Love, light and cortado. Why you need to step out and smell the coffee.

Cortado and sourdough

I can’t bless the person on Instagram, who suggested I try a cortado, enough.

I had written about how I’d lost my taste for cappuccinos after shifting to the espresso side. Too much milk! This person sent either an insta comment or DM in response to my post and recommended trying a cortado. I am embarrassed to say that I don’t remember who the knight in shining armour was. Or was it an angel of mercy. I do think it was a gentleman. ‘Him/ her’ works? Oh, and I had not heard of a Cortado either!

I tried a cortado for the first time @boojeecafe, when I spotted the same on their menu, and loved it. From what I gather, it consists of an equal amount of milk and coffee and with froth. A more balanced drink than the milky cappuccino. Since then I’ve had some rather nice cortados at @bluetokaicoffee @perchinbombay and then @subkocoffee, where I tried and fell in love with the iced cortado. Some of the more modern places that we went to in Paris and Berlin such as @inform_cafe (p) offered cortados, not all.

During our stays at @tajmahalmumbai @itcmaratha and @itcroyalbengal I figured out that the hotels are yet to have heard of this, but all 3 offered excellent espressos so I cannot complain but it is safe to say that it is cortado over espresso for me if I was to have coffee with milk,

The reason for writing this ode to cortado is that I had stepped in at @suzettebakery to buy bread (rye emmer sourdough for me and pain au chocolate for K) and decided to hang on and have a cortado. K and I are cafe people; and Bandra is the home to some lovely ones.

I raised my lovely cortado to her while she raised an espresso back at me from Delhi. The lovely folks at the cafe gave me a sampler of the bread I bought to have with my cuppa.

K and love the croissants (plain – me and PAC, her) at Suzette., the rye sourdough and K loves the Madelines. They use @kcroasters beans at Suzette and Blue Tokai next door at Kitchen Garden by Suzette. I haven’t asked why.

The more comfortable side!

Once my coffee came, I checked both sides of the table, realised that side facing the counter had more comfortable seating and settled there. It is a nice, wet day but sitting outside is not pleasant at the Pali Naka stretch and unfortunately the aircon inside the cafe is malfunctioning and not cooling. Well, such is life!

Mental health experts say that it is paramount for all of us to step out from the comfort of our homes. Even if it is just going down to buy veggies. We’ve all got too comfortable at home and with work from home and ordering things in, there’s no impetus to step out. This is not a good thing, say the docs.

So here I am, perspiring, but happy. I had told @thekittykarmakars I will be back soon and so off I go now. Catch you later and if you are reading this is your cave, do try to step out. Even if for a little bit.

PS: Baby Loaf and little Nimki settled by me at my desk once I returned. The breeze is pleasant and I caught up with my correspondence and posts. Much more pleasant than it was in the cafe! I know how tempting it is not to step out but I will continue to do so if you promise to do so too. Coratdo on me, if you do and we meet face to face I will happily take the tab!