[Lifestyle] Higher ground: the expert guide to making the perfect cup of coffee at home

[HiTLeR]

Over the past six months, many of us have been trying to replicate our morning takeout in our kitchens. From beans to milk, here’s how to get the most from your mug

 

As the world of work has changed this year, so has the world of coffee. With more people working from home, and fewer opportunities to grab a cup on the go, more of us are trying to replicate our morning takeout in our own kitchen. Of course there’s nothing wrong with just a jar of instant - but if you want to up your coffee-making game the choices are pretty much endless. For those on the quest for the ultimate, world-beating cup of coffee-heaven, here’s our expert guide.

Take it slow
Jonny England, global head of coffee at Pret a Manger, cautions that you shouldn’t feel the need to try to leap to barista-level coffee expertise from a standing start. "For example, if you’re an instant-coffee drinker, something as simple as switching to roast and ground and making a really great cafetiere in the morning is a huge leap forward in coffee quality." If this will be your first time buying beans, England suggests you “use a storage clip to keep your pack sealed, and store in a cool, dry place away from any strong odors or sunlight”. Definitely, definitely, do not put them in the fridge. “This will actually accelerate the coffee degrading, due to the moisture and strong odours of food products in your fridge,” he says. “Coffee is like a sponge and soaks up any odours it is exposed to. You really don’t want your coffee to start tasting like blue cheese! ”

 

What type of coffee should you buy?
It’s important to remember that your taste in coffee is completely subjective, so some element of trial and error is to be expected. Anson Goodge, the head trainer at Ozone Coffee Roasters in London, suggests visiting coffee shops in the spirit of experimentation. "You can gain a lot from having a chat with the baristas and asking what coffee they use."

The bean 'grade'
The biggest factor in making expert coffee is the quality and freshness of beans. “There’s specialty-grade and commodity-grade beans,” says Goodge. “Pretty much everything you see in a supermarket is commodity-grade coffee. Specialty grade means the cherries are selected and handpicked. They grow at higher climates to develop more natural sweetness. The cherry will develop more acids and that’s where you get diversity of flavor; so whether the coffee tastes kind of tea-like, or like raspberries or a bit like strawberries - it starts getting a little more interesting just because it has more time to develop those flavors. ” Another reason to avoid buying your beans from a supermarket: they are likely to have been lingering on a shelf for longer, compromising freshness.

Do you really need to grind your own?

Yes, the mark of a true connoisseur has always been whether or not they grind their own beans. Lewis Spencer of Coffee Direct says: “Pre-ground coffee simply cannot retain the same potent flavors. The moment air starts interacting with coffee particles, they begin to dissipate. With ground coffee, you basically have a larger surface area, which increases the coffee-to-air interactions. "