Shack Coffee Co

The second time I hit Shack, a block party had taken over Shahpur Jat from their little white and yellow corner. The techno slammed right into their next-door one-room art gallery and up their first floor, where I must confess I was eventually found dancing like a maniac (that too with a friend who’d, by and large, sworn off clubbing). Mind you, this was in daylight, and free. The phrase ‘coffee rave’ was nowhere to be found.

Only the bickering next to the entrance was capable of taking over the music – the ground floor of the cafe, which is where the very lively co-owner Abhishek is most likely to spot you. The first time I was at Shack, the only sound was us chattering away with him, the whirr of coffee machines, the clinks of cups. The place, after all, is ‘meant for bootstrappers’. The plain, warm tones of it exude chill.

‘We don’t need to know where the onion or the tomato in our biryani came from to know it’s good. So we don’t need to know what ‘notes’ are in coffee to know it’s good.’ This two-liner came belting out of Abhishek as he poured out a cup with one of their oldest coffee machines, bending his head over every steady detail. I didn’t think such a combination of phrase and action was humanly possible. 

The coffee and food at Shack Coffee Co

The coffee menu’s short by Delhi standards, but by and large, strong. We tried both their blends (roasted in-house) in a pour over and an espresso respectively. You’ll want to do the prissy thing of sniffing and gulping these fast to truly absorb the flavour. Chill doesn’t have to mean a lack of appreciation. And by the way – these will wake you up like a firecracker to the night sky.

We also tried their iced latte, dirty coffee, and iced tea. The iced latte’s thin on the mouth, which I loved, but it was a touch too sweet for me. I’m not complaining because it lacks the frappe powder – an artificial thickener – that many of your standard cold coffees in India have, and which incidentally can sometimes take away from the sweetness. The dirty coffee, meanwhile, is the one I’d make a repeat of. It does the very nice thing of balancing a seemingly flat nutty flavour with good caffeine, which surely is fitting for a work-from-home drink. The iced tea, thankfully, uses actual tea…end of that story.

Shack Coffee Co also does fantastic sandwiches and paninis, and they made our list for the best sandwiches in the city for their pressed portobello panini and cinnamon toast. We tried the mushroom and pesto panini, and I must say, there’s no point letting this go cold over whatever project you’re working on. Get this with a friend. Or a date.

Abhishek was also kind enough to let us on something that’s coming on their winter menu, and it was almost deceivingly chocolatey, before you’re met with the moist bread and banana. They keep switching it up.

The events at Shack Coffee Co

Abhishek used to work for a digital marketing agency. When he quit and founded Shack Coffee Co, he went what he calls ‘anti-digital’ and relied on word of mouth. Indeed, despite the place being some five years old now, the only banners you’ll find on their social media as I write this are largely to do with whatever unoptimised thing they’re doing. Zine-making workshop for people with grievances with their beloved cats, anyone? Experimental music? Podcast production in a random siphoned glass corner of the first floor?

For their gallery, too, they’ve called for people who barely consider themselves ‘artists’. The idea is to bring that uncertainty into a place where the aforementioned chill inevitably takes over. Placid curiosity over tense, forced frames.

There’s a sort of conversing I like to call cafe-owner-speak. Notes, third space, third wave, specialty, community, the like. Much like ping pong balls in the hands of a beginner, these otherwise meaningful words have been flung everywhere, usually out of context. It’s satisfying that Shack Coffee Co walks the talk, both in its sips and its gigs. 

Time Out tip: Shack’s right next to Zuru Zuru, a place I consider Delhi’s best for ramen.