Meet Chandini SRK: Hyderabad's First Independent Specialty Coffee Roaster

Chandini SRK, the visionary founder and Lead Roaster of First Crack Specialty Roasters in Hyderabad, has carved a niche in the Indian specialty coffee scene since her inspiration in Edinburgh, Scotland. Trained in Florence, Italy, and one of only 60Q Graders in India, she is dedicated to bringing the best Indian specialty coffees to cafes and soon, retail and e-commerce markets. Her journey from home-roasting on her terrace to running a full-scale roastery exemplifies her passion and commitment to coffee excellence.

Congratulations on becoming one of the exclusive Q Graders in India! How does this certification impact your work as a roaster and your philosophy at First Crack Specialty Roasters?

Through the process of becoming a Q grading I have learnt the process of sourcing High quality, defect free beans and roasting them in such a way that we preserve the best characteristics and flavors of the beans so that they are experienced in the cup. Also it has enabled me to implement the proper protocols and QC in our process to consistently deliver high quality products. The idea behind First Crack is to bring the best of Indian Coffees to the market. So having undergone the rigorous training of a Q grader has made me to implement proper practises  right from sourcing to roasting to packaging which ensures that our products are of the highest quality.

You have had a fascinating journey from Edinburgh to Hyderabad, sparking your passion for specialty coffee. Can you share a moment that stood out during your travels that solidified your decision to pursue this path?

I would say that I became a Specialty Coffee addict in Edinburgh. Later I took to coffee roasting on my terrace as a hobby during COVID and eventually it tuned into a passion. During my travels, i got the opportunity to meet some of the pioneers in specialty coffee industry which gave me  more deeper insights into roasting and quality aspect of the coffee. Later i pushed myself into implementing these cues and experiences in my work. Once I started getting results in terms of developing high quality products, it was clear that i was meant to be in this field which is encouraging me to do more work and research in the field of specialty coffee industry.

As the first independent roaster in Hyderabad, what challenges did you face in establishing First Crack Specialty Roasters, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge was understanding the market and being able to curate coffees that fit the perception of the market. This is the reason we spent the last 2 years constantly talking to cafe owners for understanding the market, visiting growers to understand the growing and processing methods which gave us a better flexibility on how to roast each different lot and improving our roasting skills by participating in a lot of workshops and sessions across the world. Now we know the parameters to look out for while roasting each lot and develop the coffees that suit our market.

Your brand emphasizes sourcing the best Indian specialty coffees. Can you tell us more about your relationships with exclusive coffee growers in Chikkamagluru and how you select the finest beans?

We ensure sourcing best beans by having good qc standards in place. We check the moisture content in the lots before sourcing and filter out defect free beans physically at our roastery. We have identified growers who produce exceptional beans consistently and maintain good long-term relationship with them as we understand the effort they put in cultivation and  processing the beans and we take the beans. We set the roast profiles for the beans based on the origin, processing method, moisture content and bean density such that we can get the best characteristics out of every different lot.

How do you balance the science and art of coffee roasting to create unique flavor profiles, and what inspired your product line, including Espresso, Single Estate Pour Overs, and Cold Brew Blends? 

As I mentioned earlier, bean selection, setting roast profiles and quality control play a part in product development. Through coffee roasting process we develop the beans to reach their optimum temperature where they are high in complexity of flavours. This is done by understanding this process and controlling drum temp, RPM and exhaust air temperature throughout the roasting process. 

Similarly, we set our product lines based on the intended brewing methods. For example, for espressos and cold-brews we have to curate blends by mixing coffees from different origins for creating flavours that go well for these brews. Espresso blends are generally medium to medium-dark roasted to ensure smoothness, balance of flavours and body on the palate.  As for pour-overs, generally we select single origin   coffees and light roast them as we intend to preserve the complexity of flavours, acidity and the inherent characteristics of the origin in these coffees.

Tell us about the tasting session at the Quorum Hyderabad.

The whole intention for doing this event and organising the cupping session is to give an opportunity for the coffee community to taste some of the most exclusive coffees from Ratnagiri estate and create an awareness that Coffees from exceptional Indian estates like Ratnagiri can compete with the best coffees of the world.