How Raani Coffee is brewing nostalgia and community connections in East Atlanta—serving authentic South Indian filter coffee alongside European-style pastries kissed with Indian flavors.
Situated on Moreland Avenue in East Atlanta, Raani Coffee looks like a converted garage—an industrial, sunlit, and unpretentious space that used to be home to Hodgepodge Coffeehouse.
As I step inside, the aroma of caramelized sugar, freshly ground coffee, and chocolate perks up the coffee lover in me. The subdued shades of saffron, green, and white on the walls echo the colors of the Indian flag. In one corner, burlap sacks filled with coffee beans sit beside a roasting-and-grinding setup—a fitting backdrop for a café where craft and culture meet.
The space feels warm and welcoming for friends, families, and newcomers alike. There’s room for strollers and children, and cozy nooks for quiet chats. I find myself talking to strangers, and our conversations drift easily from Bollywood films to Indian languages to travel stories that span from Tibet to Tanzania. Sociologists call this kind of spot a “third place”— not home, not work, but somewhere in between where community naturally brews.
I sit down with the founder, Praveena Sundar raj, who has recently returned from India, where she visited coffee farms and attended the India Coffee Festival in Bengaluru. As we watch the steady flow of customers, she tells me that East Atlanta’s creative, multicultural energy is exactly what drew her here.
From Ooty to Atlanta: Building on a Family Legacy
Praveena grew up in Ooty (Udhagamandalam), a hill station in the Nilgiri Mountains of Tamil Nadu. Her family owned a tea plantation that also cultivated coffee. As a child, she watched workers handpick coffee cherries, remove their skins, ferment the beans in vats, and dry them under the sun. She remembers coming home after school to the distinct aroma of freshly roasted coffee drifting through the plantation. “As kids, we weren’t allowed to drink coffee,” she laughs, “but I would sneak over to the workers and taste the sweet, syrupy filter coffee they made with condensed milk.” That drink—South Indian filter coffee, or kaapi—would later become the soul of her business.
After studying hospitality management in Ooty, Praveena began her career at the Taj Coromandel hotel in Chennai and later worked in hospitality sales with Marriott. An arranged marriage brought her to Birmingham, Alabama. There, on a whim, she applied for a job at Royal Cup Coffee, a century-old roasting company. “It felt like I had come full circle,” she says. “Like I was reconnecting with my roots.”
At Royal Cup, she immersed herself in the coffee industry—learning about sourcing, quality grading, roasting, and the economics of the coffee business. She also noticed a glaring gap: while countries like Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam are well represented in the U.S. specialty coffee scene, India—the world’s seventh-largest coffee producer—is largely missing.
That absence struck her as ironic, given South India’s centuries-old coffee tradition. Legend traces Indian coffee back to the 17th century, when a Sufi saint named Baba Budan smuggled seven coffee beans from Yemen and planted them in the hills of Karnataka, now known as Baba Budangiri near Chikmagalur.
While chai has achieved global fame, South Indian filter coffee has remained a cherished but regional ritual. “People celebrate chai everywhere,” Praveena says, “but most people don’t even know Indian coffee exists.” She decided to change that.
From Garage Roaster to Café Owner
Praveena started experimenting with roasting beans in her Birmingham garage—developing blends and packaging them under the name Dryft Coffee. She sold from a mobile coffee bar at farmers’ markets, cultural events, and pop-ups. Restaurants such as Chai Pani in Decatur began featuring her coffee in specialty drinks. The enthusiastic response convinced her that there was room in the American coffee scene for something new.
Last year, she made a bold move: cashing out her retirement savings, relocating her family to Atlanta, and opening Raani Coffee in November 2025.
“Raani” means “queen” in Hindi, Urdu, and Sanskrit. Praveena chose the name for its resonance across India’s many languages and cultures. “Almost everyone in India knows a Raani —maybe a Raani aunty or Raani didi,” she says. “It felt universal and strong.”
The name also reflects another mission close to her heart—supporting women in coffee production. “We prioritize farms where women are decision-makers,” she explains. Most of Raani’s beans come from farms owned or led by women.
Brewing Kaapi That Transports You to South India
The centerpiece of Raani’s menu is kaapi—the phonetic spelling of “coffee” in many South Indian languages. The traditional brewing method for kaapi predates the French press: hot water is poured over finely ground coffee in the upper chamber of a stainless-steel filter, dripping slowly into the lower container as a concentrated decoction. The brew is mixed with milk and jaggery, then poured back and forth between steel tumblers until it’s frothy. Having recently traveled through South India, where this ritual remains part of daily life, I decided to give Raani’s version a try. Using specialty-grade Indian beans roasted medium, the drink offers a rich, slightly caramelized flavor that is less milky than the typical chicory blends found in India. One sip, and I’m transported to South India.
Needless to say, I’ll be frequenting Raani Coffee often—especially when nostalgia hits for a cup of Indian kaapi.
European-Style Pastries with an Indian Twist
Praveena intentionally kept the food menu subtle so that strong spices don’t overpower the coffee’s aroma. “We didn’t want the café smelling like fried oil or heavy masala,” she says. To craft the perfect balance, she partnered with pastry chef Madeline Siggelkow, who infuses gentle Indian flavors into Frenchstyle baking.
The pastry case at Raani tempts with European style baked goods that hide familiar Indian notes within. The pistachio rose scone has a faint floral scent even before the first bite—its crumb is tender and buttery, with generous shards of pistachio and specks of dried rose that release their perfume as you chew.
The cardamom and coriander bun, shaped like a tightly wound croissant, flakes apart into warm layers that carry the delicate flavor of cardamom with a hint of coriander on the finish. The kaapi cake, moist and lightly sweet, delivers a lingering roasted-coffee aroma—exactly the pastry to accompany a bold cup of South Indian filter coffee.
There’s also a gluten-free carrot halwa muffin, with notes of India’s beloved dessert shining through the moist crumb. On the savory side, the chana masala tart tasted like a veg patty commonly found at an Indian bakery — its crisp shell filled with chickpeas, potatoes, peas, and carrots, with a touch of spices.
The drink and food menu feels familiar yet fresh, as if discovering a new roast in a favorite blend. My top pick? The gulab jamun iced coffee—a caramel-like latte with the faint aroma of cardamom syrup from the beloved Indian sweet.
A Space for the Desi Diaspora
Praveena says she chose East Atlanta for her café partly to raise her seven-year-old son in a city where he could see other South Asians thriving in creative fields. During my two-hour visit, filmmakers, pastry chefs, baristas, designers, and writers passed through the café. Some knew each other; many met for the first time at the communal table. One family even drove from Athens, Georgia, just for a taste of South Indian filter coffee.
Until recently, metro Atlanta didn’t have many informal gathering spaces for South Asians beyond restaurants, grocery stores, and temples. Raani Coffee changes that. It’s a place where culture, creativity, and community percolate together—where you can sip something rooted in India while chatting with neighbors from around the world.
Impromptu connections are just the beginning. One can follow Raani Coffee’s Instagram page for updates on in-house events such as tasting flights, educational workshops, cricket match screenings, carrom board nights, and rotating pop-up menus. Because when coffee brings people together, the possibilities are endless.
Sucheta Rawal is an award-winning food and travel writer who has traveled to over 120 countries across seven continents, experienc- ing the world through her palate. She inspires people to travel more meaningfully and sustainably through her nonprofit, Go Eat Give, and her books, Beato Goes To. Find her on social @SuchetaRawal.