Source: The Hindu,

By:
Prajwal Hegde,
The Hindu,
Saturday, January 3,2004

It's all about cappuccinos, Lattes, Espresso and what have you. Bangalore shuns its previous monikers to become, quite supply, the coffee city.

The flavour of the season is cappuccino. Creamy, Garden city, Silicon Valley, publicity all passé. News week's funky town is high on the bean. Coffee cafes dot the city like punctuation marks in a long winding sentence, providing stylistic relief. Bangaloreans are now pausing for a cup of the hot stuff or taking time out for long sips of the chilled ones. It is the city's lifestyle statement.

Wanna Latte? Walk right in No dress code, no age limit and no need for heavy wallets. They are the no attitude hangouts. It's where business partners meet and discuss music between money, teenagers lounge around planning their next roses and chocolate move, and mothers and daughters share a cold sparkle. It's also the kind of place, where a 54 year old would feel at ease asking a 20 something with bright eyes and trendy footwear where she shops.

Café Coffee Day, which has 27 outlets in Bangalore and Barista, the espresso bar, with seven, four of them in and around the MG Road area, manipulate the market. Coffee Day first set up shop on Brigade Road in 1996 and back then, viewed in mainly as an Internet café. IT was the password to the future an in cyber city, coffee had to play second fiddle. Not for long though. As computers started going into homes, people started coming out, looking for more entertainment. The youthful coffee bars provided ready reason.

Marketing men are quick to emphasise that while the clientele is across the board, there's a slant on youth. That's just where the menus are directed. While hot coffee Cappuccino, Americana, Macchiato and espresso remain the selling point, the cold stuff Tropical Iceberg in particular is a favourite among the youth. The cafes also offer other drinks like tea, hot and cold, soda pops and canned juices. The eats range in variety from paneer tikka sandwiches to brownies and cookies and a variety of ice creams.

The youth have welcomed the coffee bar culture with open arms. They are easy on parents and easier on the company.

They are cool handouts, where they can spill the beans, get some gossip and work at broadening their career options, all for 25 bucks. For the young working class, it's a place where they can bring their work to or simply shrug it off. It's a matter of choice, like cold or hot coffee. They may stay connected or simply tuck in the legs and pullout the unfinished book. Youth is also a state of mind and the city's coffee bars live that to the hilt. So you are just as likely to spot the old girls form your neighbourhood, as you are the downtown dude.

They are also popular with tourists. A guide in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other, they take in with wide-eyed wonder the scenes of a city playing catchup.

The café that top the charts are the two garden sit-outs on MG Road. They are typical of Bangalore-open, lively and relaxed. Barista, done up in a delicious orange, umbrellas etal, and Coffee Day, with its stone benches and friendly staff, also sum up the growing popularity of the city. Located at a good height and vantage points, they provide fleeting pictures of daily life in the city.

There's also music to match the mood. In the background, Christina Aguilera croons, 'Every day is so wonderful…' Bangaloreans would endorse that. Life is indeed good. And the coffee never tasted better.