Hyundai Venue: The Coffee Trail

Venue Coffee Trail

Weekends are usually the days to kickback and relax. But that’s for most people. And we at evo India aren’t most people. When the Hyundai Venue came to us, the Ed wanted me to do something fun with it, on a Tuesday. To me, a fun day usually begins with getting a nice cup of coffee with friends. So, that’s what I did. But as I did have the entire day to myself with the Venue. I decided to take it up a notch. I asked a few of my food blogger friends to help me find the best coffee in the city. So that’s how our quest to find the finest coffee in our home base of Pune was born.

Bringing in the cavalry

A quick phone call and several minutes spent looking for cafes later, we had settled on the ones we wanted to sample. Along with evo India’s shutterbug we loaded up our equipment in the boot of the Venue and off we went. Except we got stuck within the first 50 metres. The dreaded rush hour was upon us. We weren’t particularly bothered though. I was driving the Venue with the DCT (dual clutch transmission) and it, simply put, is effortless to drive around the city even in heavy traffic. I used Apple CarPlay to get my favourite playlist to play. Soon, I arrived to pick up my blogger friends. Accompanying me were Madhav, Yash and Jerlyn. They put their stuff in the back and climbed aboard. Not a moment had passed that Jerlyn remarked how comfortable the Venue was. I couldn’t agree more.

We arrived at Sorted Delicatessen, our first cafe for the day and ordered ourselves cups of coffee along with some high-fibre cookies. Now, Sorted Delicatessen is a cafe that prides itself on its organic, healthy take on food. Nestled in a bylane just minutes away from the traffic in Kalyani Nagar that we had just escaped, the deli was an oasis of calm. The coffees were all splendid (particularly the macchiato and the cold brew with just a hint of almond milk were delectable), but the fact that it was just the right place to relax on a day off, really impressed us.

Which is the finest brew of them all?

After spending an hour too many at the cafe, we left to explore another place that is renowned for its coffee. Minutes later we were again stuck in traffic. And then it hit us, much like that cafe that we had just been to, spending time in the Venue’s cabin was actually a very pleasant experience. The smooth turbo-petrol-DCT combo along with the well laid out cabin with premium materials makes you want to ditch that leather recliner you dream of lounging in. Crawling through city traffic we soon arrived at Third Wave Coffee Roasters, in Koregaon Park. This is one of those few cafes that tries to keep it simple. They focus on the coffee more than anything else and it shows the moment you step foot here. It is all about classic wooden tables and chairs, white paint on the walls and pictures of their coffee taking pride of place on the walls. They served us some of their finest brew that they source from coffee estates in the south of India.

The subtle flavour of La vie en rose(rosewater flavoured cappuccino) was complemented by the richness of the Biscotti. Just perfect. And just as were going gaga over the coffee, the clouds opened up. That’s when Madhav asked me if I would be interested in going for a short drive outside the city. The weather was nice and pleasant and the fact that it was early afternoon meant we could beat the traffic and get out in a jiffy. We took our coffees to go and trooped into the Venue.

Sunset, Coffee and that Fiery red

The roads were a lot more empty and that ensured that I could employ the 118 horses under the hood. Helping me in the process was the nimble handling that the Venue possessed and soon we were outside the city and driving on some wonderful twisty bits. A whole hour of some fun behind the wheel later, we found ourselves a lake and we parked the Venue right at the edge of the water. The coffee was still warm and we spent the next few minutes chatting and watching the sunset over the water. I have to admit, we (including our shutterbug Rohit) were distracted by how beautiful the Venue looked in that light.

Yes, we did abandon our little coffee trail to go look at a sunset by the lake. But hey, we had some great coffee with us and a spectacular sunset to view. Isn’t that everyone’s idea of a good time?

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