased coffee so the lattes and cappuccinos are the highest selling But there are guests who want to go beyond thatOrder bluetokaicoffeecomWere the first company to launch cold brewSleepy Owl I Cold brew in packs and readytoprepare kitFounders Arman Sood Ashwajeet Singh Ajai ThandiArman Sood Ashwajeet Singh and Ajai Thandi started Sleepy Owl in 2016 in Delhi because of rumblings in their gut It was a gut instinct says Thandi We had been coldbrewing for many years at home and understood how to make a cold brew We started the company because we saw a massive need for highquality coffee products available at convenience With two lawyers Sood and Singh and one banker Thandi their approach to the venture has been as analytical as passionateIf you look at the market its highly fragmented towards cafes and connoisseurs who know how to procure the right beans and have the knowledge of brewing To remove all these complications we innovated on packaging and product design Their first product was a brew box which had a cold brew bag and came with a nozzle After initial trials the trio launched a brew kit The reusable kit also comes with a nozzle and six brew packsArman Sood Ashwajeet Singh and Ajai ThandiYou add water and leave it overnight and drink as you go they call it a mini coffee machine Were the first company to launch cold brew so its quite flattering and encouraging to see more and more players in the market We have had to build the category spend a lot of time and effort in educating the consumer Because a cold brew is a great alternative for someone whos working long hours and needs that energy from caffeineOrder Website sleepyowlco and modern trade storesEach component can be tweakedFlying Squirrel I Roasted beans and cold brewsFounder Ashish DAbreoIn 2013 when ad man Ashish DAbreo and Tej Thimmaiah third generation coffee estate owner decided to launch The Flying Squirrel in Bangalore they had no competition to speak of This was precisely the reason for us to start says DAbreo As passionate coffee drinkers their primary grouse was the unavailability of freshly roasted and ground coffee What you got in the supermarket was stuff that was grown roasted en masse many months before you actually got to pick up a pack he says The duo therefore offer artisanal coffee that is delivered at your doorsteps in less than seven days from the date of roasted and in most cases the day after its been roasted According to him roasted coffee is in fact a perishable commodityAshish DAbreo PICAjeesh RawtherAt least for a true coffee drinker Its finest aromas and flavours dissipate in a month or two of roasting he explains Coffee being an exciting drink provided ample scope for experimentation It has a number of components such as flavour aroma notes mouthfeel body aftertaste texture and sweetness Each of these can be manipulated or accentuated or not by the way the coffee is grown processed dried and stored he says They have over six variants of coffee including Tall Dark Handsome intense smoky creamy espresso Sunkissed fruity citrusy buttercup and Cold Brew Blend berry and chocolate notes with a velvety finish But why call it a Flying Squirrel We were on the farm in Pollibetta in Karnataka when we were trying to think of a name for the brand Just then we spotted these flying squirrels with flaps under their arms gliding from tree top to tree top They arent commonly seen We knew wed found the nameOrder On flyingsquirrelinEvery bean holds new flavoursDope Coffee I Roasted beans and filter powderFounder Rizwan AmlaniFor Rizwan Amlani roasting specialty coffee is about looking into whats best for every individual bean because each holds the possibility of unlocking thousands of new flavours Its amazing how coffee can go from tasting like nuts and chocolate to bergamot and grapefruit depending on the ways and methods in which it is grown and treated says Amlani cofounder at Dope Coffee who launched the brand last year after returning from New York where he worked as chef The Indian market seemed inviting because the consumption of specialty coffee was already experiencing an upswingRizwan Amlani PicBipin KokateTo draw a parallel the coffee scene is where the wine industry was 10 years ago but what were seeing now is the scale is tipping towards the new norms People are up for trying new things so the future of coffee smelt pretty good to me he says He recalls visiting over 80 estates and spending a year getting his hands dirty at the farm level in order to understand what it takes to make great coffee While he got the knowhow it was also important to keep the price reasonable in order to reach out to the average coffee No wonder then that the coffee costs anywhere between R150R190 while beans start from R345 for a R250 gm packet As a roaster being the person responsible for adding the final artisan touch to the bean before it gets to the customer