Time to wake up and smell the coffee

ETPanache gets coffee snobs to reveal their top three brews and what goes best with them:

Chef Savio Fernandes, Executive Pastry Chef at JW Marriott Hotel Mumbai

1. Caramel Frappuccino with a shot of hazelnut, paired with 65 per cent dark truffle chocolate.

2. Cinnamon Latte, best paired with bitter almond biscotti.

3. White Chocolate Mocha which tastes best with a Mocha crumble cookie. What makes these coffees special is that they are prepared using Illy, an internationally renowned brand of coffee. Also, they pay special attention to preserving the beans correctly, which optimises the final taste.

Charanjeevi Giri, Business Manager, Bru World Cafe

1. Filter coffee — traditional South Indian brew served authentically. It is served with palmiers (a French puff pastry) that lends its sweetness and crunchiness to each sip.

2. Monsooned Malabar, made of beans from the Malabar region, has a smooth and spicysweet kick. Pair it with a Malabar Parotha or Ada Pradhaman, a dessert made of rice flakes, coconut milk and jaggery and flavoured with banana cream.

3. Colombian Coffee. It is smooth and rich with nutty under notes. It is best paired with chocolate and nut-based dessert or a chocolate eclair infused with hazelnut cream for a lasting taste.

Jwala Singh, Coffee Evangelist, Café Coffee Day

1. Indian Kathlekhan Superior from our estate. It is believed that the bean is a direct descendant of the seven seeds secretly brought into India by Saint Baba Budan and planted in the mystic Bababudangiri Mountains. It goes well with something fruity or chocolatey.

2. Mysore Nuggets Extra Bold is a subtle, yet tantalising drink. It has the flavours of chocolate and caramel with edges of bitter sweetness. This too goes with fruity and chocolatey elements.

3. Colombian Supremo, handpicked from small, family-owned farms high in the Colombian Andes. It has nutty and fruity overtones. It is best enjoyed with a grainy cookie.