For International Coffee Day on 1 October, let us raise a cup to an old favourite—and meet a few of its newer, rather flamboyant cousins.
There are people who drink coffee, and people who cannot begin a conversation until they have had one. If you belong to the second group, you probably do not need International Coffee Day as an excuse. But it is a lovely reason to linger over your cup and remember the people who grow, process and prepare the beans. The day is observed on 1 October.
In India, a steel tumbler of filter kaapi remains hard to beat. Elsewhere on the menu, however, coffee has become increasingly adventurous. Specialty coffee consumption reached a record high in a 2026 US survey—a useful sign of interest, though it tells us nothing precise about what all Indian coffee drinkers prefer.
So, what might you find if you decide to try something new?
Cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds in cool water for hours, then filtering them. It is served chilled and often tastes smoother than a hot coffee poured over ice. Cold drinks remain a visible part of café culture; a US industry survey found more coffee drinkers choosing cold coffee in its summer 2026 survey than in January.
Coffee tonic sounds like a mistake until you taste it: espresso over ice and tonic water, sometimes with a slice of citrus. It is fizzy, bitter and refreshing. It is already on the menu of an Indian specialty coffee chain, so this one need not require a passport.
Pistachio and chocolate coffees are the dessert lovers’ choice. One international café chain put pistachio, a Dubai chocolate-inspired iced mocha and a pistachio cortado on its 2026 menu. A cortado, incidentally, is a small espresso softened with warm milk—much less imposing than its name suggests. These are examples of current café offerings, rather than proof that they are popular everywhere.
Protein lattes have joined the line-up too. They combine coffee with a protein-containing milk or added protein. They may be convenient, but a coffee with “protein” in its name is still worth checking for sugar and portion size. Nor does it replace the protein you need from regular meals.
Then there are cold-foam coffees: iced drinks crowned with a creamy, flavoured layer. They are fun to try as an occasional treat, especially if you enjoy coffee that behaves a little like pudding.
You need not love any of them. The pleasure of coffee is wonderfully personal. You might order a tiny cortado, make a cardamom-scented iced coffee at home, or decide that your trusty filter kaapi was right all along.
One gentle reminder before your second cup: caffeine strength varies considerably between drinks, and people vary in their sensitivity to it. If coffee leaves you restless, gives you palpitations or disturbs your sleep, have less or enjoy it earlier in the day,
This International Coffee Day, the best coffee is the one that makes you pause, smile and say, “Ah, that’s good.”
