Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Coffee BYTES
CHEERS FOR COFFEE: Sunalini Menon and Jacob Mammen.
OUR LIVES would definitely not be the same without coffee. At the coffee-brewing contest organised by the Speciality Coffee Association of India (SCAI) in Bangalore, two well-known coffee aficionados Sunalini Menon and Jacob Mammen were part of it. Sunalini is a coffee taster and the founder of Coffeelab India. Jacob has coffee estates in Chikmagalur and a rubber estate in Kerala. He is known for pioneering the cultivation of high-quality coffee in India. Anand Sankar hangs around while they discuss their tryst with coffee.
Jacob Mammen: I was only touched by Nescafé, so I never really knew coffee. (laughs) I would rather have a coke or something like that. The real competition for coffee is from soft drinks than tea. The soft drinks really took the younger generation away and coffee was buried.
Sunalini Menon: When I was six or seven years old, my grandmother used to store coffee in silver containers. In the morning the fresh coffee aroma would waft around house and we children were not allowed to drink coffee, only milk. We used to beg the elders to give us a few drops of coffee, then another few drops. So coffee for me was something not so easily accessible. Drinking it made me feel adult. I never thought I would work with coffee. So, how do you feel being the chairman of IBC this year?
JM: In a way it is nice because we had a wide range of participants taking part this year so we hope that the message of coffee being fun has reached a lot more people.
SM: I think this year it was a hip-hep happening event. Coffee is all about the spirt of adventure. There is passion in each cup.
JM: The basic idea is to spread the message of coffee to as many people as possible especially young people, so we thought Forum was an ideal location.
SM: I think coffee is often looked at as a dull and boring drink. As early as seven or eight years ago coffee was looked upon as an in-home drink, something that your mother would make. And something that you occasionally drank. Coffee is often associated with age. But now it is something very vibrant, versatile and young. It is a great transformation. It's nice to see a pub culture being replaced by a coffee culture. It is doing wonders for a farmer like Mammen, who until recently had to overcome a steep fall in coffee prices. Today he is smiling.
JM: If most of India drank coffee we would have to probably import coffee. (laughs) One of the answers is to push up consumption. But apart from that I think people are enjoying coffee now so that is really encouraging.
SM: Lets just compare coffee and tea. Tea still has that same image. I know I am treading on very dangerous ground (laughs) but India is often referred to as a tea drinking and producing nation. Till about two years ago people used to ask 'does India produce coffee?'. Now that has changed. India is now known for quality coffee. Café and coffee go together better than café tea. The credit must definitely go to the farmers without whom coffee wouldn't taste the same.
JM: I can't say much about this because I am talking to `The Expert'. (laughs) We are just continuing the good work done by Sunalini.
SM: My favourite is Ethiopian coffee. It is not just because coffee originated from Ethiopia but because of the diversity of coffee flavours in that country. Nothing like it. Coffee has citrus and floral notes there. Even a non-taster will be moved. It is like good wine. There is nothing like Indian coffee in that blend, it will work marvelously. Brazil and India are the two pillars of an espresso cup. (laughs)
JM: My tasting is very limited. Coffee is as complex as wine. Do you agree?
SM: Yes.
JM: There are so many different notes and flavours. It varies from estate to estate, elevation to elevation, variety to variety, soil and climatic conditions. Everything thing is there in that single cup. Any good cup of coffee is sold by the taste and every coffee tastes different. Some like it acidic and some don't, some like fullness, some sweetness, there is a whole different language to describe coffee, either positive or negative.
SM: Tea is a lot lighter. It is more flavour filled. You can taste tea for hours without fatigue setting in but coffee is so viscous that it takes time to get it. That's why coffee is like wine. You have to feel it layer by layer.
JM: It is true. It is very complex. (nods his head)
SM: Coffee is going to become a special segment in a decade or so. Coffee in omelette, tandoor, lobsters and every bit food. It could be a flavour to your meal. Its going to take on a different look altogether. Cappuccinos and frappuchinos are going to be passé.
JM: I think coffee is going to get better and better. It will try to get even with good coffees like the Ethiopian one. People will probably try to identify better coffee in the plants that are there. And then finally spread the word.
SM: Yes, finally it takes quality from the seed to the cup to make good coffee.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
