Q for Qwiky's

This blog post is part of the A to Z Challenge. This challenge involves writing a blog post on any topic/theme in the order of the alphabets from A-Z. The blog posts have to be written each day through the entire month of April, excluding Sundays.

My chosen theme is the city of Chennai, its happenings, events, and my memories and experiences connected with this place.

Qwiky's was one of the 1st upscale coffee shop hangouts to open in Chennai in the early 2000s. An Indian couple that had returned from the USA set up a chain of fast-growing coffee shops selling varieties of coffee (duh!), short eats such as sandwiches, burgers, fries, and cooling beverages such as milkshakes and frappes. Their logo was almost identical to the US-based brand Starbucks and this eventually got them into some legal trouble. Later, this was completely revised and a red and white logo appeared to dot the landscapes of cities and smaller towns of India. The brand grew overnight, and the franchisee model emerged. However, the downturn was almost as quick and soon many of these places shut down. 

There is an office/warehouse on the outskirts of Chennai city on the way to Pondicherry with the old board of Qwiky's on the front. Wonder what happened to their places within the city. They seem to have lost the rat race they spawned. Innumerous coffee shops now exist from Barista's to Cafe Coffee Day's (popularly known as CCDs), Coffee World, Coffee Tales and many more. Following an almost herd-like mentality, many new entrepreneurs jumped into the fray to catch a good thing and simply copied the concept. Coffee shop hangouts are now a dime-a-dozen. Costa Coffee is the latest to hit town. Interestingly, the trend is now veering towards tea houses that offer a range of flavoured teas, besides coffee of course. They also serve more continental and gourmet eats and combo meals. 

One that is slightly different from the trend and celebrates the Indian-ness of the popular hot beverages are Madras Coffee House and Kaapi Cheenu kiosks. 

However, Qwiky's started the trend of such hotspots. Now, it's almost like an overdose and has led to a lowered standard in quality and taste. Service is an area that most of them need to re-evaluate. Here's hoping the existing ones revive taste and flavour in all their offerings, so we can all raise a toast to new beginnings! Bring on the lattes, frappes and mocha-chinos!

What's your favourite coffee shop and your preferred choice of beverage?