Treat yourself to an elevated experience at this international coffee chain cafe

Herbed chicken in multigrain croissant

When the first Starbucks opened in 2012, it was a big occasion. This was a decade after coffee chain Mocha had created a stir. By then, the coffee (and dessert) culture - where patrons could mull over their cuppas for hours - had seeped into the city's lifestyle choices. In fact, with the global coffee chain, one didn't need to order at all. It set the tone and over the years, it became an ‘office' space for freelancers, to hold meetings, and where students would huddle over assignments.

After a decade-long presence in India, last month, the first outpost of Starbucks located in Elphinstone Building at Fort transformed into the first Reserve store for premium offerings in the country. While offering a tour of the cafe, a staffer shared that the coffee is bought in small batches/reserves, freshly ground at the cafe and brewed in front of patrons. As we follow her around the store, we gaze at the installation above the monolith coffee island in pastel green and pink. Here, customers can take a high chair and watch the coffee brewing in chemex, siphon, French press, pour over and the whizzing coffee machine. She points to the curly installation above the station. "This is the golden cloud," she announces, parroting the storyline from a training session, we guess. She continues, "Reserve coffee is usually grown on higher altitudes in mountains, amid clouds. So this is the golden cloud, and we are the coffee beans."

Top-angle view of the outpost (right) a wall mural by the boomerang studio

In the inner seating area, which is divided into two, we stop at a kitschy wall mural done by Sonal Vasave of Boomranng Studio. Siren, the mascot mermaid, is sprawled in an Indian avatar, nathini, kajal et al. The fluorescent pink pop art comes alive on a trippy Instagram filter. Everyone who walks in for the first time points their camera to the wall art and watches its digital avatar. The next section is dressed in subtle gray and brown tones.

We return to the counter for our coffee experience, and perch ourselves on the high chairs. If you have the time and patience, the staff has many coffee stories up their sleeves. We watched the barista pour water at 95 degrees into the Chemex glassware for our order of a Tall reserve Rwanda sholi (R310). Similar to a pour over, the chemex results in a smoother coffee that cuts the bitterness. We are used to having our black coffee using a pour over at home, but we quite like the robust dark hit of caffeine, padded with notes of sweet charcoal. Lighter on the palate, the coffee experience is smoother.

Siphon tall reserve Bolivia sol de la Manana (Rs 390) is milder of the two black coffees we try. We look for notes of chocolate, papaya and lemon. The coffee is presented on a wooden tray with a small glass of water to cleanse the palate. The Arabica variety is a washed coffee, which means the fruit from the plucked coffee cherry is removed within 24 hours of harvest to dry the seeds. Siphon method relies on mixing coffee in boiling water that has been made to ascend in the equipment using the process of siphonage. Since global reserve lot coffees are on offer, the coffee programme at Starbucks gets a shot in the arm.

Water and coffee being mixed in the siphon (right) coffee being made using chemex method

The scones reserve (Rs 320) has a sweet clotted cream filling and the dense cake crust is mixed with fruit. In the food section, the bakery is making fresh croissants; and we order herbed chicken in a multigrain croissant (Rs 399). For those frequenting the chain often, new dishes are a welcome change. After spending a couple of hours in this space, we liked Reserve for its upbeat vibe and the pop art decor. Our heart goes out to the staff that must scream orders louder to cover the two floors.

Starbucks Reserve
At: Elphinstone Building, Horniman Circle, Fort
From: 7 am to 1 am; open on all days