Filter Kaapi Explained: South Indian Filter Coffee (with Photos)

Filter Kaapi South Indian Filter Coffee
Here’s a cup of South Indian filter coffee I purchased at Saravanaa Bhavan, a popular South Indian Vegetarian Restaurant.

by Nigel Ong

India first tasted coffee in 1670, when Baba Budan brought these beans from Yemen. Since then, the Indians have developed their coffee culture, distinct from your regular Western coffee traditions. 

One of the most common ways to drink coffee in India is as a Filter Kaapi. Filter Kaapi basically means filter coffee and is incredibly popular in southern India. With the migrations of Southern Indians worldwide, they brought their coffee culture along with them. 

In this post, I will sample a cup of South Indian Filter Coffee and then describe the taste. I’ll also explain some ways to enjoy the coffee, such as the drinking process and the right food to pair with the coffee. 

What Is The South Indian Filter Coffee?

The South Indian Filter Coffee is a coffee drink made by first dripping the coffee in a South Indian coffee filter. The coffee concentrate is then mixed together with boiled fresh cow’s milk and sugar.

The coffee used to make the South Indian Filter Coffee is usually ground down very fine, similar to how Arabic and Turkish coffee are usually prepared. However, with South Indian Filter Coffee, the coffee grinds may have some chicory added in.

Some versions also may include spices, such as cardamom, ginger, or star anise. The coffee is then served in a Dabra, a cup, and a pot-like saucer made of steel. 

Using a unique blend of coffee, chicory, and spices may sometimes create a unique-tasting coffee that no other shops can replicate. This means if you enjoy the taste of a particular shop, you have to revisit the shop to get the same taste.

As a result, drinking South Indian Filter Coffee can be a unique experience, especially for those trying it for the first time. 

How Are South Indian Filter Coffee Made?

The steps to make South Indian Filter Coffee can be a little elaborate, as the process can be manual. You can break the process down into two major parts. The first is brewing the coffee concentrate, and the second is assembling the coffee.

Brewing The Coffee Concentrate

You start by brewing the coffee concentrate. You take the ground coffee and add about 2 tablespoons of them into the upper compartment of the Indian coffee filter. 

You then take the filter disc and press down on the coffee ground, similar to tamping your espresso in the portafilter. However, the filter disc stays with the coffee ground and is not removed. 

Then, you pour hot, off-boiling water to fill up the upper compartment, and the hot water drips down onto the coffee grounds, brewing it via percolation. The coffee will flow from the upper compartment to the bottom, where a separate compartment catches the coffee concentrate. 

This process can be as short as several minutes, to the whole night, depending on how strong you like your coffee. It is common that the concentrate is brewed and left to drip overnight and then used to make coffee the next day. 

Assembling The Coffee

Once you have the coffee concentrate, you can now assemble everything together. Start by boiling some fresh cow’s milk, with some sugar to taste. Some recipes use buffalo’s milk, which may make even thicker, creamier coffee. 

Once the milk comes to a boil, turn off the heat, and pull out the Dabra. Place the cup inside the pot-shaped saucer, and pour in your coffee concentrate. 

You only need to fill about ½ of the cup with coffee, although you can adjust the intensity later. Save some of the coffee concentrate to use as garnishing later. 

Now, pour in the milk. The practice here is to pour in the milk as high as possible to create a foam layer at the top of the coffee. It is completely fine if some coffee spills into the pot-like saucer.

Once done, pour the remaining coffee concentrate on top to add some coffee color to the white milk foam. The drink is now ready to serve. Enjoy!

How Do South Indian Filter Coffee Taste?

I was lucky to be based in Singapore, where Indian food is popular. I also enjoy sipping my cup of South Indian Filter Coffee regularly. 

For this review, I walked into Saravanaa Bhavan, a popular South Indian Vegetarian Restaurant. I then ordered a cup of South Indian Filter Coffee to review. Why this restaurant? I’ll let you know at the end of this post. 

First Impression & Aroma

As expected, the coffee arrived to be served in a proper Dabra and topped with a thick layer of foam. The foam is white from the milk, with some brown lines, likely from the final topping of coffee concentrate. 

The coffee has no strong smell or aroma, which makes it similar to Asian White Coffee. I can only notice some coffee aroma when my nose is close to the coffee itself.

The lack of aroma can be because the coffee ground may not be 100% Arabica, making it different from most Western-style coffee. In fact, South Indian Filter Coffee has chicory in it.

Flavor And Taste

I pulled in a sip and was first greeted by the rich foam and then the coffee itself. The foam helps to bring some airiness to the coffee and adds texture. 

The fresh cow’s milk made the coffee very creamy, silky, and smooth to sip. If you like milked coffee such as Latte or Cappuccino, you will enjoy the South Indian Filter Coffee. 

I asked for my coffee to be served with less sugar, as I am not much of a fan of sweet coffee. However, some shops sweeten the coffee with jaggery, a sweetener popular in the Indian subcontinent. They add a new dimension to the taste of the coffee. 

I generally do not taste much coffee in this drink, but more milk. To my palate, coffee sits second behind the milk and the spices in the coffee. 

You can, of course, add more coffee concentrate and less milk to have a stronger coffee. However, you will still need milk, which means the strong version of this coffee will likely still taste like a Cappuccino.

This means if you like your coffee to be less intense, the South Indian Filter Coffee will likely appeal to your tongue. If you are an espresso head and want nothing but the hardest coffee flavor, this will not work too well for you.

How To Enjoy South Indian Filter Coffee?

When drinking South Indian Filter Coffee, it is easy to tell a regular drinker and a novice. Here are some tips to enjoy the drink so you do not look like a clueless first-timer. 

pouring South Indian filter coffee
You are supposed to pour the South Indian filter coffee back and forth between the cup and the saucer, which cools off the coffee and also creates texture of bubbles and foam. Try it with cinnamon on top!

Pour The Coffee Back And Forth

The Dabra may look unique and special, as it does not look like your regular cup and saucer. It is made of stainless steel instead of ceramic. The cup does not have a handle, and the saucer looks like a pot instead of a plate. 

One of the reasons for the odd design? It is for you to pour the coffee back and forth if you need to. 

Sometimes, the coffee may come to you a little too hot to sip. In this case, you can cool it down by pouring the coffee back and forth. The pouring process also helps to recreate foams to add texture to the coffee. 

To pour the coffee, simply use your index finger and thumb, and hold onto the top lid of the cup. Be careful here, as the cup can be hot. Lift the cup out, and tilt the cup down, pouring the coffee into the pot-like saucer. 

If you feel adventurous, feel free to lift the cup higher up, the longer pour helps cool the coffee further and creates more bubbles and foams. 

When done, pour the coffee from the saucer back into the cup. Repeat this to your heart’s content!

Ask For Some Cinnamon Powder On Top

If you like to have some spice in your coffee, you will like this. It is quite normal to drink your South Indian Filter Coffee with some spice too. 

Depending on the shop you are in, some added spice into the coffee ground itself, meaning your coffee would already have some spice taste in it. 

However, if your cup does not taste spicy, you can always ask for some cinnamon powder on top of the coffee. This should add spice to your coffee, making it nicer.

Pair It With Some Light Meals

The South Indian Filter Coffee is usually enjoyed with some light snacks. You can go for sweet stuff or something savory, depending on your preference. 

For sweet snacks, consider some cold puddings with custard. You can also go traditional and get traditional Indian sweet desserts such as Kesari. The Kesari is a semolina-based pudding made by adding syrup and saffron.

If you want something savory to bite into, consider light meals such as Idli, Poori, or Vada. 

In simplified descriptions, Idli are steamed rice cakes. Poori is unleavened bread that is then deep-fried. Vada is usually made from lentils, spices, and more, rolled into a donut shape, and then deep fried. 

I ended up ordering some Vada to go with my coffee. My Vada was served with coconut chutney and some lentil gravy called Dhal.

Where Can I Try South Indian Filter Coffee?

If you are keen to give South Indian Filter Coffee a try, start by looking online and see if there are any South Indian restaurants near you. In most cases, they should be able to serve you a cup of this coffee. 

If you happen to live in California, Texas, New York, and New Jersey, feel free to find the nearest Saravanaa Bhavan restaurants. You can also find the restaurant in many parts of the world, such as Australia, the UK, Germany, Canada, and the Middle East.If there’s none around you, you can make your own cup of South Indian filter coffee. Just follow the steps above. You only need to pick up the South Indian coffee ground and the Indian coffee filter to make your own at home.

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