The sweltering summer heat is compelling folks to rehydrate themselves with an assortment of fluids, ranging from chilled fruit juice to exotic Italian ice-cream flavours.
The soaring mercury levels has been accompanied by a spike in demand for smoothies, sarbath concoctions or gelatos.
Nutrition
Summer demands more intake of liquids and smoothies are a perfect meal replacement as it contains loads of fresh fruits and vegetables pureed with milk.
Among the outlets that have reported a spike in demand with the onset of summer is The Smoothie Bar as it offers varieties of healthy smoothies.
The shop uses cold pressed juices which provides 65% of nutrition unlike other centrifugal juicer available at juice shops.
The top picks to recharge yourself here are Nutty Affair, Titan for hydration, Lean Machine and Green Gold for fitness freaks.
Clientele
“Our clientele includes JIPMER students, health-conscious folks and regular joggers,” said R.V. Krishna Prathab, owner of the bar.
Apart from summer season, we have our regular health-conscious consumers who form about 20-30% of the customers, he added. The bar witnesses 90% of the crowd on weekends especially, more on Saturdays.
People are also flocking to the local juice stands to gulp down glasses of nannari sarbath or buttermilk.
The sarbath, which has a legendary reputation as a heat-buster, is made from Nannari Vaer (root) while the buttermilk is spiced up with mustard seeds, garnished ginger and curry leaves.
Om Sakthi Coffee Bar at Chetty Street serves buttermilk and sarbath to around 50 people in April-June. “Though coffee, tea and snacks are the staple here, we stock up cold beverages in this season,” said Kathirvel, owner of the shop.
The soaring temperatures are also sending people towards ice-cream parlours and joints specialising in gelato, the Italian brand of ice-cream.
Outlet
One such outlet is the new gelato shop at Chetty Street. “Gelato is made from natural fruits, less cream and milk with fat content of four per cent unlike regular ice-cream which includes more cream and 10-18% milk fat,” says Luciano Bergo, co-founder of Il Cono, along with R. Prakasham.
The main outlet in Auroville is a favourite joint for foreigners who arrive between December and mid April.
The gelataria was launched in 2016 aspiring to be home to “Auroville’s finest artisan gelato” with an adherence to slow-food philosophy.
The outlet on Chetty Street is the only branch of Il Cono and is supported by the parent unit, says Mr. Prakasham.
Il Cono is also seeing gelato enthusiasts from Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur and Ludhiana.
“Since its opening about a month ago, there are regulars for pistachio and hazelnut flavours.
“We are also reaching out to local residents and educating them about the health benefits of Italian ice cream to escape the heat,” said Imam Hassan, who runs the gelato parlour.