Two very hot northern summers ago, I tried to wake a few “sleepy owls” up in their little Delhi roastery-cum-office to create a series of engaging little fun videos on social media that make clear how cold brew is different from cold coffee. Eager, but citing “budget” issues, they decided to take a risk and put all their beans into one readymade cold brew pack (with a dispenser) and flood the shelves of convenience stores with an alternative to the thick, blended, milky cold coffee that the mass across most parts of India expects when choosing to get caffeinated chilled. Since then, the Sleepy Owl Coffee Company has grown a loyal clientele that orders both its ready-to-drink cold brew boxes, as well as brew packs that can be brewed overnight for a chilled glass to start the day with. They’ve also raised half a million dollars in funding and decided to bite the bullet and take out little bottles (placed everywhere from convenience stores to cafes at hospitals) where the term “Cold Coffee” stands out for its obvious wide acceptance, followed in smaller font by “made with cold brew”. A part of the investment has also gone into active social media promotion (with creative little videos made by summer interns) and marketing. But the explanation of what cold brew is (printed on their brew pack boxes), is limited to how their “coffee (from Chikmagalur) is brewed daily in cold water for 22 hours and triple filtered” before reaching the consumer. Since they are only available over the counter and online, and cater to “people who want to eat the cake, not bake it,” as Armaan Sood, one of the three “owls” behind the venture, says, it becomes clear that for a large number of people that have slowly progressed from blended cold coffee to topping cold milk with ice and a shot of espresso (iced latte), the growing interest in cold brew coffee starts first with how it sits on their palate, and subsequently follows the curiosity to know what makes it different.
The first few experiments with soaking coffee grounds in water for an extended number of hours instead of using heat or pressure for extraction, resulting in black coffee that can be had at natural temperature or chilled further (which is the bite-sized explanation of cold brew), goes back a few centuries and the Japanese (no points for guessing) can be credited with creating the first commercial product closest to cold brew coffee as it is today. Timeline.com shares an interesting timeline of how the beverage passed through the Dutch, Japanese, Cubans, soldiers at war, and was even “condemned by a trade publication” for a period of time for its method. Could the summers have gotten hotter since then? Or are people (at large) looking for ways to get to the same place without their old friends — sugar and dairy? (Cold brew is best had straight black, though there is the option of adding a dash of milk.) The meteorological department could answer the first, but Shannon Dsouza, co-founder of K C Roasters, that runs the brand-“Koinonia Coffee”, interestingly makes the point that, “India has a large number of people with diabetes. Hence, cold brew coffee works very well as there is no concept of sugar in it. But Bollywood culture and chasing after a fit body also influences people’s choices. Having a glass of cold brew shortly before a workout is a great alternative to RedBull (a caffeinated fizzy energy drink)!” Having spent the last decade in Australia, Shannon saw the popularity of cold brew grow first hand globally. Since a large number of globetrotting Indians had started sipping on it when in the US, Europe, South America and other countries where the drink is now staple, he decided to tap into his family’s coffee estate in Karnataka and make it an integral part of his boutique roastery in the pleasant old Chuim Village in Bandra, Mumbai — something the growing number of “third wave” and artisanal Indian coffee brands that have come up in the last few years across the country have not ignored either.
Hence, “Kaffa Cerrado” will urge you to try their house blend with the option of throwing in an orange and cinnamon concoction. “Koinonia” plugs the one with a cinnamon stick dunked in it for 24 hours. “Coffee Bond” throws in orange zest. Blue Tokai offers a light and fruity one, with a bolder version for the ones who like to add milk. And “Coffee By Di Bella” serves a 300 ml serving, the most generous I’ve come across (the common measure is 150-200 ml). You’ll even find a cold brew coffee cart that stands in a few places across the capital, serving on tap! There are many more roasteries and cafés where cold brew is trending, but “mainly in metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai,” as Siddhant Dev of Devans Coffee points out. A third generation barista whose family has been bringing plantation coffee to Delhi’s non-“instant” coffee community for over fifty years and packing it off from their little shop and coffee bar in a unassuming little market to various parts of the country (as far out as Ladakh and a little store known for its peanut butter in Mussoorie), Siddhant introduced a cold brew blend to Devans collection just two years back “after personally playing around with it for seven years”. A chat with his main supplier who sources beans from coffee farms across Coorg, Chikmagalur and Mysore confirms his statement along with an added layer of crema that “tier two cities like Coimbatore are picking up on cold brew culture, but the actual coffee farming areas are still places where people who visit are more into tasting different hot extractions and cold brew is a bonus if available, but not expected.”
Be it in the metros, but a look at any of the social media pages of cold brew brands confirms that its consumer is evolving, debating and having conversations around it. A thread of comments can develop on a variety of aspects like — whether brew packs and half-litre ready-to-serve cold brew boxes by the Owls and their competitors “Cohoma Coffee”, are as authentic as having it served to you freshly brewed the night before at a cafe. How it is so much lighter on the stomach as compared to a thick blended cold coffee, hence can be had right after lunch on a hot day just over ice. Various favourites across flavour and quality are also highlighted. The brands also consistently post updates and new additions in their collection and come up with new cold brew grinds that can be made at home with tips on how to do so (a bit more effort required than the brew packs and ready-to-serve option). However, an indication that cold brew is here to stay for the foreseeable Indian summer comes when Starbucks India CEO, Navin
Gurnaney, has ensured that “all the stores in our recently launched market — Gujarat — have a nitro cold brew tap”. For a state where tea is widely known and loved for its power to send an individual to the hot seat in government, that’s confidence.
Reshil Charles is a Web and TV producer, presenter and writer who tracks trends
