GOODLIFE
66 (^) JULY 2019
from November to March. Araku’s is every
other day. Across the world, the beans are
blow-dried in two hours; Araku’s drying
happens over two weeks in sunlight.
“There is a raised platform so the earth’s
smell does not touch the coffee. I measure
moisture and sugar levels. This is like
making a Birkin bag,” Kumar adds.
With a growing production of what’s
currently a hundred tonnes, a million-
and-a-half additional coffee trees being
planted every year and 25,000 acres under
cultivation, Araku had to seek newer
markets besides France, which is why the
coffee is now available in India online. It
started selling to Europe rst because it felt
that the quality of the coffee, best drunk
black, would require a more sophisticated
and re ned palate. But a new wave of
Indian coffee introduced over the last few
years by brands such as Blue Tokai, Black
Baza, The Indian Bean and Flying Squirrel,
among others, has paved the way for Araku
to brave local competition.
Next up is a café in Bengaluru, and
then maybe in Mumbai and Delhi, the
three biggest markets for Araku. A
roasting facility is already up and running
in Hyderabad. And while it may not be his
thing, Kumar believes espresso machines
and biodegradable pods, which Araku
sells, will catch on here.
“If I had brought this coffee to India
ve years ago, I would have been dead as
a brand,” he says. “Now, we will shake up
the industry. I will disrupt wages, quality
and training.”
He would prefer to do that while
retaining his anonymity – he loves sitting
in a coffee shop watching people, which he
did in Bengaluru as part of his homework
for the upcoming café. Having trained in
counter-intelligence early in his career and
worked at airports identifying potential
troublemakers, he is a “dangerous” person to
be around, according to friends, because he
can be a good conversationalist, and can get
information out of people.
If he had stayed on as an operative, he
would de nitely have been a richer man,
Kumar says, laughing. But Naandi’s non-
pro t work roots him well – typically in
a month, he spends a week in Mumbai,
a week in Hyderabad, which is also home,
and two weeks somewhere in India or
Paris or a place with a coffee trend.
His Araku (and French press) travels with
him everywhere. It’s because – he repeats –
it’s the best coffee. He believes taste depends
on good olfactory senses: how well you’ve
trained your nose, which, for him, is part
gift, part skill acquired through practice. As
he prepares for an upcoming board meeting,
he also says his mind never stops working,
contrary to the calm, unhurried impression
he gives. Most of his thoughts seem to be
occupied by the brew and the bean.
Kumar also wants to develop a cold brew,
as well as an Araku version of the South
Indian lter coffee. “I also need to bring
people back to the idea of the rituals of coffee
- brew yourself, take a pause, pour and drink
it,” he says, thoughtfully. “My challenge is to
make this a lifestyle.”
“IF I HAD
BROUGHT
THIS COFFEE
TO INDIA FIVE
YEARS AGO, I
WOULD HAVE
BEEN DEAD
AS A BRAND,”
KUMAR SAYS.
“NOW, WE
WILL SHAKE
UP THE
IND U S T RY. I
WILL DISRUPT
WAGES,
QUALITY AND
TRAINING”