DALEMIST-The Unspoken Story

It’s 9 am and I am running late for work. A journalist by profession, I always need to be up on my toes, digging up for eye-opening pieces of stories, struggling to get pictures of the sort which make people tweet and post their opinions in the middle of the night, searching for words and putting them together to form a masterpiece of sorts whose life is merely a few hours. With such kind of work at hand, I barely get some sleep that keeps me going but which is probably much below the standards of an average human’s need. At these times, my anchor in life that doesn’t let me fall is COFFEE! Yes you heard that right, a few ground beans of pure awakening that make me what I am. I look around the bustling office but my eyes are looking for my favourite spot…the coffee machine! I pace towards it, take a fresh Thermocol glass, quickly place it under the nozzle of the machine and press ‘cappuccino’. The machine starts rumbling and playing the sweetest tune to my ears and I hear the glass filling up to its brim. I take the warm glass in my hand and smell the aroma that makes me feel alive and finally take the first sip, blessing the makers of coffee- the life jacket of many like me.

Well, the story of the journalist is not the only one. There are a million people out there who love coffee and bless the makers of the creation that keeps them going day after day towards their goal. But while they enjoy drinking this elixir of life, very few wonder as to what went into making this possible. Now that is the story of the brand Dalemist.

Jeevan Loy Colaco and Supriyo Mandal were people from two different zones of India, leading their individual happy lives as a HR of a company in the Middle East and as the head of a recruiting agency.

Jeevan belonged to the green lands of Chikmaglur, Karnataka, where growing coffee was not just a profession but a tradition and way of life. He is the third generation of coffee growers as beautiful coffee estates that cover the terraced hills, were passed on to him by his elders. He grew up looking at coffee planters giving their life to nurturing the small leaves of coffee plantations as their baby and give the best coffee experience to people in the area. He knew the value of authentic coffee.

On the other hand, there was Supriyo who was born and brought up in the Eastern zone of India, land of flavour lovers, where tea plantations that blossom to create various blends of tea that cure, purify, awaken and calm the body are cherished.

The duo had nothing much in common except for the love of traditional Indian beverages and this brought them together. The extraordinary idea of Dalemist struck the two in a very ordinary yet appropriate place- a cafe. They didn’t know that when the two ordered for a coffee, they had ordered for an idea to a bright future. They took a sip of the coffee each and as a joke had a conversation about how they could make far better coffee than this, given the knowledge they have thanks to their homelands. That’s it! That was the light-bulb moment of their life and they embarked on the journey of Dalemist.

They started the venture in December 2015 by visiting the various estates of coffee and tea plantations in Chikmaglur and doing intensive research on the availability of real, good quality coffee powder and tea in Bangalore and areas around it. Their findings were fact based and opportunity giving; there was a dearth of good filter coffee powder vendors in Bangalore and places that provided the same did at exorbitant prices. It was an eye opening experience for them when they met the coffee and tea planters who told their version of the coffee production process. The planters put in all efforts in making the best possible coffee and tea by nurturing the plants with utmost care yet they never got the chance to enjoy the fruits of their harvest. The middle-men in the production process would mostly eat away on the planters share and they would be left with bare minimum. This story touched the hearts of Jeevan and Supriyo and they decided on directly buying coffee and tea from the planters as no-one would know the quality better than them. By doing this, they not only ensured best product quality but also helped the planters get their rightful due. But the two do not completely leave the job on to the planters. They themselves do rounds of the estates to check the quality of the plant and closely monitor the whole process from plucking the beans to roasting, grinding and packaging of the product. They have a set of people who regularly do the taste and refine quality check. Another USP of their company is that they grind the beans only when they receive an order to ensure freshness. The story of these two is one of inspiration, motivation and determination. The company believes in moving forward but with others around them moving ahead too.

Today, the company has grown considerably having two stores in Bangalore and their products also listed for sale on Amazon and Big Basket. They sell about a ton of coffee every month and also blends of various kinds of teas including Tulsi, Ginger, Rose, Hibiscus and Cardamom. They also have created and sold their own two-in-one coffee and tea vending machines under the brand of Dalemist to many corporates.

It would only be fair to end this incredible story of these two men with an appropriate quote- “He was my cream, and I was his coffee – And when you poured us together, it was something.”- Josephine Baker

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Coffee starting at Rs. 300 per Kg

Teas starting at Rs. 200 per Kg

You can buy Dalemist products on

Amazon India @ https://goo.gl/bd1WxY

Bigbasket @ https://goo.gl/5M4Hor

PlaceofOrigin @ https://goo.gl/iwKZJr

***Article By Mahima Bararia

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