The best cappuccino in town

Beethoven counted and used 60 coffee beans to prepare his brew. Each time for each cup of coffee. Perhaps that would explain the perfection he achieved with his symphonies and notes. Every evening at 6.30 pm a robust old man walks inside the Taj Mahal Hotel in Secunderabad, sits in the second row in the centre twirls his moustache and waits. As he sees the smoothened granite flooring polished by a billion footfalls, a steaming cup is brought for him. Sip and a furrowed brow lines curl up in appreciation. The waiter in white walks off pleased. Not a word spoken.

The entry of coffee pubs has kicked the game wide open. Now the Minerva Coffee Shop, Chutneys, Taj Mahal Hotel with their staid appearance, pre-mixed sugar, chicory and varying quality (in the morning the brew is perfect, quality plummets by noon again perks up by evening) have big time rivals. Not the cauldron of dark decoction and boiling milk.

Check this out to know the difference. The order is the rating based on quality of coffee, service, barista’s expertise, ambiance, parking space etc.

Qahwa: The perfectly brewed cappuccino. The ambiance is neither too claustrophobic nor too spaced out. Weather permitting, you can sit on the lawns and breathe in the pollution while quaffing or sipping the stuff. The coffee has the right notes, body and flavour. The texture too is right. The froth is deceptive so you have to be careful while adding the sugar. Their trademark cold coffee called Qahwa is cool. The barista uses a Cimbali semi-automatic and the pressure and the temperature at which the decoction comes out is right so the bite in the notes is somewhat mellowed.

Café Coffee Day: Still the finest though slipping in quality where the patronage is high. The standardization slips when it comes to takeaways. Using an Astoria semi-automatic and a good barista at the knobs (Kaushik Aich (Somajiguda outlet) is a bronze winner at the Indian Barista Championships) the cappuccino can be pretty addictive. Earlier they used to serve a more frothy stuff now the froth is no longer there so you can no longer eat the froth and drink the coffee. (Shhh: For the cold coffees they use readymade decoction which is brought in jerrycans). More acidic than the cappuccino at Qahwa, it has a hint of mountains. (Why do they keep the AC switched off?)

Leaf n Bean: The newest entrant in the coffee game it is set to go places as the brew hits the right notes. They say they use only Arabicah beans imported from Brazil, Columbia and Indonesia. Without using Robusta beans it is an achievement that the cappuccino notes are so high (perhaps it is their Rancilio that does the trick). They are trying to peddle their flavoured teas and flavoured cold drinks but that should be for the junta. Located in an atrium, the stairs are somewhat dicey business to negotiate. The spaciousness adds to the ambiance.

Barista: Concentrating too much on their cold coffees (they are higher priced and more lucrative) the cappuccino doesn’t get the attention it deserves. And it shows. The ambiance is right. There is good parking space at all the outlets. But all these plus points are negated by the ordinariness of the coffee. Perhaps the steam hits the coffee powder at higher temperature (92 degrees would be perfect) which explains the brew’s odd notes though the flavour is right.

Qwiky’s: Sometimes good, sometimes middling it is not VFM (value for money). A flat cappuccino which doesn’t raise the spirits. The forehead brows stay where they are after the sip. They are trying to make up by adding the Madras Filter Coffee. But filter coffee is altogether a different ball game where they will have tough time beating macappuchino. Dunno? Cappuccino brewed by mom.

SERISH NANISETTI