Right....time to talk about another "love of my life"......coffee
.
Now, yes, I do like the odd cup of tea, and in actual fact, authentic Ginseng tea from China tastes great......it's just that Coffee is something I've been addicted to for a loooooooong time.
It all started when, during my A-Levels, my physics teacher laughed his ass off after learning that we didn't like coffee and promised us that we'd be "drinking loads" before we finished Uni.
He wasn't wrong
.
So where to start?
Well with the beans themselves. There are 3 broad categories if you walk into Whittards - Strong, Medium and Mild. However, this is a poor guide on it's own.
I much prefer to rank coffee according to to where in the world it is grown.
As an example, Costa Rican coffee can taste quite nice depending on it's "type".
Conversely, most Kenyan AA coffee leaves a quite acidic aftertaste that doesn't mix too well with milk (makes me feel slightly queasy if I drink too much AA latte) so I would recommend drinking it neat in an espresso instead.
Going from the worst to what I consider the best is any Brazilian blend I've had.....always nice and mellow, perfect for any time of day, simply the nicest I've tasted to date.
In between are all the other blends and regions: Guatemala Elephant, Turkish, Indonesian/Java...etc etc.
Even though they grow differently and may taste different from different regions (us. due to subspecies of bean) and be roasted differently, we generally only have 2 types of been used: r = Coffea robusta, m = Coffea robusta and Coffea arabica, and a = Coffea arabica (from wikipeadia):
So how about the making of coffee? Well can I first just say that
this is NOT coffee:
It is in fact the spawn of the devil
.
No, basic coffee is ground beans that are then passed through a filter with hot water to make a passable drink (filter coffee).
Then we have "Proper" coffee, on the other hand, which is a beverage based on an
espresso.
An espresso is made by passing high pressure steam through a tightly packed "cake" of ground coffee. The coffee is tightly packed into the "hopper" - the more tightly packed, the thicker (and better) the crema that is created on top (the espresso is the dark brown liquid, the crema is the lighter coloured froth that forms a "head" on top):
OK, so how do you get this small cup of 30ml (1fl.oz = 2 tblespoons by vol) of dark creamy goodness?
Well you buy an espresso machine of course. Now, you may think it's "uppity" but actually, espresso machines are very cheap nowadays.
You really want to buy from a specialist maker like Krups (poor customer service but great machines), Gaggia, Fiorenzato, Francis! Francis! etc etc.
DeLonghi/Kenwood/Morphy Richards and other such tat are OK, but they make ironing boards and washing machines too.....hardly "specialised" are they?
I myself have a Krups that only cost about £90 (under the cost of three Wii games) so it's not really "posh"....anyone can own one on the cheap (like me) and get at least 2-3 years out of it...and they look nice too
:
(the thing that looks a bit like an oversized spoon in the bottom right is the hopper btw).
Before that, how do I get the coffee into the machine? Easy. I recommend using beans and buying a cheap £15 grinder to grind them yourself. To keep the beans "fresh", store them in a sealed container in the freezer (which prevents the oils from evaporating away and thus preserving the flavour).
A set of beans can be kept for
at most 1 month this way whilst still preserving the freshness.
So get the beans out of the freezer, scoop out how much you need via the measuring spoon, grind, place freshly ground beans into hopper, press down firmly to compact with the "tamper" and away you go.
So what about these different types of drink then? Well the espresso (1 shot = volume as above) can be used to make all sorts of drinks.....here are but a few:
Latte: 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed milk
Cappuccino: 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 frothed milk
Café au Lait: 1/2 double espresso, 1/2 steamed milk
Machiatto:2/3 espresso, 1/3 frothed milk
Mocha: 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 chocolate milk
Americano: 1/3 espresso (sometimes double shot), 2/3 hot water (add a bit of milk if wanted)
Now the above is by no means a definitive list, as what some people call a latte, others call a café and others measure out a cappuccino differently etc etc, so it isn't exactly "standardised", but the above is a good general guide for you.
I can't be bothered with all this nonsense! Seriously, it only takes me about 10 min tops to make one...a nice little break if you're at home.
Nonsense, pure nonsense! O.K. O.K. I get the message.....if you don't want to make it yourself, here are some places where you can buy it yourself, ready made (I've ranked the 5 most recognisable commercial offerings for you.....most small independant cafes can rank right up there if not outright beat 'em):
- Caffe Nero - Simply lovely....well made and delicious (and they have ickle loyalty stamps so your 11th one's free
) - Starbucks - O.K., I know some people view them with the same contempt as McDonalds, but they do do a great coffee (even if not the best).
- Pret A Manger - should be renamed Pret a Tentious? - the coffees are nice though.
- Costa Coffee - despite the name, use a higher amount of AA type coffee giving an acidic aftertaste that doesn't go well with lattes imho....
- Coffe Republic - Way too milky most of the time.....stopped going there years ago (they may have improved since then
)
What about online? The two places I recommend online are
Boaters for buying beans (ground/unground - make nice presents too), and to generally find out a bit more info in the murky world of "Barrista's and their wares" try
Coffee Geek.
Finally, any concerns? Not so much concerns, more "mild cautions".......it can raise blood pressure (don't have
too much long term if you have b.p. probs that you are trying to lower by altering diet [the first step incl. reducing salt intake etc], generally though it's quite safe), it is a diuretic (makes you pee a lot)....drink lots of water to compensate (in Europe, cafe's usually serve coffee with a glass of water as standard), and you can get addicted (I get headaches if I haven't had my daily cup......I'm currently trying to cut down), and insomnia (try not to drink any after 6pm if you want an early night).
Coffee.
MK Friendlies: 2148 8276 9222 (RYE)
it can get a little strained when we are on holidays sometimes so i'd also like to big up starbucks (they have saved me from a day of misery on many ocassions)
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