Growing up in Mangalore, coffee was a big part of his home and the city’s culture, thanks to the neighbouring coffee-growing areas like Coorg, Sakleshpur and Chikmagalur. The ex-founder of The Flying Squirrel is doing interesting work with the new brand — read: world’s first cold smoked coffee and ale yeast fermented coffee.
Hack this: Grind coffee at home to barista standards without fancy equipment by using a hard flat surface and a chapati rolling pin, gently rolling down on the coffee beans, evenly, until you get the right consistency (coarse for French Press, medium coarse for electric filter). This helps avoid uneven grinds that can contribute to bitterness or weakness in the cup.
Favourite tool: Powerful yet tiny weighing scale that travels with me wherever I go. Being obsessive about weighing helps maintain consistency in flavour and body.
Best brew: A good pour-over. I’m currently experimenting with a lot of natural processed coffee, possibly because the fruitier, heavy body appeals to me at this point. But in general, I love a cup of freshly brewed black coffee that’s been cooled down a bit.

That salty vibe
AshwiniOm Sawant, Founder, Kali Coffee

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Brought up listening to the Panchatantra stories and being fascinated with Indian mythology, Kali Coffee was born of Sawant’s love for the goddess. She compares it to a cup of intense black coffee that can wake you up from illusions, face reality and give you superpowers to manifest what you desire.
Hack this: Crush less than a pinch of sea salt on dark roasted coffee while brewing to make it less bitter.
Favourite coffee tool: My morning brew is always a pour-over so Kalita as of now is on my side table.
Best brews: I love fruity and sweet coffee, mostly medium roast profiles and any manual brew — mostly pour-over and Aeropress as they can be carried around.

Glass act
Bharat Sethi, Founder and CEO, Rage Coffee

Fascinated by Europe’s coffee culture, Sethi realised how easy it would be to make a good cup of coffee if you know the tricks of the trade and began his journey in this direction.
Hack this: If you’re drinking black coffee from a pour-over, it is best to use a glass cup and not a ceramic cup, as it tends to alter the temperature quickly.
Favourite coffee tool: Frother for instant coffee and a manual grinder to grind beans for ground cup of coffee.
Best brew: Swinging from brewing coffee in a V60 Hario using a Moka pot to getting addicted to a French press, then using a manual drip machine, followed by a fully automatic machine and even a South Indian filter press; I’ve realised that the real game changer is right beans, using a manual grinder, and giving it 15-20 minutes of brewing at a temperature of 80-83 degrees using Chemex with a filter paper to drip it.

The right balance
Shannon D’souza, Founder, KC Roasters Glass act

Growing up experiencing Australia’s strong coffee culture, D’souza craved a good brew when he moved to India. That and his family’s Kelagur Estate in Chikmagalur played a big role in his personal and professional coffee journey.
Hack this: Using at least 30 per cent alkaline water for brewing coffees (especially for weak body coffees), adds body and balances the hardness of regular water. I’d recommend a high TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) water for people in Mumbai — I brew mine with a 7.0 PH level, especially if I feel too hyperactive after all the coffee consumption. It’s good for calming down and helps sleep better. I don’t think anyone’s talking about this as a trend.
Favourite coffee tool: Reusable coffee filter, weighing scale and coffee refractometer meter. I love La Marzocco Espresso machines because the precision and quality you get out of these are incomparable.
Best brew: Single shot espresso and Aeropress — depends on how I feel.

Filter kaapi cool
Rupal Jain, Founder, Bombay Island

Jain with a coffee plantation worker

Part of the third wave coffee movement that redefined the ideas around sourcing, roasting and brewing coffee, Jain left her left career prospect as a chartered accountant to follow her passion for coffee.
Hack this: Try traditional filter coffee with some jaggery instead of sugar and have it with fresh cow milk — perfect.
Favourite coffee tool: Pour-over with Turkish coffee. Pour-over is easy to make and gives flavourful coffee. Turkish one is very strong and great for a caffeine kick.
Best brew: For mornings, I prefer a pour-over; at noon, it’s espresso or Americano and evenings are perfect for a good cold brew.