Hyderabad: Sunalini Menon, Asia's first female coffee taster has carved a niche in a male-dominated industry, savouring the complex notes of coffee for over two decades.
Recently, ETV Bharat connected with her at the Indian Coffee Festival in Hyderabad. She was the Chief guest at the festival where she spared some time to speak to us exclusively over a cup of coffee talking all about brews across the world. Ahead of World Coffee Day on October 1, the celebrated coffee taster gets candid about her journey over the years and how her love for fresh brew has evolved over the years.
“It was back in time when I was waiting for my visa for my master’s study when I saw a notification that Coffee Board was looking for a coffee taster. I didn’t think twice and just applied for it. I didn’t have any experience but I got selected. Since then I never looked back,” says Menon, who after joining the board was exposed to several opportunities to hone her skills as a coffee taster. “I participated in several international fairs and interacted with coffee luminaries from across the world,” she shares and adds that her training in Ethiopia, Guatemala, and the USA helped her ability to judge coffee by its smell and appearance.
Brewed beginnings
For Menon, it all began back at her family kitchen in Vijayawada and Cuddalore. She would admire watching her mother roast coffee each morning. Menon shares that her mother would frequently bring coffee beans and brew them. “My uncle was a tea taster, which was very interesting. I think my interest in coffee tasting came from my mother’s love for different coffee beans and my uncle’s love for tea,” recalls the celebrity coffee taster.
In her career as a coffee taster for over twenty years, Menon led several establishments including Coffee Lab Limited to educate farmers. The training involves training the farmers in the process of coffee produce – coffee bean quality, fermentation, roasting, and storage. “This training has motivated farmers to improve their practices and maintain high-quality standards,” claims Menon.
Creating her niche
Despite several challenges at the beginning of her career, Menon created an equal space for herself and many women in the field. “It is not easy for women but they are resilient and have potential and capabilities. Every woman should embrace all the opportunities they are waiting for. It needs a lot of courage to thrive in a male-dominated space,” she states.
On a lighter note, we asked about her favourite coffee and if she has burned out over the years of coffee tasting. She declines. “I love coffee tasting and understanding how flavours evolve with temperature. It keeps me engaged and passionate about my work. It has taught me humility and the joy of savouring different flavours each day,” she says and shares her favourites are filter coffee or black coffee with a preference for Ethiopian and Congo-based buttercup coffee for its distinctive flavours and aromas.
The three-day Indian Coffee Festival in the city, which is concluding on September 15, is organised by No Strings Hyderabad at the Jubilee Hills Convention Center. The one-of-a-kind event offers an insight into India’s coffee culture featuring coffee tasting booths, latte art sessions, expert talks, and barista displays among many other things coffee. Some of the attractions of the event are family-friendly activities with special events for kids and pets and live music.
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