Roastery Coffee House is one of the most interesting success stories
BY RUKSHANA A. KAPADIA
What’s brewing? Coffee is ... All across the country, over the last decade. First at a trickle and now in a gush this dark, this earthy liquid has captured our cups and the café culture has vibrantly mushroomed creating happy heavens for patrons.
Pre-pandemic a place to chill and post-pandemic a second workplace for many, almost everyone I know has a preferred café that they frequent.
India, from being a tea-drinking country, has in recent years gone on to herald a coffee revolution in no small thanks to young urban Indians. Coffee today is a lifestyle and a statement not just a beverage and the market today is discerning with many patrons genuinely understanding the nuances of coffee.
Today, we see coffee being celebrated in all its forms from the good old filter coffee and cold coffee to siphons and cold brews. Artisanal coffee brands are no longer simply in cities but even most tier 2 and 3 markets have cafés that are increasingly popular and in demand with patrons.
Shade grown Indian coffee is superlative and the Indian monsoons enhance the complexity of flavours in the coffee beans. Consumers are curious and are eager to experiment with coffees from a variety of estates which has been a huge boost for the local coffee bean cultivators.
Today it’s not just a hot cup of coffee that is essential to kick-start our day, the younger consumers (and some not-so-young ones like myself) are huge fans of the cold brew variants that give us that caffeine buzz thanks to its slower flavour extraction adding smoothness without compromising on the potency.
These cold brews also are well suited to our tropical climatic conditions making them massively popular. Baristas today are skilled in various brewing processes and offer a plethora of coffee beverages to suit every taste profile and palate.
One of the most interesting farm-to-cup coffee journeys I have witnessed has been the Roastery Coffee House. The first Roastery Coffee House was founded in Hyderabad on July, 26, 2017 by Nishant Sinha. It was created with a singular mind-set of focusing on offering a high quality coffee experience.
In Nishant’s words, “Since 201, Roastery Coffee House has successfully built a specialty coffee place which caters not just to coffee lovers but families as well, in five cities across India with five cafes. As a matter of principle, we at Roastery only work with Indian coffee farmers’ to source, roast and brew the finest and proudest Indian coffee while always paying premium prices to support and sustain local businesses.”
Nishant, an alumnus of Institute of Hotel Management, Jodhpur, loves to travel and explore coffee and cacao. With Roastery Hyderabad being a runaway success he has gone on to create four more outlets in Kolkata, Noida, Jaipur and Lucknow.
He wants RCH to be a destination not just a café and has created a beautiful and elegant space across each of his properties. At Roastery Coffee House, the coffee beans are sourced from India’s finest farms and roasted to perfection in their Giesen Roasting Machines in-house.
Some of the excellent coffee varieties come from Mandalkhan Estate, Thogarihunkal Estate, Ratnagiri Estate, Monsoon Malabar (Pride of India), Harley Estate to name a few with special beans for Espresso Black & Milk Blend, Cold Brew, Grappa Fermentation and of course for their Signature Cascara (Coffee Cherry Tea) that is a personal favourite. Roastery Coffee House was the first to introduce Cascara to the Indian market.
Nishant’s vision for Roastery Coffee House is backed by serious research and legwork. He aims to expand the brand’s presence across all metros and eventually take it international. An avid traveller, he loves exploring varieties in coffee and cacao.
Sit down with him over a cup of coffee and he will happily share his coffee experiences from his numerous travels to farms across India and beyond.
“Roasting coffee equals meditation for me,” he says. Nishant’s passion for coffee and his dedication towards building RCH is commendable and he pushes himself and his team to keep raising the bar.
I was especially delighted when this April for Bengali New Year he collaborated with the 100-year-old old Jugal’s Mishti, an iconic sweet brand of Kolkata, and came up with a Roastery Coffee Sandesh – a traditional Bengali Jalbhara Sandesh which had its liquid centre flavoured with their Signature Monsoon Malabar Coffee which they served complimentary at all their outlets across India to their guests.
I frequent cafés both for work meetings as well as to catch up with friends and I always love the fact that Roastery consistently has such a diverse demographic of its patrons and that creates such a warm and happy vibe.
However while it’s the coffee that’s in the spotlight the food that they serve is also pretty darn good. The focus is always on good quality produce and generous portions that add much to your visit. They make it a point to offer loads of salads and healthy options but also feature all the crowd pleasers like handmade pastas, sandwiches, eggs made to order and burgers.
The Twice Baked Chocolate Cake pairs splendidly with their coffee and all their bakes are made using Colocal Chocolate their bean-to-bar chocolate brand that is another runaway hit but I will save those details for another day.
For me and others like me, our tribe of coffee enthusiasts, it’s been heartening to have a ringside view of this very proudly Indian coffee success story.
