Being a South Indian, my passion for coffee started at a very young age. I fondly recall starting my day with a typical cup of filter coffee, brewed in a south Indian brass filter. In all honesty, there’s nothing better than a perfect cup of filter coffee to give you a good head start. You could say that this was my preferred way of consuming coffee, until the new cafes in my hometown of Cochin exposed me to the world of cappuccinos and Americanos.
My passion is primarily driven by the number of innovative ways in which you can experiment with this divine concoction; from using it as an additive in food, to consuming it as is, coffee is one of the most versatile beverages one can come across. You can get creative in many different ways and it enables you to tap into unknown territories in your mind.
For me, coffee is more than just a beverage; it is a habit that helps you look within yourself while you are brewing that perfect cup of coffee from scratch, where it’s just you and your coffee beans for those five minutes.
In fact, to keep my creative juices flowing, I use my spare time to hone my skills as an aspiring barista at the in-house company run coffee school. I try out the various professional machines and grinders, all in a quest to get that perfect espresso, each and every time. All this has enabled me to learn the most popular coffee brewing methods and the most obscure.
Even today, my typical day starts with a cup or two of my favourite filter coffee, brewed the timeless way and this is my relationship with coffee. The aroma and taste bring in a wave of emotions that cannot be explained in mere words. I usually grind the beans afresh using a personal grinder; this method makes a great deal of difference when extracting the decoction in terms of its freshness and aroma. At work, a few shots of espressos work beautifully to fuel my day. I typically use a single-serve machine to brew my perfect cup of barista style coffee with my capsule of the day; usually it is Dolce, a delightful blend of Arabica. I can never imagine a day at work without my caffeine fix to get those ideas going.