EVEN the Birlas are getting into it. The premier venture by Birla scion Yash and his enterprising wife Avanti is a chain 0of coffee shops designed to revolutionise the way people drink coffee. These are called Coffee Mantra and they are being marketed under the Birla Lifestyle business umbrella.

Before them, there came Caffe Ritazza by the Radhakrishna Hospitality Services Limited people. Ritazza means �another cup� in Italian and Caffe Ritazza is serving several thousand cups in 22 countries at airports, railway stations, health-care institutions, shopping malls and universities. Each outlet serves a variety of coffees from the traditional filter to popular espresso-based coffees.

And there is Barista, a retailer of exquisite and fine coffees with colourful, noisy and happening Barista Espresso Bars that sell scrumptious Italian cookies and biscottis all over the country. Barista means �an Italian bartender� and the Barista bars provide comfortable spaces to relax in and unwind over coffee, music and the day�s newspapers.

But at the first Coffee Mantra outlet in the country, on Prescott Road in Bombay�s prestigious Fort area, where the Birla�s have their lifestyle store Yantra, the mood is somewhat American. Non-alcoholic coffee liquers and fruit-flavoured coffees are most popular here. And downing them by the cupful, are people with health-conscious lifestyles.

Like America-based former supermodel Deepak Malhotra and his fashion choreographer wife Lubna Adams; Anna Bredmayer-Toddywalla, former Miss India and model and now brand ambassadress for Beautiful Boulevard; models and designer Lascelles Symons and wife Pallavi; the beautiful former model Rukshana Toddywalla-Eisa; and, again, America-based rock musician Farhad Wadia.

Would they submit to a test of their coffee taste buds? �Willingly!� Chef Alwyn Fernandes, better known for his Continental cuisine and Western catering service than for making coffees, produces hot, flavoured coffees one by one. And the cry goes up, �Almond!... without a doubt, it�s nutty!�; �Butterscotch!... it smells like popcorn in a cinema auditorium!�; �Vanilla!... you cannot miss vanilla!�, �Hazelnut!�, �Caramel!... it smells like caramel, very sweetish!�

It doesn�t take a well-travelled palate to distinguish between the flavoured coffees, any addict used to filter can do it as well. The base for the flavoured coffee is always genuine, fresh Italian espresso coffee. It is brewed under pressure to get the maximum coffee taste. And the flavours are from Gourmet, an American coffee company. You must use espresso only because these flavours dominate other coffees. Of course, the coffee bean makes a difference as well. And Chef Alwyn insists on using only one: Lavazza Bar of Italy.

Coffee drinking is catching on in the country, he says. Not the cold coffees as much as the hot. But it depends on the time of the day that people are drinking coffee. And whereas earlier, traditionalists ventured only as far as the espresso or capuccino, today they�re demanding more and more flavours. The best-selling in the hot coffee section is the Cafe Chaud-Froid, melting chocolate ice-cream in steamy, hot espresso; and in the cold coffee section, it is the Moccachillo, whose ingredients Chef Alwyn will not even list on his menu.