Classic Coffee Premium Range

CLASSIC COFFEES has evolved its Premium Range (as an alternative to its gourmet, higher end “Craft” range of products) to create wider appeal for pure coffee as a beverage category. The founders of Classic Coffee have been involved in coffee cultivation for the better part of 150 years, over five generations. Through this journey, the group has acquired and curated estates in the premier coffee growing regions of India viz. Chikmagalur and Sakleshpur. Coffees from our estates have been exported the world over.

The concept of consuming pure, high-grade coffees of the kind that we exported was not a very popular in India. Brewing coffee at home was a very alien concept as well as majority of the people are either tea or instant soluble coffee drinkers. Even in South India where they brew coffee in South Indian filters, the taste preference has traditionally been for chicory-blended coffee and the strong taste profile it lends to the beverage.

However, with a populace that increasingly started getting exposed to international trends in coffee brewing and consumption, mainly through significantly increased foreign travel, Indians started experimenting with their coffees; and building a taste for international-standard, pure chicory-free blends at the turn of the millennium. The number of people adopting this trend has grown quite significantly over the years; and Classic launched its first set of domestic brands – Classic Pride and Classic Mountain – in roast & ground formats in 2010. Classic Pride is an Arabica-Robusta mixed blend; whereas Classic Mountain is a 100% Arabica blend, with each having its set of followers – based on taste preferences, roast profiles and other such parameters.

As the market has started to evolve, so have we… and we decided in 2016 that the time was right, with enough curiosity and appeal for our product categories to think about a differentiated offering for the market. We then realized that, much as people wanted to understand and adopt pure coffee and brew at home the coffees they were consuming and enjoying in cafes were being sold based on the varietals (Arabica, Robusta, etc.), which few people could relate to.

To broad base the product appeal, we decided to create a set of blends that people could easily build taste and flavour references to – and therefore find it easy to choose. In order to do this, we developed blends, the choice of which is based on answering four simple questions: i. preference – black or with milk; ii. taste reference (through tasting notes) and food pairing choice; iii. preferred equipment and, iv. most importantly time of day that the person would like to consume the coffee.

As a result our Premium range was launched with four blends: Blaze for mornings, Matinee for afternoons, Sundowner for evenings, and Afterhours for nights. Each of the blends have been carefully crafted to suit the requirements of the time of day and have consumption recommendations built in prominently.