Beggar's Barista and Bhikkari's CCD

Hello Caffeine Addicts,

People say, "A lot can happen over a cup of Coffee!", I say, "Nothing can happen over a cup of Coffee". How can one not be lost in the sweet intriguing smell and the intoxicating vapours emanating from a Cup of Java or a Cup of Joe? How can one concentrate on the lovely person sitting across when the hot brown brunette is staring at you sitting right on your palm.

I fell in love with Coffee in my adolescence. I was a child, far away from the world of intoxication and caffeine. My mind used to get a high, when friends used to call me from across the street for a game of cricket. Or when the Disney hour on Zee channel used to be broadcast at 5:30 pm. I had little idea then that the cruel world outside is full of substances called psychoactive stimulant drugs. One of the legal one is called Caffeine.

From the age of 15 or so Coffee was a breakaway from the Indian obsession from the Holy Tea. Tea was everywhere. Poems about Tea and praises was omnipresent. But Coffee had its own sanctuary. It was above common but yet common. It had in it a class and at the same time it was for all.

I was first introduced to Coffee's cool modern sister Miss. Instant. Instant Coffee was the hip and the happening. Just mix and enjoy.

I was under the illusion that the Instant Coffee is a lone coffee drug, which is available in sachets and bottles and is either Nescafe or Bru. I was for a rude surprise.

What a shame that I called myself a Coffee lover and yet was ignorant of a much sultry sister Miss Filter. She took my taste buds away from the first sip! It was a instant hit, what a irony of words.

I visited the Barista and Cafe Coffee Day outlets a couple of times and found that the Coffee which I was a fan of was of completely different deal in terms of aroma, taste and flavour from the Coffee which they served there. I had to shell pretty unreasonable number of green bills at those outlets to pursue my amorous activities of smelling, sipping and licking the last drops off the Ceramic Mug. I was desperately in search of some way to recreate the same magical experience at home.

One day while shopping, I noticed few innocent looking unattended, unloved and gloomy Green coloured packets of Coffee from Bru marked as “Fresh and Ground” . Having never bought such green packets of Coffee, I decided to buy it. Being a Coffee fan, I always used to check the Coffee to Chicory ratios in percentages at the back of the pack. I had almost tried all compositions and brands of Coffee but my romance with any one of them never sustained for a long time. Sometimes 60% Coffee and 40% Chicory, at times 70%-30% and sometimes in desperation 100% classic version. I was always baffled at the choices and never being satisfied by any one of them. Until that day!

As I returned home, excited from buying the new version and the hurry to try it as soon as possible made me anxious. I gave a glass full of milk a boil and at the same time cut open the new packet. I was shocked and surprised to see irregular coarse grains of Coffee instead of smooth fine rust coloured powder. Determined to go through, I added two heap-full of the granular powder to the milk and started mixing. To my surprise it turned into a muddy solution. Not able to decide what to do next I took a gulp of the mix and almost vomited. What was this? Somehow I finished that hideous mix and returned to my work table.

I searched for “Fresh and Ground Coffee” and clicked open a wiki page on coffee. In front of my eyes lay the complete history of coffee and even though my stomach was feeling weird, my mind cleared. I then came to know that Coffee actually came from Arabic countries and the original Coffee preparation is nowhere near to what we are used to in India i.e. cut-sachet-add-mix drink. I came to know that coffee is brewed and then filtered or decanted. I came to know about a dozen varieties of Coffee and the advantages of adding Chicory in a proportion in the Coffee sold commercially.

Next evening, my search for the ultimate Barista-CCD Coffee drink at home was about to end and a new affair was going to start. I brewed my first cup of Joe. The whole house was full of mind numbing aroma of the brewing Coffee after some time later. I decanted the brew to the Coffee-Mug and added some milk powder and sugar-free pallets to it. When I sipped for the first time, I was speechless. I found my Coffee. I found the way to make the Barista-CCD  Coffee at home. That too without hassle and no more bills of 100s getting lost in the glassy outlets and small uncomfortable chairs with people staring. Here I was sitting at my home in my comfy Pyjamas, enjoying an episode of FRIENDS on my laptop, Nobita and sipping the elixir.