- JIYA bHATT
Beyond Chai – Inside India’s New Coffee Café Culture
India’s café culture didn’t replace chai — it evolved alongside it. While chai remains a staple, urban youth are gravitating toward coffee for both taste and experience. This shift marks a subtle yet strong cultural change.
Over the last 5–10 years, India has seen a surge in locally owned, beautifully curated cafés in cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, and even smaller towns like Shillong and Pondicherry. These places aren’t just about coffee, they’re about the vibe.
Unlike traditional tea stalls, modern cafés are spaces for ideation, networking, remote work, and meetups. They serve as informal workspaces, dating spots, or weekend reading corners — multi-purpose spaces for urban life.
The café menus now include flat whites, cold brews, and matcha — but also filter kaapi and masala chai. They blend Indian roots with international café trends, making them unique and inclusive.
Café interiors, food plating, and even coffee art are often designed for social media. Beautiful spaces = more footfall. This visual-first approach has played a huge role in their boom.
Wi-Fi, charging ports, and good coffee — cafés are the new co-working zones. Many freelancers, students, and remote workers now prefer a café over a traditional office setup.
Many cafés support local coffee farms (especially from Chikmagalur, Coorg, and Araku) and promote sustainability with eco-friendly packaging, community events, and plant-based options.