South Calcutta’s popular coffee spot Potboiler has a second address in the city, at Salt Lake, Sector 1. The new 65-seater cafe with indoor as well as outdoor seating comes with a comforting yet minimal vibe. t2 sat through an entire crash course on coffee and some great Asian-inspired cafe food and here’s bringing you the details.
Sonali Lakhotia (right) and Devansh Chhinkwani, co-owners, Potboiler
But first, a small chat with Sonali Lakhotia and Devansh Chhinkwani, the couple behind the brand.
Why the name Potboiler?
The name came to be as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the thought being that pot to boiling, I want my coffee stat!
What made you guys start the first outlet?
Potboiler was first founded by Sonali, our founder and co-owner. She started Potboiler with one thought in mind, to create an escapist space that helps people take a break, escape from their daily bustle. In 2019, there was a space unfilled for speciality coffee lovers in Calcutta. Potboiler first began to serve brews that the city had yet to experience. It also began to bust the myth that “coffee is just bitter”.
THE DECOR: Neutral is the dominant colour palette for the space with occasional hints of colour from the greens and some wall art
Take us through the food and beverage philosophy of Potboiler?
At Potboiler, we believe coffee is about consistency, traceability and transparency. Through our quality practices and ever-evolving brews, we are a Specialty Coffee House — a place that is experimental, modern and comforting for you! Our coffee menu is curated to meet our two core philosophies: a) coffee is not just bitter — something we always highlight through our ever-changing coffee bean options for espressos and manual brews sourced from roasters around the country and continent; b) Your mood drives your coffee order. We don’t believe in the one-coffee-that-fits-all formula. You don’t have a coffee personality, rather your mood drives your coffee order. So, we curated a coffee menu where you can pick a coffee to help elevate your mood for the day.
On our food menu, we have decided to balance the experimental and comforting aspects. We truly believe our sandwiches are the best in city, because we decided to move away from the regulars and bring you sandwiches that are unique in flavour and combinations. We also have a Potboiler experiment section that is a blend between flavours we are all familiar with but with the PB twist.
What is the theme behind the new outlet?
With the new space, we wanted to create a minimal vibe with our furniture and decor. We wanted to bring in that South Asian (especially Thailand and Hong Kong) coffee culture space to our city. The space was designed to look modern and minimal, which did the talk, that if it’s coffee, it should be at Potboiler.
Where do you source your coffee from? Also, what kind of coffee are you retailing?
Most of our coffees are sourced from our sister roasting brand, Tramways Coffee. We do speciality Arabica and Robustas sourced from estates like Barbara, Salawara in Chikmagalur, Riverside estate in Coorg and Orchdale in Yercaud. For our retail, we have both blends like cold brew, Vietnamese and single-estate coffees.
(l-r) Miso Caramel Honey Toast, September Brew Crew’s Coffee Pick of the Month
Miso Caramel Honey Toast: Fresh brioche slices are slathered with miso butter and then toasted and topped with honey and citrus cream. A fresh take on the regular French toast.
September Brew Crew’s Coffee Pick of the Month — Calcutta Coffee Toast: At Potboiler, the tradition is to have a new coffee as a highlight for the month. This one is a tribute to the chai and malai toast culture. Cocoa foam, coffee, hazelnut and creme bruleed milk across layers create this coffee. There is also a miso caramel puff with it.