Rituparna and Minakshi, two strangers who shared a passion for food, books, and travel, have joined hands to start ‘Soul Glimmers’, bringing manual coffee-based ‘brews’ to the table and winning many hearts.
Their journey, which began in January this year with an idea to do something unique, has been all about exploring, inventing, and reinventing food. The duo left their very well-paying jobs to start something of their own.
“We call ourselves Soul Glimmers. Glimmers are those little moments in a day that give you happiness, a smile from a stranger, or just the sip of the morning tea that wakes you up and gets you ready for the day. So, we strongly believe in spreading those glimmers through food and coffee,” said Rituparna to Patriot about ‘Soul Glimmers’, which she insists is all about food, coffee, and conversations.
She has been very passionate about food since the beginning. “We met through our husbands, who used to work together at one point in time. Both of us have a lot of love for food. Then conversations began like how should we go about it,” she added.
“We used to sit and think for a long time about we would do together. Initially, we started gifting plum cake and mulled vine cocktails to people, and they, in return, said it was very nice and wanted to purchase and gift them to others. Later, we started taking orders also,” says Rituparna, who has worked in the fields of publishing and HR.
She says that everything came to a standstill during the COVID period in 2020.
“We also took a backseat then, but we wanted to rediscover ourselves in our 40s. We realised that now this is the time to live our lives. I believe that if you are living your dreams, then you are living your life,” she added.
Minakshi, co-founder of ‘Soul Glimmers’, told Patriot that they have been using home-grown ingredients in their coffee-based brews or using recipes that are completely different from the currently trending products.
“We use marigold, which otherwise is hardly being used. Its taste is very different and gives you a different flavour to tantalise your buds,” she said.
She says that the idea for coffee brews came into their mind eight years back.
“We used to have latte coffee whenever we used to meet, but it didn’t have that good a taste. We researched about black coffee and the manual course of the coffee, and that’s when we began our work,” says Minakshi, who has worked as a strategy specialist in a firm.
The specialised menu includes Spice Route (a blend of cascara and an exotic decoction of indigenous spices), Sparkling Zing (a beautiful blend of cascara with their own Apple Cider Vinegar), Honey Honey (a tribute to the evergreen ABBA, Mamma Mia, and of course, Meryl Streep!) and specially curated Marigold brew (a cool drink made with coffee brewed with marigold flower decoction). The brews are paired with ‘Quick Bites’ to choose from: Cucumber Tzatziki (the classic white and green sandwiches with a unique twist), Herbed Cottage Cheese (on a bed of roasted walnut and red pepper), Grilled Pineapple (with yogurt and berries), and Spring Bites (a combination of green and red using the veggies of the season).
Minakshi says that they will stick to their menu.
“We will be serving with seasonal menus depending upon the seasons. We will also keep going to food and lifestyle events to build our brand,” she said.
Currently, they are going to different food and lifestyle events to introduce their brand to the public. Last month they were part of the Marigold Lifestyle Exhibition and Chaitra Mela in New Delhi simultaneously.
“We started in January this year and are working to set up a place for our venture in a year or two. The focus is to grow the brand through a ‘pop-up’ route. Our objective is to establish the brand as a name specialising in curated brews and food pairings,” she added.
Rituparna said that last year she attended a Barista Training Course in Goa wherein she learned a lot. “I went to Ruby’s Coffee in Candolim, Goa, for a seven-day training where I got to learn a lot of things. I learned what an espresso machine is, what dialling in an espresso machine means, and how latte art is made, and my eyes opened to the world of manual brewing of coffee. It also made me realise how little focus there is on the manual brewing methods of coffee. Therefore, our primary focus is on the manual brewing methods that can be very versatile and interesting to work with,” she further added.
The duo say that they want to have a connection with people through their “meal experiences and we want to curate for them to make this venture all about food and conversations”.
