Café Conversations: The Rise of Coffee Culture in Kohima, Nagaland

By Chandan Jyoti Konwar

When we say ‘coffee,’ what usually comes to mind? Cafés, the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee, the deep brown roasted beans, the barista who’s always happy to serve the customers, and the cosy aesthetics of coffee shops that we often post on our social media feeds. In recent years, the world has witnessed a coffee culture revolution, even in regions where coffee was not traditionally a part of daily life—such as Northeast India. The third wave of the coffee industry (i.e., speciality coffee) has redefined the business, creating a direct connection between consumers, coffee farmers, and roasters. In India, this movement has gained momentum, with the success of single-origin cafés like Café Coffee Day (CCD) and new-age brands such as Blue Tokai revolutionising the nation’s coffee culture. Other emerging household names, including Toffee Coffee Roasters, Sleepy Owl Coffee, and Humble Coffee, are also making their mark. Also, the expansion of international brands like Starbucks into Tier II and III cities, such as Guwahati, highlights the potential of a growing coffee culture in India. Over the past few years, cafés have flourished in these smaller cities, reflecting a significant shift in consumer preferences. For a country long associated with its deep-rooted chai culture, the rise of speciality coffee is a remarkable transformation in India’s beverage landscape.

“Indian coffee history dates back to the 17th century. Tradition holds that Baba Budan, a Muslim pilgrim visiting Yemen, managed to evade the Ottoman export ban on fertile coffee seeds by taping several to his stomach and carrying them back home to India. Sometime between 1600 and 1695, depending on the source, Baba Budan planted the seeds successfully in the mountains of Mysore in southern India. From there, Muslim pilgrims probably carried coffee to the East Indies” (Tucker 2017: 38).

So, South India, especially the state of Karnataka, has, over time, gained popularity worldwide as one of the world’s best coffee-growing regions. The Filter Coffee that is a South Indian speciality ranks among the finest coffee drinks in the world and is the only Indian coffee drink on the TasteAtlas list of the world’s best coffees (https://www.tasteatlas.com/coffee). In this part of India, coffee has been a part of the culture for many years, becoming an integral part of many communities’ lives.

So, how did coffee find its way to the northeastern part of India, a region known for its tea consumption? How is coffee culture in the Northeast evolving with new investments inspired by global culture and the influence of social media platforms? This will be analysed in the next sections, where we will dive into the nitty-gritty of coffee, using details gathered through a qualitative approach by a non-participant observer visiting some of the cafés in Kohima town, Nagaland.

Coffee in Northeast India

“Coffee cultivation in Northeast Region (NER) of India started at Cachar district of Assam in 1953. Commercial cultivation started in the 1970s at Garo Hills (Meghalaya) to wean away local communities from jhum cultivation practices. The initial growth and establishment of coffee in NER was encouraging. A comprehensive survey was carried out by the Board in the 1970s for coffee development in NER. Over 40,000 ha in about 300 villages of 39 districts in 7 states of NER identified for coffee cultivation. With financial support of NABARD coffee planting programme was undertaken by The State Plantation Crops Development Corporation in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland & Tripura and Soil Conservation Department in Meghalaya & Mizoram. An extent of about 13,000 ha brought under coffee by the above program, of which 7000 ha was handed over to 5000 tribal growers. Later, coffee plantations of Corporations/Departments were abandoned due to lack of financial support from State Governments. Various socio–economic reasons also led to neglect of holdings with tribal sector” (Rau, 2007).

Due to political unrest and various other economic factors, coffee was unable to evolve into a sustainable business in the NER.

“In 2015-16, the Land Resources Department, Government of Nagaland started taking initiatives to promote coffee culture in the State with a new approach of not only producing, but also educating the farmers and the baristas about the coffee and its related aspects. The department has taken note that ‘coffee culture may still be in the nascent stage, but it is picking up pace along with the huge scope for starting coffee-based enterprises in the State.’ According to an official report the total area promoted under the coffee plantation in Nagaland has increased to 10,202.2 hectare (ha) in 2022-23. The Annual Administrative Report 2022-23 of the Land Resources Development, Nagaland records that during the last financial year, an additional area of 370 ha has been brought under coffee plantation under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana-Watershed Development Component (PMKSYWDC 2.0). The department intends to cover 30,000 hectares of coffee plantation by the year 2030. To inculcate coffee drinking culture in the State, the department has initiated Barista Training on the 10 skills of Barista imparted to promote coffee-based entrepreneurship among educated unemployed youths drawn from various districts. Taking it forward, the training was followed by launching of coffee bars through coffee entrepreneurs in 11 districts. Additionally, all the district offices of the Department have also established coffee bars in their respective offices” (Akangjungla, 2024).

