The Life Of A Small-Town COFFEE ROASTER

After a spinal injury forced him out of the Army, Neeraj Sheoran turned his passion into a business opportunity in Jaipur, setting up a successful roastery alongside one the country's finest coffee shops

- Shail Desai

Like a lot of others, Neeraj Sheoran, 45, likes to start his mornings with a cup of tea. For the rest of the day though, it's the heady aromas and flavours of coffee that keep him fixated. It's all a part of his day job as the founder of Jaipur's Curious Life Coffee Roasters.

Long before the café took shape, Sheoran was hooked on specialty coffee. And over time, he wanted to introduce others to his world when there were few options in his favourite city.

"Specialty coffee is very new in India. A lot of roasters want to make it fashionable, rather than focus on making coffee drinking a simpler and better experience. That's where we come in," Sheoran says.

"Other roasters go overboard in trying to please the customer. Things like coffee processed with pineapple are all gimmicks in the market. We want to honour the hard work of a farmer - good farming and post-harvest practices - and then work at our end to bring out the best in the coffee," he adds.

It took a while for him to get others to understand his offering. But the loyal tribe that flocks to the café today is testimony to his efforts over the years.

Coffee and Sheoran happened quite by chance. A little over two decades ago, he had a successful career in the Indian Army where he rose to be a Lieutenant Colonel. In 2009, he was picked to be an independent military observer by the United Nations, which took him to Congo. That's where he had his first fix of real coffee.

"I had friends from Latin America and Europe who would bring coffee with them. It was all very different from what we were drinking in India. For starters, I never thought black coffee could taste so good. Back home, it was always associated with something you drank to stay awake or for dietary needs. I was exposed to a whole new world," he says.