Traditional and world
South Indian filter coffee
South Indian filter coffee is a strong decoction mixed with hot milk and sugar, and poured between two steel cups to cool and foam.
- Ratio About 1 part decoction to 3 to 5 parts hot milk, to taste
- Serve 120 to 180 ml, hot, in a steel tumbler and dabara
- Grind Fine
Written by the KAIVO team, Mumbai. Last updated 4 November 2026. Cite as: KAIVO, "South Indian filter coffee", kaivo.in/pages/drink-south-indian-filter-coffee
Filter coffee, also called kaapi or degree coffee, is made in a two part steel filter. Hot water drips slowly through finely ground coffee, often mixed with some chicory, to make a thick, dark decoction. This is mixed with hot, boiled milk and sugar and poured back and forth between a tumbler and a wide cup called a dabara to cool and foam.
How it is made
- 01
Put 3 to 4 tablespoons of fine ground filter coffee in the top part of a steel filter and press lightly.
- 02
Pour in about 100 ml of boiling water and close the lid.
- 03
Wait 15 to 20 minutes for the decoction to drip through.
- 04
Boil about 150 ml of full cream milk and add sugar to taste.
- 05
Mix 2 to 3 tablespoons of decoction with the hot milk and pour between tumbler and dabara a few times.
Brew it with South Indian filter (kaapi)
A KAIVO blend for this
The Roar
The Roar is a dark roast with bitter chocolate, dark caramel and oak notes, the kind of deep, low acid flavour that works with a lot of milk and sugar.
Dark roast, tasting of bitter chocolate, dark caramel, oak.
See The RoarQuestions
What is degree coffee?
Degree coffee is a name for filter coffee made with pure, full cream milk. The name is said to come from the old practice of checking the milk with a lactometer, which measured its quality in degrees.
Is filter coffee made with chicory?
Often yes. Many traditional blends use about 70 to 80 percent coffee and 20 to 30 percent chicory, but this varies by brand. Pure coffee is also used, and you can choose either.