Do you want to pour-over?

In a country that predominantly runs on chai, finding people who like black coffee is like finding a needle in a haystack. At first, black coffee might seem like a devil's drink for chai lovers, but for explorers and perfectionists like me, the algorithm makes a solid case to at least try it out. So, I'll take you through my journey of coffee – from a chai substitute to a daily morning drug.

My first impressions of coffee were of a sophisticated drink that the cool kids used to enjoy. I don't remember my first cup of coffee, but I'm pretty sure it would have been a Nescafe (or in a worst-case scenario Bru) instant coffee. Since these brands were the ones to penetrate the Indian market, the above assumption makes sense. Coffee was a foreign drink. I remember people serving instant coffee at weddings. There would be a separate counter for coffee with a steel mammoth of a machine resting on top. Attached to the machine was a hose, which was cleaned regularly with a cloth. The barista would put the hose into a steel jug hosting some golden-brown liquid. And as soon as he turned on a black knob, the machine would make the sound of a hundred snakes hissing together. While the machine did its work, the liquid would rise to the top of the jug along with the freshly formed foam. The barista would then add some powder (cocoa/coffee) and serve the golden elixir into small paper cups, which were then consumed by adults in groups over some hot gossip.

I remember trying these coffees at weddings during winter. I loved the feeling of sipping something hot and sugary (since most of the content was sugar and milk) but also a bit bitter. And that was my initial impression of coffee – a sweet milk-based drink that left a bitter and addicting aftertaste. And then I started drinking this sweet elixir a little bit more than usual. Mostly because it took half the time to prepare the drink compared to chai and also because it supposedly came with health benefits like increasing blood pressure. At that time, I hadn't heard about caffeine and how it works, but the two factors were enough for me to start drinking coffee.

I moved to big cities and started working for startups along with my college. Most of them would require me to come to the office. In most of these offices, there would be a small Cafe Coffee Day machine that looked futuristic enough, like it dropped from a Japanese sci-fi movie. For a small-town guy, this was definitely an upgrade from the hissing 400kg wedding coffee machine. I remember admiring it for its compaction and yet being able to serve 100 cups a day without any human intervention. I remember the first time going to the counter. I waited till no one else was around to avoid any first-encounter embarrassment. And to my surprise, there were no buttons on the machine but rather a touch screen. And for some reason, there was no option for coffee but these weird names like latte, cappuccino, espresso. I guessed that these would be different kinds of coffee so now I had to pick one before someone else came. Hurriedly, I pressed cappuccino. At first, the machine did not respond. But suddenly, it started making weird noises and out came a dark liquid. The machine stopped again, and it waited for what felt like an eternity to me. Since my brain had no concept of boilers at the time, I thought I had broken the machine! But after some time, milk came out topped up with foam. I took the little white cup, picked up some sugar sachets, and left for my work. Surprisingly, the coffee didn't taste as bad as I had imagined (sugar again). And I thought to myself, how we have achieved peak human evolution. I felt bad for the wedding barista and the 400kg coffee machine. But that's how life is. Technology replacing big machines and humans. Sipping my cappuccino, I wondered what the latte would taste like. And that was my first taste of exploration. It fascinated me how coffee made from beans can be made into different drinks with different names.

As I grew up, it was a bit disappointing to know that most of these fancy names were just names given to different coffee-to-milk ratios! After navigating through the landscape of milk-based drinks, I wanted to explore more. Somewhere in the middle, I ditched sugar in favor of sugarless coffee. So, I knew I could try coffee without milk. After all, how bad could it be? Not gonna lie, it was worse than I had anticipated. Somewhere at the end of my college term, I started working out. And I heard people talking about having black coffee before a workout to boost something...I believe the word was strength. And as an educated engineering student, I jumped onto the trend without doing any research. I selected Nescafe as my weapon of choice. I boiled the water, poured a small sachet of Nescafe instant coffee, and gave it a mix. I waited for it to cool down before sipping and savoring the taste of black coffee. The aroma was...strong. I couldn't wait to taste it and feel the mighty strength that everyone promised. The first sip was a sip of death. I wanted to hold the terrible expression, but my facial muscles denied my orders. It was a sip of a brutal liquid, and it gave bitter a new meaning in my taste pallet. The kind of sip that made me realize that I am a mere human and how the hell I'm going to finish the whole cup. So I decided that sipping was not an option. I took the cup in one hand and a bottle of water in another. And as soon as I gulped the entire thing, I gargled my tongue with water. I did feel woke not because of the caffeine but because of the horrible taste of the black tar I had just drunk.