Été Coffee was the first-generation coffee roasting company in Nagaland, established in 2016 in Kohima district with the tagline, ‘Justice a cup’. It was followed by the Nagaland Coffee Shop in Dimapur, which launched on 1st September, 2018. With investment by the Coffee Board of India and the Land Resources Department, Government of Nagaland, coffee has slowly and steadily become the favourite beverage of the urban youth.

“Nagaland is witnessing an unprecedented surge in cafés over the last two years, primarily in Dimapur and the capital city of Kohima, transforming a traditionally tea-drinking community into smart and informed coffee drinkers. The trend has spawned a new brand of ‘coffee-preneurs’, predominantly millennials and Gen-Z entrepreneurs. And they are not afraid to experiment. Some owners take pride in their puritanical love for the bean, serving coffee and nothing else. Others attract customers by updating their menus every day” (Monami Gogoi, 2022).

Coffee – The Aesthetics, Social Media & Class

When we think about coffee, some of us, especially those in the blue-collar and white-collar sectors, focus on its value as a psychoactive drug (caffeine) that wards off fatigue. Other consumers regard it merely as an everyday beverage, ignoring its social aspects and the class divide it brings with it. Karl Marx’s concept of the fetishism of commodities and alienation theory give us a perspective from which to examine the dichotomy between consumers and those who grow the beans, as well as the cafés or café chains that act as mediators. Since I conducted this research using a top-down approach, the growers’ perspective was not recorded. As a result, I am placed in a situation where I don’t know my growers, which aligns with the fetishism of commodities. However, as a non-participant observer, I want to focus on another aspect of coffee culture. This aspect concerns the urban culture of coffee and the aestheticism associated with it, as observed in cafés in Kohima.

“For much of coffee’s history, coffee-growing countries have been rural and illiterate while coffee-drinking countries and urban coffee-drinking intellectuals led the world into the Age of Enlightenment” (Cowan 2005).

From the 16^th to the 18^th century, coffee drinking spread from the Middle East to the elite populations of the West. This led to the development of an urban coffee culture that remained limited to the aristocracy and the wealthy until the rise of mass coffee trade momentum in the early 2000s. This made a considerable change in the habit of drinking coffee as the middle class and general public gained direct access to a wide variety of coffee through cafés and coffee shops.

Historically, coffeehouses have served as gathering places where the public engaged in discussions on a wide range of topics.

For instance,

“Coffee House India, Kolkata, was regularly frequented by many Bengali scholars, including Rabindranath Tagore, while Shimla’s ICH was one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s favourite coffee places” (Arikara, 2018).
“Coffeehouses played an important role in the commodification of entertainment, which previously was a largely private, domestic affair. Slowly sipping the hot beverage in the coffeehouse led to conversation on forbidden subjects” (Topik, 2009).

Now, let’s imagine these traditional coffeehouses in the wake of Instagram reels and Snapchat—will they be able to fit in? The aesthetic quality of cafés has evolved with the growth of global media, especially smartphones and the internet. Take the two cafés in Kohima—Été Coffee (established in 2016) and Nagaland Coffee (established in 2023); if you have ever been there, imagine coffeehouses with minimal colours, large windows, and small, cosy corners with beautifully curated chairs and tables. As rightly stated by Gogoi (2022), today, “cafés in Nagaland are the ‘it’ places filled with the happy chatter and clatter of friends catching up and small businesses setting up their pop-up stores”. Moreover, these cafés have become a go-to place for young people to showcase their talents through various events such as book launches, poetry readings, and jamming sessions. In a city with limited avenues for entertainment—where there is not a single movie theatre or amusement park—cafés have become a popular hangout spot for Kohima’s youth, offering both entertainment and a space to spend their leisure time. When I visited these two cafés with my friends, I unknowingly realised what had drawn me to try their coffee. Was it the fact that the coffee was grown in Nagaland, or was I influenced by the aesthetically curated photos of these cafés on social media (Instagram)? To answer this, we can go through the cafés’ social media pages, where they post beautifully curated photos that create a compelling first impression. Since these cafés are pioneers in Nagaland’s coffee business, curiosity about their origins further drives people to visit. The aesthetics of the café, the friendly barista, and the calm, peaceful environment attract young people who want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of daily life. This then raises an important question: as we sip our hot espresso or cappuccino, do we ever think about the farmers who produce these coffee beans and the hardships they endure to provide us with the perfect cup? If the answer is no, then most of us are alienated from the product itself.

