Photo coffee: Swag Selfie Cafe in Delhi lives up to its name, here's how

The selfie culture has spawned an entire industry of mobile phones and cameras. But the Selfie Swag Café in Delhi takes the craze to a new level. Here, one can have a cup of coffee or a glass of smoothie with one's selfie (or 'groufie', as the case may be) printed on top. The image, which is edible, is printed using a coffee printer on a thick layer of non-fat, non-dairy cream added on top of the drink.

This was the initial concept of the cafe when it's co-founder Ashit Mehra, 41, opened the first outlet in Noida's DLF Mall of India in August last year. But with the second outlet in West Delhi's Pacific Mall, a large 2,200 sq ft space, he took the theme to the walls and floors of the cafe.

Different sections of the cafe offers themes like romantic, music, garden and library. For instance, the garden-themed corner has a vertical wall of artificial creepers and flowering beds; a floating bookshelf and wooden bench are elements of the library theme. Another section of the cafe has bamboo textured tables and seats, offering an element of nature. In case one wants to create a boomerang video, there is a booth-style seating arrangement on a swing placed in the open space in the front of the cafe. The swing goes back-and-forth with a slight push, the speed controlled easily by the one sitting in it. There are other quirky sitting spaces, made of drums, tyres, steel buckets, and bicycles, to list a few. The same element of quirkiness can also be witnessed in the way food is presented, which comprises miniature trucks, rickshaws and other transport vehicles that are used to cart the food.

The menu, priced affordably, offers most popular items like coffees, smoothies, white-sauce pasta, pizza, burgers and sandwiches. The taste and presentation are consistent, ensuring Selfie Swag Café's viability.
In a month's time, Selfie Swag Café will have another outlet and this time it will be in Kolkata. According to Mehra, the experiments will go on.

(Exterior of the cafe; (Right) a selfie on non-fat, non-dairy cream foam)

Brew up a selfie coffee

In case you were wondering, the machine that gives you your beautiful photos on your drinks is called a coffee printer. However, unlike the usual printers used for printing information on papers, these coffee printers use edible ink. For instance, an order of cold coffee would get a thick layer of cream on it and then placed under the coffee printer. After which the machine works its magic and gives you your photos in a cup.