CHAI AS IT MIGHT, COFFEE CAN'T TOPPLE TEA IN INDIA

Aside from CCD, other popular coffee joints include domestic firm Barista and global giants Costa Coffee and Starbucks. The latter entered the Indian market in 2012 and has 75 stores to date. The explosive growth of well-known chains is indicative of an increasingly wealthy Indian middle class that is looking to embrace Western trends. New Delhi hopes to top 8 percent economic growth next year and multinationals of all stripes are eyeing the opportunities offered by a newly monied group of consumers. Still, coffee has yet to eat into tea's market share. On an annual per capita basis, Indians drank 15.6 cups of coffee in 2014 and 16.6 cups so far this year, Sanjeev Raikar, research analyst at Euromonitor International, told CNBC. That pales in comparison to 163.7 cups of tea in 2014 and 176.6 cups this year, he said. "Though there has definitely been an increase in the number of cafes and coffee specialist retailers such as CCD, such cafés are frequented by young consumers mainly. So, coffee is definitely gaining popularity, however only amongst a small set of consumers." He doesn't expect coffee to overcome tea as India's most popular drink anytime soon. While the country may be the world's sixth-biggest coffee producer, with production for the 2015-16 year expected to hit a record high, domestic demand isn't fuelling growth. At least three-quarters of output goes to exports, with Italy, Germany and Belgium among the top buyers, according to Reuters. Even with the increase in output, exports siphon large amounts of coffee away from the domestic market so consumption estimates have remained largely unchanged in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Moreover, the type of coffee being consumed is important. While there is a growing cafe culture, nearly all Indian coffee is consumed at home or in traditional street stalls as instant coffee, said Dhruv Sood, agricultural specialist at the USDA. However, many popular instant coffee brands contain a lower count of naked coffee beans, an international measurement called green bean equivalent (GBE), compared to ground coffee. Over the longer term, Indian coffee consumption will only increase significantly once the use of ground coffee becomes more common since it contains a higher percentage of GBE, Sood explained. News this month that the government allowed 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in several plantation crops, including coffee, from only tea previously, could have an impact on the java market but for now, it's too early to speculate, Raikar said. Going forward, the rise of tea-related businesses could see consumption of the drink explode even further and cap coffee's growth. .