If you asked someone a few years back, what the favourite drink of India was, what do you imagine the most popular response would have been?

The country certainly had a reputation for being something of a tea-drinking nation.

However, there are many news stories around at the moment to suggest that things are changing and the Indians are getting something of a taste for coffee.

If you wander the streets of the large Indian cities, of course you will still find chai sellers on the roadside, preparing their tea, but there are also newcomers on the scene.

There are many coffee chains which are rivalling the chai-sellers, such as Café Coffee Day. It started about twelve years ago and it has been said that it was a watershed moment, in the sense that coffee was arriving in the country.

Reports indicate that coffee has become so popular that this particular chain opens a new outlet most weeks. There are now a staggering 1,200 coffee shops, apparently, for this brand alone in India.

It seems that the fare on sale in these chains and other Western coffee companies to venture into India, offer a similar suite of coffee options to their visitors, such as cappuccinos, lattes and so on.

However, reported interviews with youngsters indicate that they also enjoy the social side of coffee drinking – and let’s face it, that is the side of coffee drinking that most Westerners enjoy too.

There is something sociable about hanging out in a coffee shop for people the world over, it would seem.