Hailing from Assam, I usually prefer tea over coffee. For me, coffee always meant “Nescafe” or “Bru” at home or drinking “Mocha” or “Latte” occasionally during business or informal meets with people. I have never paid much attention to this beverage so far. However, I always get ensnared by its aroma. Post shifting to Bangalore, at a later stage I have started inclining towards coffee, which is either served single or is sometimes paired with salted cookies. The concept of pairing a cup of coffee with food is something that has never been given a thought.
 |
| Coffee with lemon tart-amazing combo |
 |
| Different varieties of coffee |
regarding the origination of coffee. One of them is the tale of Saint Baba Budan back in 17 th century, who on his pilgrimage to Mecca carried seven beans to India trailing his path to Chandra Drona hills which is now commonly known as Baba Budan hills in the Chikamangalur district of Karnataka.
Tapaswini Prunesh, a 5 th generation planter, who has grew up on the coffee gardens with a deep
understanding of flavor profiles, blends and roasts is now providing people with a new perspective
towards drinking coffee. Classic Coffee is a trendsetter in the Food and Beverage industry as they are
making this beverage more interesting and classy-Gourmet Coffee. Moreover, Tapaswini is also keen at educating people on different food pair-ups with the beverage. The coffee estates are located in
Chikmangalur (Kalladevarapura Estate) and also stretched in Manjarabad region (Harley estate). Her
company, Classic Synergy, has been voted for the best Indian coffee for four consecutive years in the
Flavour of India, The fine Cup Award, organized by the Coffee Board of India every year on an
international forum.
Speaking about Tapaswini’s career, she studied engineering but later chose to permeate into F&B industry that led her join Le Condon Bleu, a reputed culinary school. “I have also got hands on
experience at a few very well reputed patisseries and boulangeries in Paris and Bangalore”, she stated.
On been invited for a coffee tasting session, I found myself filled with lots of information regarding
coffee by the end of the day. Their office has a small lab section where the metallic racks were
decorated with different brewing equipments and coffee powders. “The same coffee tastes different as
the natural oils gets extracted depending on the brewing techniques followed”, Tapaswini informed.
 |
| Tapaswini-during the session |
They keep an equipment known as Camex (having a shape of an hour-glass) along with filter paper on top which was all ready to demonstrate its first process- the pour over method. It is a time consuming process as the hot water pour, parch and drifts slowly through the filter paper. If you want to serve coffee following this method, you ought to take 24g classic coffee powder followed by pouring 330 ml of boiling water for twenty seconds, forty seconds allow resting and 4 minutes to brew the coffee. The end result is a mild, bright acidic coffee which tastes amazing been paired with sweet apple pieces. Make sure that this coffee should be served with crunchy fruits like apples/pears/meringues to provide the best taste to the palate.
 |
| Camex-the pour over method |
 |
| Coffee powder brewing |
 |
| Here goes my cup of coffee! |
 |
| The French Pot |
French Press is another brewing technique which best suited for a dark coffee commonly known as
“Filter Coffee” in India. Let us take 40g 100% Arabica coffee powder, 480 ml of water and allow it to settle for 4 minutes. Let it bloom and allow the gases to escape and voila! Cup of coffee is ready! The coffee brewed by this process is less acidic and delivers a chocolate flavor. Combine it with lemon tart/soft cheese/custard to best enjoy the beverage.The equipment is known as coffee pot, press pot or in French- cafetiere. It is a combination of glass
container and a piston with a sieve at one end and a lid on the other.
 |
| The French pot with a piston- served Classic Mountain with lemon tart |
method. One can simply prepare a cup of coffee by mixing 21g of coffee powder (Arabica) and wet it by adding 250ml of water for 30 seconds. One can use the stirrer provided along with the equipment to blend the coffee powder and water followed by keeping the funnel upside down in order to allow
suction.
 |
| Aeropress technique |
 |
| Let the coffee powder settle |
The process requires less extraction and least acidic as compared to other two. It was served
hot on my cup I enjoyed along with walnuts, salted caramel and chocolates.
 |
| Suction |
Last but not the least, their “Classic Pride” (mixture of Robusta and Arabica) didn’t fail to create magic in my palate. This blend is widely grown in Coorg and Chikmangalur. I just fell in love with this blend and we paired it with dark chocolates. It was heavenly, trust me!
 |
| The Pride |
 |
| Coffee and Salted Caramel is just too good! |
Get your favourite Classic Coffee from your nearest retail stores- Nature Basket, Food Hall, Nilgiris and Namdharis. One can also use it as a gift option as they are available at airports. It is available on Amazon also. Order it now!
 |
| Trying my hands on.... |
cup of coffee.”