JDButi Coffee

Craft Beverage Review

I am in Goa for this weekend and the first beverage I tried was this one called People's Lager. My favourite beverage is coffee, but there was something about this that made we want to post and share.

I was not aware of until yesterday when I tried The People's Lager. It was tangy, fruity, yet has a bit of subtle smoothness to it. Didn't feel bloaty, yet went well with all the meals I've paired it with.

The label design was another brownie point. I could not resist messaging appreciating how a simple message can be delivered in such strong fashion. The colours were nothing short of a revolution.

I feel the craft beverage market in India has a long road ahead with many a hurdles. Appreciation of craft is, as I see, the biggest challenge. But I see a ray of hope when story telling is done the way has done it, Kudos! I also feel that more participants are needed that can expand the culture of craft beverages with their unique proposition with their own niche audiences, rather than the current mass produced efficiency driven machinery. In the end, it's in our stories that we can live forever.

Story behind the pic: Throwback to 2023 when I was spending the last few days I had left in the UK before returning home to Mumbai. It was hectic yet this is something I had to do. I had the fortune of spending a good three days learning from on Roasting, and I thankfully cleared the Intermediate Roasting certificate. It was a proud moment and filled with learning experience. However, the most important thing I learnt was that the utility of certificates, exams, training, knowledge, cupping, roasting, recipe development, notes, processes, grind sizes, TDS, specro tests, and any other fancy term in coffee boils down to its litmus test - the cup you brew. If you cannot brew a decent cup of coffee, that an average coffee drinker can not only like, but ask for again, the above doesn't amount to much.

Initially when I set out the build a coffee retail brand, I felt discouraged by a lot of factors including the impact that big capital can have on influencing brand perception. Cafes with fancy aesthetics, good interiors, exotic varietals and processes were talk of the town. Not only was I bogged down, but I was disenchanted to the extent that I started doubting whatever I learnt along in my Roasting course.

With some experience and connection with some genuine coffee pros and amateurs, I regained faith and understood that the purpose of all this complex and taxing exercise is still - a good cup of coffee. Other things are like icing and decoration, perhaps necessary to sell your product. But Even with that, it is difficult to sell a bad cup of coffee for long. Sticking to the basics matters. Now I take it slow, strengthening my fundamentals, testing myself again and again on basic attributes of a cup, on consistency and ex*****on. Resisting the urge to get lost in fancy concepts without appreciating the end output. Hopefully one day I get there. Here's to all on the path of coffee!