From cabs to coffee, quite a journey

BONOMI is an off the shelf cold brew company founded by Arman Reet and Vardhaman Jain that is changing the coffee game

Falah Faisal

Arman Reet and Vardhaman Jain first met while working for Uber in 2015 and bonded over their mutual love for black coffee. After which they went their separate ways before coming together in 2020 to create BONOMI, an off the shelf cold brew coffee brand based out of Bengaluru.

“A cold brew is basically black coffee like an espresso or an Americano. But instead of using heat and pressure the beans are steeped in cold water over 24 hours which makes it less acidic and easier on the gut,” says Arman Reet, who started the venture in April 2020.

“I really wanted to explore something in the beverage space and realized that there was nothing that you get off the shelf in the cold brew space,” he adds that the name BONOMI was a natural fit as it means ‘good or friendly man’ in Japanese where cold brew first originated.

The cold brew comes in dark amber bottles that almost resemble beer bottles which was a conscious choice explains Reet “The only other product that people think of as something they can open and sip from a bottle is beer and we wanted to make that association. But beer bottles come only in 330 ml but we needed 200 ml bottles so we had to wait a month and get these made.”

BONOMI comes in five flavours – classic, vanilla, hazelnut, caramel-mocha and cinnamon. “We researched what suited the Indian palette and narrowed it down to these flavours which are all natural,” says Vardhaman Jain who is the chief brewer at BONOMI, who’s fascination with coffee started when he was 15.

“When we started we expected that it would be something people would consume in the morning or afternoon but we’ve realised that cold brew forms an integral part of cocktails and mocktails people consume in the evening. That way it has exceeded our expectations and the demand for it hasn’t varied seasonally,” says Reet.

BONOMI is available online on Amazon, Instamart and Dunzo and at bars like Bob’s, Brewsky and TOIT. “We will soon be available in supermarkets and specialty stores across Bengaluru. Once we understand how it works, we’ll replicate the model across other metros,” he adds, saying that the more competition they have the better as it will attract more customers to try out cold brews.