For many of us our idea of coffee at home is a spoonful of instant coffee, hot water, milk and sugar.
Whilst this kind of coffee is convenient for most and provides that caffeine hit we need to get our day going, is it really an enjoyable way to drink coffee or is there more we can do to enjoy our coffee as well as get the caffeine rush we crave?
The simplest answer to this is to get out the door and go to your favourite coffee shop for a drink made by a skilled barista using freshly ground coffee beans.
However, what if you just can’t face leaving the house, whether because of recent storms or you just can’t face socialising right now. There is a way, but where do you begin?
First and foremost is to consider how you wish to brew your coffee, there are many methods out there all with their different merits, if you’re not sure what suits you, ask the staff at Rubis Coffee Lounge & Bar, who are all trained in different coffee equipment, or take a look on the website for some ideas.
Once you have your brewing equipment the most important part is the coffee. Many people are unaware of the amount of different variables there are when it comes to extracting good coffee and are often misled by marketing from major coffee companies.
Two of the most important factors are when the coffee was roasted and where has the coffee come from?
There are many different coffee growing regions around the globe with different species of coffee plant, the altitudes, soils and growing methods affect the flavours.
Typically, the sort of stuff you get in your instant coffee is from a species called Robusta, which contains a lot of caffeine but also a lot of bitter and bad coffee flavours.
Arabica is a more expensive species which you will find is speciality coffee shops and is what I would recommend you look for. If the bag doesn’t say where it was grown or what farm it is from chances are that it is a poor quality coffee bean.
Supermarkets will have coffee which displays a “best before” date, which really means “how long can we safely sell this for?”.
In reality coffee is more similar to fresh food and whilst it can be used more than a month from roasting, the flavour will change rapidly. When looking to buy coffee always ask what the roasting date was. Most good coffee roasters will always display this.
Tip: Avoid supermarkets, support small independent stores who are much more likely to sell the good coffee.
