Much like its longtime bête noire, aka tea, coffee in India has never been just a drink. It is that single (or triple) pause button pressed gently into the day as an act of slowing down. Both beverages carry within them a tacit permission: to linger, to gather one’s thoughts, to sit a moment longer as life rearranges itself around us.
India
From The Latest Issue: Between Two Brews
India’s coffee culture inhabits parallel worlds—one rooted in affordability, the other in craft. From Kolkata coffee houses to roasteries in Bengaluru, the cup has evolved, even as its social role remains intact
Raul Dias
5 July 2026
Grace Muivah of Ngarum Coffee, which works with 35 growers across Nagaland and the Assam hills Deposit Photos
Grace Muivah of Ngarum Coffee, which works with 35 growers across Nagaland and the Assam hills Deposit Photos
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