A 27-year-old heiress to one of the largest coffee plantations in the country aims to usher in a boutique coffee culture in the city with her all new cafe
For someone trying to open a cafe in a city that doles out cappuccinos at every street corner, Ishanee Amar Haware knew she had her task cut out for her. Haware, born in Mangalore and brought up in Bengaluru, did not know either Hindi or Marathi when she moved to Mumbai three years ago. However, coming from the 13th generation of a family that owns a coffee plantation in Chikmanglur, she seems to know what they mean when they say 'wake up and smell the coffee'. With The Koffee Works, a café and bakery she has started in Chembur, Haware aims at ushering a serious coffee culture in Mumbai, a city, which she is told has a "largely chai soul".
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The 25-seater is done in shades of yellows, pinks and white, a departure from the sober blacks, greys and browns that tarnish most cafes
"Everyone told me that this is a city that loves its chai. Coffee, despite the number of cafes that continue to spring up, is still a fringe and a premium beverage. I realised that I could start catering to this segment through a boutique coffee experience." The 25-seater could be a chip off your living room. Its vibrant shades of yellows, pinks and white is a departure from the sober blacks, greys and browns that tarnish most cafes. Quiet and cosy, this could be a perfect place to sit and read a book or work privately. That her family owns a coffee plantation came in handy for Haware, who wants to make the experience as artisanal and customised as possible. For starters, the coffee beans are ground only once an order is placed. "We import our coffee machines from Italy, and these are semi-automatic machines. How your coffee tastes depends a lot on who makes it, the art of the barista, the person who operates the machine. If the entire process is automated, then you have little control on how the beans blend and how they end up tasting." The Koffee Works has developed its own blend in consultation with the Coffee Board of India and it has taken them several rounds to arrive at what everyone felt was perfect.
The Turmeric Latte
Besides the usual cappuccinos, lattes and Americanos, their experimental brews manage to cut through clutter. Take the Vietnamese Coffee, for instance. It's a blend of Americano (black coffee) and condensed milk, served on the rocks. They also have the haldi-doodh's modern interpretation, the Turmeric Latte. "But it's a fun drink," she adds.
Ishanee Amar Haware
The Koffee Works also has its own bakery that produces pastries, macaroons, cakes. "We have a centralised kitchen and none of what we serve here is outsourced. Even the coffee in your cup, right from picking the beans to their processing in our factory, to the coffee in our kitchen, the entire process is controlled by us. This, you could say, is our USP." "We are the first privately owned coffee estate in the country. There was a time when my father controlled 40 per cent of the exports — we used to export to Coca Cola as well. This is the first time that we have chosen to have a retail outlet. My dream is to make them interested in coffee, and who knows, even convert people into coffee drinkers and coffee lovers."
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