For many years, that was the definition of black coffee for me. I had it multiple times on occasions when I was feeling sleepy before a workout. The drink worked as expected, it slapped you out of sleepiness and made you think of your life choices. Years passed by, I came to Bangalore after COVID, and like everyone, I wanted to explore the world. Revenge travel to unseen locations and explore exquisite cafes around the city. Luckily, Bangalore had a lot of cafes. And I went on a spree to try out different food and coffee. Post-COVID, the city was overflowing with new coffee cafes, especially Blue Tokai and Third Wave. As a young college grad, I had always admired these places for their sophistication, clean environment, and the amazing smell of coffee. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to go to most of the high-end cafes. Although, I was always curious as to what occupation the men and women with Macbooks were into. And as a coder, I couldn't imagine how one could work in such a busy environment. Turns out, cafe noise playlists are a thing and people like to listen to background noise while focusing on their work. I learned that when I joined the office. On one occasion I bumped into a guy who was wearing his headphones in the office. On asking what he was listening to, he showed me a playlist of 40 different background noises. Noise from a cafe, jungle noise, noise from a busy neighbourhood, etc. All of this confused me at first, but I assumed that maybe he didn't like the voice of a co-worker and that's why he was doing all this shazam. Anyway, I got the chance to finally visit a cafe called Third Wave Cafe. I decided to try its cold brew orange-flavored coffee. While I was waiting for my order, I realized that I had ordered black coffee. My life flashed before my eyes. The smell of the black Nescafe tar entered my nose, and I almost fainted. But I am an explorer by nature and I like to give things a second chance. The coffee arrived, and I had my first sip. It was not bad. In fact, it was delicious. This wasn't the black coffee that I had feared for a long time but it was a smooth watery drink with a hint of orange. It was refreshing! And from there on, I decided to give black coffee another try.

A few steps away from Third Wave is a cafe called Araku Cafe in Indiranagar. In my initial days in Bangalore, I was very fond of Indiranagar and its cafes. I wanted to try every other cafe in Indiranagar but I could never keep up with the pace of newly opened cafes. The first time I saw Araku, it felt like a beautiful gem of Scandinavian interiors with Baristas wearing beautiful aprons and looking like professionals representing the epitome of the barista community. I went towards the door but due to the long waiting time, I couldn't get in that day. The next time when I got the entry, I went there with a dear friend of mine. She had traveled the world and knew a lot about coffee, and she encouraged me to try a pour-over. There were different methods to 'brew' a cup of coffee. But as a noob, I wasn't aware of any of these terms. I went ahead with her selection. Our coffee came in cute little cups (later I got to know that there are different cups for different drinks!). I waited for the coffee to cool down. I had my first sip and a wave of flavors brushed me. It was a flavorful cup with a good body and mild acidity. Of course, at that time I didn't know what body, acidity, and flavor meant. I just knew that the coffee felt mouthful and citrusy. To me, that was a whole new dimension to black coffee. I couldn't fathom how a black liquid without sugar and milk tasted so good. I had multiple sips until I reached the end. And I was left craving for more. I read somewhere that a good cup of coffee makes you feel a bit sad when it's over. And I second that.

From that day, I went all into black coffee. I visited Araku multiple times and tried their different coffees and brewing techniques. I watched a lot of James Hoffman reviews and coffee porn until I convinced myself to learn how to brew coffee at home. I bought my first AeroPress after a few days. Bought pre-ground coffee from Araku and brewed my first cup of coffee. After a few tries, I nailed the brew. And it felt like I just won an Oscar. I was so happy to brew such a delicious cup at home for 1/10th of the price that I paid at the cafe. Over the next year, I experimented a lot with my brewing techniques. I bought a lot of coffee gear from my annual bonus, mostly related to pour-over. I looked at thousands of reviews and went to Reddit a hundred times to make sure that I got the best return on investments. I bought a good grinder and got to know how much of a difference pre- ground vs. fresh ground coffee makes in terms of taste. I perfected my art of pour-over to suit my palate. I went on to experiment with different coffees like Araku, Subko, Humblebean, Caffinary, and many local brands as well. And during this journey, I fell in love with coffee. It became a daily part of my morning rituals. Even today, I start my mornings with black coffee and journaling or reading The Daily Stoic. And it brings me immense joy.

I remember there being days when I slept excited so that I could try out a different coffee or just drink the regularly perfected pour-over. If I look back, I feel I've come a long way, and my bitter-sweet relationship with coffee has grown from having coffee in cold winter weddings to it being a daily part of my life. I even have a diploma in coffee tasting. I know it sounds weird, but it's a way how experts grade a cup of coffee and give it a score. Even now, when I think about coffee, I get excited. I get excited by the endless possibilities of trying out different brews with different coffee with different styles. It just makes me want to go and fetch a cup right now! Coffee can change your life if you let it. I suffer from low blood pressure on a normal day. But having a cup normalizes it for at least some time. It has been a savior but more importantly, it makes me feel alive, hopeful, and extremely excited for tomorrow. Coffee can change your life if you let it. I hope you'll be inspired to give this natural wonder a try, and I hope that it may change your life.

Thanks for reading.