Now, let’s consider the aesthetic nature of coffee culture and the new-age social media revolution—what trend are we observing? People wearing a certain type of clothing, tagged as stylish, often from middle, upper-middle, or upper-class backgrounds, that have the privilege of spending Rs. 300 for an Irish coffee or at least Rs. 100 on a milk-based coffee drink. Does this not create a class divide in society? Take another scenario: imagine coming from farmland, with mud-stained clothes, not “adequately dressed” by societal standards, and visiting one of these cafés. What would the reaction of the public be? How would the barista or the staff treat you? That is the fetishism of commodities in our time—where the meaning of coffee takes on a different form when it transforms into the end product and reaches the consumer.

However, this whole aesthetic of coffee culture also gives us a different picture of the privileges that one class enjoys through taste and the hierarchy that it holds in society. The French social scientist Pierre Bourdieu (1984), in his book Distinction: A Social Critique of The Judgement of Taste, examines French society and the differences between each social class in terms of the consumption of art, entertainment, food, and clothing, which ultimately relate to the relationship among the levels of education, occupation, economy, preferences, and behaviours. One of the significant arguments of Bourdieu is about how the level of education might change an individual’s preferences and taste in certain forms of art and materialistic needs. As seen in the previous example, café culture fosters a particular type of taste and privilege that is mostly enjoyed by the educated class. Though the raw product (coffee cherries) is grown by farmers living in remote areas who may be less educated, they are not the final consumers. It is always the educated city dwellers who have the privilege of drinking the final product. So, in a Tier-III city like Kohima, Dimapur or Guwahati, these distinctions of taste, reinforced by the privilege of being from the affluent class, are clearly reflected in café culture.

Conclusion

As coffee culture continues to flourish in regions like Kohima, Nagaland, it is essential to reflect on the broader implications of this global phenomenon, particularly in the light of climate change and the anthropology of everyday things or materials.

“From its beginning, everyday things bear the signature of the people who extracted, manufactured, picked, caught, assembled, packaged, delivered, purchased, and disposed of it. And in our modern market-driven societies, our lives are dominated by the pursuit of stuff. Examining stuff is also an excellent way to teach and learn about what is exciting and insightful about anthropological and sociological ways of knowing.” (Tucker 2017: xii)

The rise of coffee culture, fuelled by social media, urban aesthetics, and a growing youth demographic, represents more than just a shift in consumer preferences; it is a reflection of deeper social, economic, and environmental dynamics.

From an anthropological perspective, coffee is more than just a beverage; it is a commodity that embodies social relationships, cultural meanings, and economic exchanges. The fetishism of commodities, as discussed by Karl Marx, along with Pierre Bourdieu’s distinction of taste, highlights how consumers are often alienated from the production process, focusing only on the end-product and its associated status symbols. In the context of Kohima’s emerging coffee culture, this alienation is evident in the way cafés cater to a particular class of consumers, creating spaces that are as much about social status as they are about the enjoyment of coffee. The aesthetics of these cafés, their curated social media images, and their price points all contribute to a form of consumption that distances the consumer from the origins of the coffee they enjoy.

Climate change, on the other hand, poses a significant threat to coffee production globally, with rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, and increasing instances of pests and diseases impacting coffee yields. For regions like Nagaland, where coffee cultivation is still in its early stages, these challenges could hinder the growth of a sustainable coffee industry. The push to expand coffee plantations, as seen in the state’s ambitious plans, must therefore be aligned with strategies to mitigate the environmental impact and adapt to changing climatic conditions. If these concerns are not addressed, the coffee culture boom in Nagaland—and the wider Northeast Region of India—may be short-lived.

As coffee culture continues to evolve in Kohima, it will be crucial to foster a deeper connection between consumers and the broader socioeconomic and environmental realities of coffee production. This could be achieved through initiatives that educate consumers about their coffee’s origins, the challenges faced by farmers, and the impact of climate change on the industry. By bridging the gap between producer and consumer, Kohima can cultivate a more sustainable and socially conscious coffee culture—one that goes beyond aesthetics and social media trends.