The Indian coffee trends that defined this year

Like new fashion trends, there are limited edition coffee varieties beyond the regular Arabica and Robusta beans in 2024. Those looking for more sweetness than caffeine in their cups could choose Liberica coffees from brands such as Humble Bean Coffee and Dope Coffee Roasters, while those seeking complexity could pre-order Gesha coffees from Corridor Seven Coffee Roasters and Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters.

Also read: Gesha's rise in India

The marker of a developing industry is in the growth of specialised training. This is clear in the rise of coffee institutes, offering everything from brewing classes to latte art. Bengaluru-based Sangya Yadav is India’s first female authorised trainer by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). Itis a non-profit headquartered in California that sets industry standards and guidelines for the global coffee industry. “Two years ago,there were only two institutes certified by SCA as premier campus, one being Araku World Specialty Coffee Academy and the Specialty Coffee Academy of India, both in Bengaluru," she says. “This year, many new cafés across different cities ranging from Chandigarh, Indore and Surat have doubled up as coffee experience centres and teach barista skills for industry professionals. Some even offer globally recognised SCA certifications." Yadav notes the rise in coffee championships with more competitions now open for participation for all levels of coffee enthusiasts—from home brewers to professional baristas.

This year saw the inaugural edition of the India International Coffee Festival (IICF), supported by the Coffee Board of India, which held competitions such as National Barista Championship and National Brewers Cup in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. For the first time, IICF also held Coffee In Good Spirits (a coffee cocktail competition) and the Indian Filter Coffee Championship. The growth of Indian filter coffee in the speciality space emerged as a prominent trend. Along with the dedicated championship, it also ranked second in the ‘Top 38 Coffees In The World’ list released by the popular food lifestyle platform TasteAtlas early this year.

An upshot of this is the ever-growing number of cafés—from new-age places such as Subko Coffee to chains like Starbucks and Third Wave Coffee Roasters and more—serving traditional filter coffee, especially to a younger audience. "I predict this timeless classic will soon go international," adds Jaykrut Shah of Coffee By Di Bella.

Filter coffee also found a strange bedfellow this year with the launch of FILTR, a collaboration between Third Eye Distillery (TED) that produces Stranger & Sons gin and Subko Coffee. FILTR is the second expression in TED’s In Cahoot series of readymade alcoholic drinks after Perry Road Peru and is meant to replicate the experience of having an espresso martini at home.

Rahul Mehra, CEO and co-founder, Third Eye Distillery says the gap in the market was evident. “We discovered that filter coffee works well to make espresso martinis. It’s a difficult cocktail to prepare at home and even at bars. A lot of bars don’t have espresso machines so this is a tailormade option for espresso martinis."

Consumer behaviour is also changing brewing choices at cafés. While pourover using the traditional V60 dripper remains the preferred choice of manual brew for most, there has been a marked shift towards new-age pourover methods with Kalita Wave and Origami Dripper standing out in 2024. The vibrant, petal-like design of the Origami Dripper uses precision and flow that brings out cleaner and crisper cup of coffee, while the Kalita Wave’s flat bottom design gives a smooth and steady brew that lets enthusiasts enjoy the natural sweetness of the coffee. Amol Bhaskar Parkhe of Shelter x Coffee by Javaphile in Mumbai says that these bring out the personality of each coffee bean and have become crowd favourites. 

Consumers are also rebalancing their equation with milk-based beverages in 2024. For example, the rise of oat milk, almond milk and even coconut milk has gone up at cafés across the country, with alternative milk options making up more than a quarter of the total inventory at some cafés. Karreena Bulchandani, of Mumbai’s Mokai café, says that the ratio of non-milk alternatives has been climbing steadily and currently stands around 30%—meaning three out of 10 consumers prefer coffee beverages with alternative milk options. Moreover, certain types of non-milk coffees are preferred during different seasons, a shift in habit that’s expected to pick up going forward. “Normally during summer, oat milk iced lattes tend to sell more, and in winter, almond milk hot lattes tend to go more," he says. “And if given a choice, people prefer coconut milk even above regular milk if it’s made well."

Among the most interesting trends this year is the rise of cafés turning into temporary sober dance venues with professional DJs. Nandan Café in Mumbai and Nagpur’s Corridor Seven Coffee Roasters are among those who’ve hosted such sessions. Mithilesh Vazalwar of Corridor Seven Coffee Roasters,who hosted popular DJ Nikhil Chinapa, explains the idea istocreate an environment for both coffee and music lovers to come together for community building. “The response toour DJ events has been insane. Our social media crashed with the response so much so that we thought bot accounts were messaging us. We had parking issues with over 400 people crammed into our café," shares Vazalwar. 

With so many defining trends emerging this year, it’s time to reflect on the year gone by for those in the coffee industry as well as for consumers who’re seeking knowledge, variety and more bang from their bean.

Priyanko Sarkar is a Mumbai-based writer covering the F&B industry.`

Also read: How Gen Z likes its coffee