Brews & Blends Café in Hyderabad is an experiential space for beverages, the well-researched and handpicked blends of teas and coffees savoured over a limited but carefully curated European menu with a bit of Asian thrown in

Vidya was working in a corporate and was a new mother who was finding ways to reduce her weight without having to starve herself. And, it was green tea that was being suggested to her by everyone around her. She was not into tea or coffee until then and it was a little difficult to get used to just simple green tea, which is when she began to explore tea; to see if there were green teas that appealed to her palate. And, before she knew it, she became obsessed with teas, blends and began to research on how she could infuse Indian flavours and create blends using seasonal produce that are healthy at the same time.

This is in short, the story of the genesis of Brews & Blends, the brain child of Vidyalatha Vallabhaneni –that currently has 100 tea varieties and 20 coffees to its credit. The signature ones include the non-caffeine varieties like the Hibiscus Lush Tea with a blend of Hibiscus, Orange Peel, Licorice, Lemon Grass and Fennel seeds; and Turmeric Delight Wellness Herbal Tea, which is an interesting blend of bitter gourd along with Indian gooseberry and turmeric sweetened by stevia, and the actual teas like the Chamomile Green Tea that is a blend of green tea, chamomile and marigold, and the Blue Pea flower Green Tea – and coffees that include the instant varieties and the filter coffee – south Indian among others. These blends that were carefully handcrafted using natural ingredients sourced from farmers ensuring quality are retailed online and are supplied all across India and beyond. However, it is just the beginning of a great journey of learning, creating and giving consumers a tea experience that is unique.

In order to provide the beverage experience to wider customer base, Vidya and her partner, a food entrepreneur Shankar opened a café in the glitzy T-Hub, the new technology hub when it started – and the second café opened recently in Kondapur – this time bigger, better, and with more choice of food, specially designed to be paired with the teas and coffees. How to pair is mentioned on the menu. And, what more? You can brew your tea the way you like it.

Shankar who has yet another popular restaurant the Tilak Kitchen – is the brain behind food that is mostly European, with a bit of Asian thrown in. It’s an extensive menu that is scheduled to change every season bringing in seasonal produce. Currently in its form – it has some hearty soups, snacky starters, sandwiches with home-made breads, salads, wood fired oven pizzas, burgers, pastas and rice bowls.

Our recommendations would be not miss on Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast that could be a delightful start to the day, the Broccoli soup for a rainy evening, along with Szechwan Chicken Pockets, classic Italian Bruschetta, Lamb Burger with fried eggs and Slaw, Pear Delight Pizza, Spinach and cottage cheese Gnocchi and lastly the red wine poached pear with mixed berry compote – before you try the rest of the menu since its limited, carefully curated and will be changed next season.

On the beverages in addition to the standard brews, there are the cold brews and four specialty ones mixed in front of you – for different times of the day – Sunrise, Matinee, Sundowner and Twilight.

Brews & Blends is conceptualised as an experiential space where the wonderfully blended beverages can be savoured with some great food to go by while sitting in this tastefully done café that has some really cool vibes.