Coffee, tea and crorepati

SLURP! YES, more coffee! Coffee's going all barrels blazing, more tons of caffeine and fun-powder likely to be spent for the biggest bash, the clash of the Liptons in the coffee business.

Move over, Cola for coffee is here - bigger, better, brighter and blatantly more than before. Chennai's the rendezvous royale - the Kurukshetra for what can be called the Olympics of Coffee retailing business.

Yes, Chennai will be the only place where the best in this brewing business of coffee retailing will clash head on. First, we had our good old filter coffee, instant coffee came next, and then came fast-food ready to drink coffee in pubs - Qwikys made a phenomenal entry last year.

It co-existed peacefully along with Coffee? at Greenways Road, the other end of the city, with both these joints catering for a totally different segment of coffee-drinkers. While Qwikys is more for the boisterous and fun-loving, Coffee? caters for the romantics in search of that perfect getaway far away from the bustling metropolis.

Then we had a sudden spurt of similar coffee houses - like Lipsmack on Anna Salai. And Bangalore's big baby banged into the city - Cafe Coffee Day, with its inaugural offer, had housefulls of crowds gulping down by the glassful.

``Check'', said the new player. And Qwikys responded calling for a press conference to announce its big plans and success story, the month- long birthday celebrations (Qwikyites were given passes to M:I-2 for starters) and value-additions.

Qwikys will now screen `Crorepati' on its Q-VU (Qwikys Video Unlimited) system. ``We will only be showing select programmes, like Friends and Crorepati. Next month, we will have an all-India exclusive - we will screen the video of the Gore-Bush debate,'' Sashi Chimala, CEO of Qwikys announces. The battle does not end there. Entering the fray soon is Delhi- based `Barista'. Though the launch has not been officially announced, the tremors created by the coffee house in the pipeline can be heard clear in the grapevine.

Barista Coffee House, promoted by Java Coffee Company if Delhiites are to be believed, is ``not a pub or a restaurant''. It is a ``happy little place'' that sells about 50 varieties of coffee with grilled and toasted sandwiches on the main menu and stylish interiors to match Chennai's own pubs and cafes. Barista will sell tea as well - Darjeeling, Chamomile, Iced Tea et cetera. Qwikys has its range of teas as well - check out the Teambras with grape and orange flavours.

Coffee Day, with its focus mainly on coffee, will wait a while before it actually expands its menu. Does anybody really care? For we thought coffee was just an excuse.

Strangely, nobody accepts that they are selling coffee, they all claim to sell a whole new experience. They all claim to be different. They are, in a way and who is really complaining? Chennaiittes just seem to love all of them. In fact, they seem to be thirsting for more.

By Sudhish Kamath

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