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C Story & Photo / Binny Varghese
There is a popular Indian myth that
Baba Budan, a revered Sufi saint from
Karnataka state, went on a pilgrimage
to Mecca in the 16th century where he
had coffee for the first time. He
smuggled seven coffee beans from the
Yemeni port of Mocha back home with
him, and planted them on the slopes of
the Chandragiri Hills. Today, this hill
range is named after Baba Budan.
Traditional Indian filter coffee is
usually served by pouring it back and
forth between a “davrah” in large,
high-pour motions. This serves several
purposes: thoroughly mixing the
ingredients, cooling the hot coffee to a
drinkable temperature, and aerating
the mix without adding extra water.
The high pour is impressive to watch
and is an important part of the ritual.
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Hopping
Cafes via
Subway
India is the 7th largest country in the world, something that a
lot of you might know. It is also the 7th largest coffee producer of
the world, which might be news to you. A country situated in the
south of Asia is creating quite a stir especially when it comes to
domestic consumption of coffee, since coffee producing nations don’t
drink as much coffee as you might think.
India is a predominantly “tea” drinking nation, but coffee is
creating quite a noise lately. One of the first important groups of
people who transported & traded in Coffee in Africa were in fact the
‘Gujaratis’ from the west of India, as mentioned by Jonathan Morris
in his Filter Stories podcast. Coffee landed in India in the 16th Cen-
tury by Baba Budan, a 16th-century Sufi. However the focus towards
brewing and drinking fresh coffee is a relatively newer concept.
Specialty coffee has become a buzzword in the country and it keeps
spreading like wildfire in the last decade.
Delhi, the capital city of the country, is one of the most popu-
lated cities. It is considered the heart of the country. This heart of a
place has an amazingly rich and warm cultural feeling from the 1600
A.D. era in some parts, whereas also some kickass modern vibe in
some other parts. The region including Delhi and its surrounding
places, collectively called as NCR (National Capital Region) is bloom-
ing with some amazing coffee shops all around. There is the charm
of traditional coffee experiences but also a lot of really fine artisanal
specialty coffee shops spread across.
Delhi Metro (subway) is the bloodline of this heart, the easiest
and quickest way to travel across. The subway line is spread out and
every line has a separate colour dedicated to it, make sure you trav-
el across the lines to find various coffee delights and right when you
might feel too caffeinated, there’s some amazing food to devour too
before you are ready for some more coffee. Let’s explore of few of
these finds:
Hopping
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