
Over a steaming cup, politicians wax eloquent, statesmen take decisions and scribes warm up.
| Photo Credit: SREEJITH R. KUMAR
The “South Indian coffee” was recently in the news when TasteAtlas ranked it as the second best coffee in the world, next only to Cuban espresso. “A cup of morning coffee is the first thing a South Indian looks out for on getting up from bed,” is an oft-repeated statement in any discussion on this heady brew. The semi-translucent coffee seed whose nativity is traced to Arabia has integrated itself with our culture so much that it tops the list of provisions which a household draws up as the month begins.
Surprisingly enough, coffee drinking seems to have spread more rapidly in South India than in Arabia or Europe where much generous indignation was poured out by the conservative class on the people’s habitual addiction to the drink. Coffee was brought to the New World in mid-17th century. However, tea continued to be the favoured drink until the revolt of Boston Tea Party of 1773 changed the American drinking preference to coffee. President Thomas Jefferson called coffee the favourite drink of the civilised world.
Of the several versions of how coffee came to India, the one that is popular is that it came to our country much before the arrival of the East India Company, through an Indian Sufi saint named Baba Budan. Coffee became a major commercial crop in India in the 19th century and today, India is the sixth largest coffee grower in the world. Karnataka accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total coffee production in India.
My orthodox forefathers who initially called coffee an intoxicant gradually took to it and later developed a taste for it. Thanks to the physiological action of coffee in driving away drowsiness, it is not forbidden even during religious ceremonies. Even the abstemious do not skip a cup of good coffee.
Coffee houses in Europe and America were once hotbeds of gossip as well as political discussions and literary criticism. An early advertisement for coffee three centuries ago ran thus: “Coffee quickens the spirits and makes the heart lightsome…is good against sore eyes…excellent to prevent and cure dropsy, gout and scurvy…neither laxative nor restringent.”
Healthy sip
In modern times, early research linked coffee to several diseases. Recent research, however, provide strong evidence that coffee drinking actually has a variety of health benefits.
Whether or not one could today call coffee a medical potion, it is an accepted fact that over the steaming cup, politicians wax eloquent, statesmen take decisions and scribes warm up. Coffee has, therefore, rightly earned the sobriquet of “a gentleman’s beverage”.
A cup of coffee is also a symbol of hospitality. The homemaker, with a ladle in hand, approaching the kindly neighbour for coffee powder as guests walk in, is a familiar sight in middle-class quarters. In some households, the guest is in a predicament when served with substandard coffee.
There are many who would gladly forgo a meal, but not their cheery matutinal drink. Coffee is de rigueur for any function, social or religious. The standard of a wedding is determined by the standard of coffee served. The quality of coffee has been the bone of contention at many a wedding.
Preparation of good coffee of South Indian perfection is an art. My wise aunt was adept in making this drink. She was in the habit of taking coffee hot with a high concentration of filtered decoction and would not allow anybody in the household to prepare the drink lest the balance of aroma, flavour, milk, heat and strength be disturbed.
There is good news for coffee lovers among those who want to switch over to a vegan diet. Per se, coffee is vegan, as it is from the roasted seeds of a plant. Cow’s milk in coffee could be substituted with soya milk which is its nearest plant-based milk. When paired with fresh coffee decoction, soya milk’s nutty, creamy flavor can make coffee taste good.
Nowadays there is a wide variety of coffee to drink. In whatever form it is taken, coffee will always live up to its reputation as an excellent beverage ever since the first cup of the brew was sipped by somebody in some corner of the world.
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