Hyderabad is known for its Irani chay - the Iranian flavor of tea; however, in recent years it has witnessed a mushrooming of coffee houses, each selling a blend that goes well with the ambience created for it. So I step out to check out who sold what flavor and where - and my wife says I couldn't have chosen a better subject to do with her.
Set inside glass enclosure, a coffee house invites passers-by with its aroma, the music, the interior decoration, the uniformed attendants at the counter and the space for a tête-à-tête or a solitary muse. It is the outdoors equivqlent for a college canteen and therefore the quintessential hangout for the youth.
The first coffee house I happen upon is the one that is closest to where I live: Coffee Day at the Nagarjuna Circle on Road No.2 Banjara Hills. On a rain-soaked evening, what is more inviting than a coffee house? At any rate, Coffee Day is amongst the most popular in the city. Being the first of its kind to appear, it opened a chain of coffee houses all over the city. So I decide to do this story on Coffee Day and leave the others for another day.
Before we go into this world of coffee, I would like to give you a brief overview on this wonderful enterprise called Cafe Coffee Day that pioneered the cafe concept in India 15 years ago with their enticing tagline 'a lot can happen over coffee'.
They have a web presence which is not limited to the two web addresses below:
http://www.cafecoffeeday.com/
http://www.coffeeday.com/
They are also on Facebook (facebook.com/CafeCoffeeDay), Twitter (twitter.com/CafeCoffeeDay) and of course on YouTube.
A tweet I found funny says: "Good morning fellas.. You should spend this day doing absolutely nothing or else it's wasted ;) #ccd"; over a cuppa, I would have added.
So much for their presence on the World Wide Web. Now to the roots, from which the crops have grown and gave out seeds that spread the fragrance not only in India and Pakistan but also in Austria. It is the fastest growing retail chain in India and is now poised to spread rapidly in the world, being an exporter to countries like USA, Europe and Japan, according to the company news. Started in 1996 as a concept cafe on Brigade Road in Bangalore, the company rode on an unusual wave of success for what was typically a house-hold beverage. It operates under the following divisions, details of which are available on their website:
* Coffee Day Fresh 'n Ground
* Coffee Day Xpress
* Coffee Day Take Away
* Coffee Day Exports
* Coffee Day Perfect
According to the company reports, Cafe Coffee Day with a turnover of Rs.750 crores has coffee crops grown on more than 10,000 acres of land - the largest coffee growers in Asia, after the Tata's. It is a natural offshoot of the Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Limited (ABCTCL).
Now, step inside and taste the ambrosia of the youth and the coffee-lovers of this world. As I open the swinging glass door and step inside, I feel the pungent aroma of coffee. I selected a corner table which afforded me a commanding view of the interior. Cane sofa sets and marble-topped three-seater tables make up the furniture with a huge TV screen set to a wall which everyone could watch, but nobody did. The house was nearly full and a steady chatter created a confused murmur over the din of the TV. Overhead lamps provided pools of lighting. Glass enclosures displayed packages of coffee beans and powders in both pure and blended flavors.
The house offered many flavors - cappuccino, macho, choc-o-latte to name a few - and in both hot and cold variants. Coffee is served either in long tumblers or gleaming white porcelain cups, depending on the choice of flavor. Decorative design patterns covered the creamy surface. The house provided the perfect ambience for a friendly conversation or a formal discussion group.
Cafe Coffee Day operated several retail outlets in the city: Begumpet, Gachibowli, Madhapur, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, to name just a few.
Much has been written on the health effects of coffee; the upshot is that risks are minimal if at all, and, contrary to the opinions of health fascists, in some cases it may even aid in promoting health by reducing the risks. At any rate moderation is absolutely essential - there is only so much the body can take - and the limit must be discovered by oneself by observing undesirable changes in the patterns of sleep, work and play. Caffeine in coffee can cause "increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and occasional irregular heartbeat" - a study by the Harvard Medical School observes; however the same study reports "...risk for type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers ... may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, ... colon cancer, ... liver damage..., and ... Parkinson's disease..." The key, remember, is to discover a moderate quantity through self-observation.
De-caffeinated coffee is an option for the health-conscious. Decaff is gaining currency as a respectable drink and decaff drinkers are no longer the "losers", but have become a respectable lot, on the contrary.
Do you drink coffee to ward off sleep, to work more, to stay focused? Then you drink it for all the wrong reasons, I am afraid. It is a beverage that must be consumed for its own sake, for the pleasure of it; imbibe it with élan and inhale its aroma.
Sent from my Nokia phone
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