Hi Beanbuffs,
You are reading about reboot of Shack Coffee Co. , a 14 year old project, one espresso shot at a time. If you like the newsletter, please spread the word around.
I waited for fourteen years to do this course. In 2007, I had packed my luggage, fuelled the car to leave for Bangalore to open a coffee shack. But, I stayed back to earn more money to not to open a Shack, but a proper cafe.
Also, I am yet to get a decent espresso in Luru. Expensive machines don’t produce one, craft does.
Luru dairies: Coffee ain’t just specialty
I completed the five day training program on Friday. It gave a perspective about Indian coffees, which specialty coffee enthusiasts miss out on. Imagine four states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh consume more than 70% of coffee for domestic use. Also, more than 70% of India’s coffee is exported. India only produces little more than 5% world’s coffee.
The Coffee Board has a healthy mix of top notch scientists, researchers and coffee professionals. I know about Indian coffees more than ever. I also interacted with aspiring and existing coffee entrepreneurs. A participant was the fourth generation roaster in Tumkur, roasting filter coffees. One of the faculty members joined his fledgling business, and turned it around. I got to visit Probat’s factory. Also, we drank a ton of filter coffee during and after the classes.
I asked the director of the course to offer us specialty coffees from the 13 different growing regions of India. We only got to drink filter kaapis. He said that the board has to focus on all types of coffees , not just specialty coffees, as it involves investments and knowledge sharing. They also tend to focus on the existing market of filter Kaapi, which has big players such as Cotha’s,Bayar’s, Leo, Classic. Their immediate aim is to increase domestic consumption of all types of coffees, including the specialty coffee. The course included sessions on green coffees, roasting, manual brewing, industry visit, espresso and business opportunities. So, yes, it is more than just specialty coffee.
Specialty coffee makes up 6% of the entire coffee production in India. Since it is the latest buzzword, most roasteries have started to use the word as a replacement of good or high quality coffee. All in all the board is accessible to all farmers, and they are upping the game. But, all things good and government takes time.
The Coffee Board has tied up with Atal Innovation Mission to provide a mix of co-working space and coffee lab to the Kaapi Sashtra Graduates. The space will have cupping station, sample roaster, Barista equipment and access to the laboratories for evaluating coffees. It will cost INR 20,0000 for six months. I am looking forward to it.
I visited Araku Cafe. It has one of the most expensive espresso machines, Modbar. I talked with its roasters and baristas. Personally, I found the espresso timing to be fast. I had to stop myself from correcting them. I have yet to finish the cafe crawl. Today I will be visiting Caffeine Bar and Benki Cafe in Jayanagar and J P Nagar.
Next issue:
Cafe/ coffee crawl roundup
Feels very exciting to read about your journey. Especially this part where you are deep diving and learning new stuff. All the best.