India’s café scene turns 25: Coffee is just the sidekick now

Mar 28, 2025 08:17 AM IST

Cafes are focussing on single-origin, homegrown beans. There’s a story behind the decor and every item on the menu. See what’s in, what’s out and what’s brewing these days

To know how far India’s café culture has come, just pop into your local Barista. This, roughly, is where it all began, in the year 2000. Young people in big cities had satellite TV. They’d watched Chandler, Phoebe and the Friends gang chill at Central Perk. So, when something similar opened locally, there were queues, crowds and much chatter on how to pronounce espresso. (Ess-press-oh, not Ex-press-oh? Oh!)

Cafés need to tell a story through their decor, such as Café Delhi Heights does. (INSTAGRAM/@CAFEDELHIHEIGHTS)

In the 2000s, it was all about coffee. Now cafés such as Barista sell nutritional supplements too. (HT ARCHIVES)

Sienna Café uses regional ingredients in its menu. (INSTAGRAM/@SIENNA_CALCUTTA)

Subko cafés are set up in unconventional locations, like defunct mills and old villas. (INSTAGRAM/@SUBKOCOFFEE)

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Cafes are focussing on single-origin, homegrown beans. There’s a story behind the decor and every item on the menu. See what’s in, what’s out and what’s brewing these days

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