Sri Ganesh Coffee Works, Mysore

In London and Canada we were specialist coffee aficionados (snobs I guess you could say).  In London we went for Monmouth coffee, in Vancouver it was JJ Bean, here in India we used to seek out and buy Italian imported coffee, like Lavazza.  But wait a minute, Msyore and Ooty are famous for coffee, why weren't we enjoying this?

To be honest we had tried it before, but felt like it wasn't giving us the kick that we needed / liked / craved.  After some research we discovered that around here they add chicory to the coffee to cut the acidity, this also cuts the caffeine effect, which I'm guessing Indians don't really like as they don't fire on full power as we do in large cities in the west.  

But after a few interactive espresso experiences in both Vancouver and in London we had to ask ourselves, was this high octane, teeth grinding full on experience one we really needed?  We started to try the South Indian coffees and found that not only could we drink one at 4.00 pm and still sleep at night but that we enjoyed the flavour, and when buying the freshly ground beans we could choose the amount of chicory added, so we have now opted for the 10% blend and are making our coffee at home in a south Indian decoction method and really enjoying it.

Our favourite place in Mysore is Sri Ganesh Cofee works, opposite the main fruit and veg market, you choose your beans, blend and they grind it freshly and insist on having you smell the coffee before placing it into your bag.  

Will we go back to the super strong blends back in London?  It's hard to say no to a Monmouth coffee experience along with a fresh St. John doughnut or eccles cake at the Maltby St. market, perhaps we'll share one to cut the strength?