Top UK barista hosts a ‘guide to coffee’

To celebrate Cravendale milk’s sponsorship of this year’s UK Latte Art Championship, Barista trainer Paul Meikle-Janney hosted a ‘guide to coffee’ masterclass last week at the Century Club on Shaftesbury Avenue, London, where he guided guests through the fundamentals of excellent coffee, from the beans used, right through to pouring the perfect espresso.

Coffee has proved to be the most popular drink in the world and the second most traded commodity after oil.

Every year, more than 400 billion cups of coffee are drunk around the world – that is a massive 70 million cups every day in Britain alone. The average Brit consumes 3-4 cups of coffee every day.

However, very few people know and think about where coffee originates from. Peter explained: "So few people take attention to coffee. People are serving up reasonable coffee at the moment and bigger chains have raised the bar a little bit, but there are still big improvements to be made."

He continued: "There has been a shift in overall standards. For instance, at top-end restaurants and hotels we see top chefs explaining how and where they source their meats from, but coffee has been pushed aside.

"Everyone knows how many bad cups of coffee they have – but the skills and support are not provided to improve the quality of coffee and how it should be served up."

There are four things that a good tasting coffee which are - quality beans, fresh beans, good textured grinder and the right temperature of water.

There are two main types of coffee plant – Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are more premium and are very citrus in flavour. The beans are from East Africa and Latin America and are commonly used in espresso based drinks.

Meanwhile Robusta beans are grown in Africa, Brazil and Indonesia. With twice as much caffeine as Arabica beans, Robusta tends to be used in instant coffee and ground blends. They are more rounded in shape and have an earthier, punchy flavour to it.

Good quality coffee comes from beans that have been hand-selected. Unexpectedly to most people's surprise, they come in a green colour and do not smell like coffee, but more like dried peas.

But it's not only the quality of the bean that is essential. The roasting process is also vital. Roasting is key to the flavour, drawing out the natural, sweet flavours of coffee. Once the bean has been roasted, it can deteriorate very quickly so it must be sealed to hold the flavour.

The bean is at its premium level two weeks after it has been roasted. Once the beans are secured, they have a shelf life of around 12 months.

So, why, in some consumer's opinions, are we served up poor coffee in the UK? The answer is all in the water levels.

When pouring an espresso, the waiter or waitress should allow between 20-30 seconds for the coffee to pour. For convenience and time, many restaurants, hotels and bars speed up this process. But what they don't know is that by rushing the process and allowing the water to flow a lot quicker through the machine, they are actually extracting all of the flavour out of the coffee.

If the water flows too quickly, it makes the coffee flavourless, and if it is too slow, it causes bitterness in the taste.

Paul moved on to demonstrate the difference between a good espresso and a bad. He explained that a good espresso should settle out like a Guinness – rich and creamy on top. It should have a slow steady flow through the liquid and should be brown in colour and rich in texture.

If people add more water, they are pulling the oils and goodness out of the drink, leaving it smelling old, dusky and almost ash-tray like.

Paul audits for big chains and actually times how long it takes for people to pour an espresso. If they fail to keep within the time frame, that individual is given penalty points and fined a sum of money.

Filtered coffee is also becoming more popular as people's knowledge starts to increase.

Paul explained: "Customers are being offered a lot more now from big chains. Coffee companies have also started to give people more information about how the coffee has been processed, what from and so on. However, in order for this to improve, the public needs to demand this more and coffee companies need to start supplying and acting on them."