Trelish – the premium coffee brew
“…..but first coffee!” … have been the three golden words for coffee lovers all over the world. Ironically, I am writing this as I sip on some hot chai but my love for filter coffee remains undeterred.
Today we are talking about Trelish, a fresh new brand of premium coffee brew that is making its presence felt in local grocery stores all over Pune and in some areas of Mumbai too. All good things start with an idea and cliched as it may sound, the idea for a refreshing filter coffee decoction for the people, came up over a cup of filter coffee between two close friends – Aditi Surange and Kavita Narayanan.
Filter coffee making is indeed a meticulous process that involves accurate measures of coffee powder, water, temperature, the equipment etc. You have to get it all precisely correct to extract that spot-on filter coffee brew. And who else can get it right other than a mother?
Aditi and Kavita were chilling at home when Kavita’s mother served her usual authentic south indian filter coffee. Aditi was already in love with the Amma-made liquid brew (decoction) and she requested to borrow some of the magic potion so that she did not need to run to popular South Indian cafes to enjoy her filter coffee. That is when these two friends decided to bring that perfect Amma-made filter coffee taste into the market for the masses to enjoy.
And the process began….from procurement of coffee beans from Chikmagalur in Karnataka to setting up the entire in-house coffee bean processing machinery to packaging. Initially, they sold the liquid brew in PET bottles at social events. Their brew garnered a lot of attention from the audience but there were two worries – the liquid brew sold in PET bottles had a lesser shelf life, thus had to be refrigerated and secondly, the bottles were not “pocket-portable”.
Another important issue with the bottle was – people did not know the optimum amount of brew to be used for one cup. All these factors led to repackaging of the product to more user-friendly, portable pouches that would hold the perfect quantity for one cup.
They got a food consultant on board and they tweaked their entire production process so that their product remains free of preservatives and has a long shelf life in the pouches, without any loss in taste and aroma. Equipped with the necessary food licences, they have a professional coffee processing setup in Pune.
The final product is checked against the one perfected by Kavita’s mother who is their chief coffee connoisseur and rightfully gives that “motherly” final touch to it. The individual packets are triangular in shape and come in a pack of 7. This unique packaging makes it very easy to carry the decoction packets even when you are on the move.
Coffee has been the “elixir” in our lives since centuries. Apart from being a great conversation starter, it has been an amazing catalyst and laid foundations for many friendships and even relationships. Who would have thought thousands of years ago that a simple bean from an insignificant part of the world, could evolve to be such an utmost essential part of everyone’s life today and centuries ahead?
The Trelish name is a decoction in itself, as a result of mixing ‘travel’ and ‘relish’ together. Whether you are travelling on the highway of life or you are actually on the road or just sitting with friends or just come back home from a long day, you just need that one cup of coffee to be “reborn” and that is exactly where Trelish comes in.
Even before I was given this story to write, I had already tasted their product and it is indeed spot-on!! Aditi Surange and Kavita Narayanan have hit the right note, singing the filter coffee tune and you also might find yourself opening another Trelish packet, humming the Bollywood classic song “abhi na jaao chhod ke, ke dil abhi bharaa nahi” looking at those last drops of coffee in your cup with a smile. 🙂
You can order the awesomeness at https://puneorders.in/peo/trelish/
PEOple Story by Amit Dharwadkar
