This new home kitchen is serving iced coffees with a dash of corporate humour

Twentyeightyearold Reeva Sitlani recalls albeit not fondly sitting in a meeting room with 40 coworkers at her finance firm and muttering under her breath ldquoThis meeting should have been an emailrdquo Four months a resignation letter and some experiments later her words are now etched on handy coffee bottles that are making their way to corporate offices across the city Liquid Coffee But Sassy Sitlanirsquos new Matungabased home kitchen in collaboration with her elder sister Ruchita serves pintsized iced coffees with a slice of corporate humour on the labelsThe package arrives with in circle short messages tagged on to themThe coffees arrive in the newsroom in an hour after we place our order The cloth bags come with a sweet introductory message attached possibly to prepare us for the notsosweet humour that awaits inside The plastic bottles inside seem to have held the cold temperatures in Mumbairsquos searing heat despite the 30minute travel time from Matunga to our newsroom in Bandra East Over a call the sisters share that while they began with upcycled glass bottles resembling beer pints concerns over breakage in transit drove the shift to the handy plastic bottlesWe get our hands on five of the 21 available options mdash Americano vanilla frappe Vietnamese iced coffee tiramisu frappe and the newly launched shortbread frappe For this writer one of the unfortunate few who carry the curse of lactose intolerance the iced Americano Rs 159 is the natural choice lsquoCorporate slavery antidotersquo the label reads While the first sip packs the usual kick of an Americano itrsquos a pleasant surprise to see that the drink doesnrsquot water down even as we reach the bottom A fitting antidote to the moreicedthancoffee offerings at some of the larger chains in the city we sayLeft Ruchita Sitlani prepares coffee in her home kitchen Middle The labels are pasted to the bottles using a template right The coffee is finally poured into the pintsized bottlesElsewhere in the newsroom a large pintsized Vietnamese iced coffee Rs 208 has been chugged The verdict is in mdash while the coffee is sweet it has the right blend of bitter for a balanced brew Unlike other iced coffees the flavour of the coffee comes through Cofounder Ruchita shares that they spent four months trying out different concoctions and conducting taste tests within their circles to find the right balance The kitchenrsquos newest offering a shortbread frappe R249 stands out for us with its thicker and milkier consistency with the same kick of caffeine While the Vietnamese coffee had sharpness this one has more body in terms of flavour profileThe 250ml bottles might be a tad larger than what regular drinkers may be used to consuming in a sitting That is unless your daily cup of joe doubles as an lsquoemotional support iced beveragersquo like the label on the tiramisu frappe Rs 249 reads The drink itself is reminiscent of the popular childhood toffee Kopiko possibly owing to the caramel syrup Like the others this one too carries the bitterness of the Arabica while being slightly milkier and sweeter than the restReeva and Ruchita SitlaniAs we get our hands on the one that started it all for the duo the vanilla frappe Rs 199 that carries with it Sitlanirsquos passionate dislike for meetings the labelling decisions seem apt The frappe is sweeter and creamier with hints of vanilla that we wished were a tad stronger for the flavour to stand out ldquoWe thought all the label combinations through each tells a story The sweetness of the frappe is a reference to the sugarcoating you indulge in when yoursquore in a meeting you want to escaperdquo laughs ReevaFor Ruchita while the labels are a quirky way to get people talking the drinks remain the winners ldquoWe source our syrups and ground coffee beans from the same vendors that supply to popular chains in the cityrdquo she claims Reeva on the other hand admits that the oneliners seem to be the ones creating all the buzz ldquoWe had a customer who asked for a bottle that read lsquoBoss can I get a raisersquo on the second day of his job We had a good laugh while delivering it to his office We sure hope he still has the jobrdquo she laughs as the duo signs off Liquid Coffee But SassyAvailable on Zomato Log on to liquid_coffeebutsassy Message 9619192881 for queriesAlso check outgtgtKC RoastersTry exciting concoctions like coconut latte and moringa latte at this cosy cafeacute that roasts its coffee live inhouse AT 6 Chuim Village Road Khar WestCALL 91366 50277gtgtBombay Island Coffee CompanyChoose from artisanal rose lattes dark cocoa cold brews and caramel popcorn coffee at this newage experimental cafeacuteAT Godrej One Pirojshanagar VikhroliCALL 40034931gtgtRecordsCoffeeSip on a freshly brewed macchiato cappuccino or affogato in the company of vinyl record enthusiasts at this record store inspired cafeacuteAT Bloom Boutique Dr BR Ambedkar Road Bandra WestCALL 7861004444