is a treat I roast with the same discipline passion and dedication as any meal I cooked as a chefOrder FLEA Bazaar Cafe at Lower Parel and Versova SocialHave our cold brew as an espresso shotBrew Ex Machina I Cold brew in 180 ml bottleFounder Vishal SainaniMost people like their coffee with milk and sugar But for Vishal Sainani founder of Brew Ex Machina and proprietor of Vishiv Vinyl Industries in Andheri these mask the brilliance of raw coffee I started coldbrewing at home in 2014 he says I was just playing with beans and different kinds of brewing techniques I came across coldbrewing online and I really enjoyed the low acidity and smoothness of cold brew Initially I used to have coffee just like everybody else But when I switched to cold brew I realised theres no need to add sugar The home project led to the creation of a concentrated cold brew sold in 180 ml bottles which is 100 per cent arabica with beans sourced from an estate in ChikmagalurVishal Sainani PicSatej ShindeI attended some seminars and crash courses on coffee and developed a blend with a roaster in Bengaluru which is my own signature taste I created a concentrated version so that people like me could play around with the drink and have more options The possibilities are endless you can make an espresso martini add it in desserts add milk add cold water or hot water People can even have our cold brew as an espresso shot because the potency is that strong Sainani is currently in the transition period of scaling it up to a biggish company with placements in supermarkets and on delivery apps Weve set up a brewery in Andheri Were in talks with food scientists and process scientists to scale this up because making 10 litres of cold brew is one thing and making 500 litres is totally anotherOrder On Facebook or Instagram brewexmachinaNespressos capsules are priced three times higher than oursFresh Brew Co I Nespresso compatible capsules and cold brews in bottlesFounder Karan TibrawallaA Nespresso machine is a significant investment Karan Tibrawalla founder of Fresh Brew Co is trying to ensure at least its coffee capsules arent Tibrawalla who also works in his familys real estate and infrastructure business started the company in 2015 because he personally needed Nespresso compatible capsulesBecause I was the user of these coffee capsules and there was no availability I started making for myself and I realised there are a lot more people in the same boat By his estimation there are about 50000 Nespresso owners in the country along with hotels such as the Oberoi Park Hyatt and WestinThey have the machine in most of their rooms in properties across the country They do have the means to source the original capsules but theres a gap in the supply chain in the quality of freshness and the price point Their Nespresso prices are three times more than ours Tibrawalla offers 12 variants in the capsules and three kinds of cold brews allblack vanilla and hazelnut which come in readytodrink 200 ml bottlesKaran TibrawallaOf the capsules he says Six are single estate 100 per cent arabica Indian coffees sourced from Coorg Chikmagalur Ooty and the Nilgiri hills Three coffees are from Colombia Ethiopia and Sumatra respectively We also have hazelnut and vanillaflavoured coffee and a decaf Tibrawalla has personally selected the beans and the blends I was very sensitive to the coffee from selecting the coffee beans to selecting a good roast profileOrder On the website wwwfreshbrewcoin and FoodHallThe bean is so sweet you can actually eat itYellow Bohemian coffee I Whole roasted beans coarsely ground filter powder and instant powderFounder Suchitra AyappaFurniture designer Suchitra Ayappa has coffee in her blood A fifthgeneration planter her family has been running a coffee estate in Coorg since 1932 I got involved in the business four years ago when I decided to take it up and create a niche she says Although her business model is a lot different from her forefathers hers is a farmtotable product In the 1930s there was a consolidated agency that would take all the coffee from the farmers in Coorg area People like the Tatas and other big companies would procure it at auctions I created my own roast using only arabica beans which Im marketing under The Yellow BohemianSuchitra AyappaMost coffee estates in Coorg including her familys sell blends of robusta and arabica But I use only tripleA arabica which is the best quality I have a liaison with my cousin who has these German Probat roasters and I roast the coffee in the way I like it to be done That is what differentiates my coffee from what my dad has been selling for the last 50odd years Rahul Bajaj owner of Deli by the Blue who stocks the coffee testifies The bean is so sweet you can actually eat itOrder Deli by the Blue in Khar The Village Shop and Farmers Cafe in BandraCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates