Kumbakonam Degree Coffee

Geographic Indication - Threat to the brand value?

Degree Coffee

Degree Coffee served in traditional 'davara/vatta'

A lot of things happen over a cup of coffee - Cafe Coffee Day;
A lot of things happen after a cup of degree coffee - Some of our ancestors;

Degree Coffee, also known as 'Filter Coffee' or 'Kumbakonam Degree Coffee', is very famous in the South India. Drinking a cup of fresh filter coffee, than a capuccinno or any instant powder, always makes the difference. This style of coffee making with decotion added to fresh milk always values much to each and every South Indian.

Geographic Indication

A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g. a town, region, or country).

Why its Kumbakonam degree coffee? - The Secret!

Kumbakonam is the place known for coffee, temples, betel leaves, fertile agriculture lands, cauvery, veda padashalas, silk sarees, statues, utensils and a lot more. Apart from being a pilgrimage centre with lot of temples(Approx 150+ in and around the town), the town also serves as a busy market place for the people in the cauvery delta region. Tracing the reasons of why this large town, with no source of coffee plantation and not being a hill region, became famous for coffee, there are so many articles I came across while googling.

One thing that may be assumed as the reason is the preparation formula, that makes the difference. It is said that the high purity cow's milk along with hot and fresh decotion made from roasted brown coffee is the secret of filter coffee.

The more important thing to keep in mind is the quality of the cow's milk and the proportion of coffee powder used. The powder is made of 70-80% of roasted brown coffee(mostly Pberry) along with 30-20% of Chicory, grinded together. This is the perfect combination.

 As a resident of the town I was blessed to taste the so called original 'Filter coffee'. Waaah! A glass full of hot coffee with fresh decotion and fresh cow's milk by 5AM from my granny always gave me a perfect start those days. Even I can't forgot the way we used to order coffee powder in shops: 1/4 Kg PeaBerry + 50grams of Chicory which comes around 83%-17% combination.

Geo Indication and its Threat to the product value

A month back I was travelling along NH45 from Kumbakonam towards Chennai. During my travel I seen lot of coffee shops in the name of "Kumbakonam Degree Coffee" with added prefix like "A1","Original","No.1". This is not a new strategy as we are having the likes of this in Tirunelveli for HALWA, Vaitheeswaran Koil for "Naadi josiyam(Astrology)",etc.

Even though it's just a matter of coffee that amounts 10 bucks to 20 bucks, but it's about the traditional value and the quality product we need to care. Do all those retailers or small shops who are making use of these tags, are really maintaining the quality? There are certain practical impossibilities to the product also as nowadays the availability of fresh milk is very low. We are forced to buy packed milks which may not be 100% pure and fresh. There is a serious threat to the quality. If such a case grows more, what will happen down the lane in another 10 or 20 years. Will we be really loosing the values and the identity? Not only in the case of coffee but also in all other products.

So the need of the hour is that the entrepreneurs and the organizations should understand the brand value and try to give away a quality product.

Reference:
Olympia Shilpa Gerald's article in 'The Hindu'
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/leisure/kumbakonam-degree-coffee/article4034194.ece