The Coffee Experience
In every cup of coffee, there are three key characteristics that create its overall flavour: aroma, acidity and body.
Aroma
Coffee can have up to 1000 aromatic compounds that contribute to its profile. A coffee aroma can be: fruity, caramel, roasted, cereal, rubber, fermented, earthy, spicy, floral, nutty, and even cooked.
Acidity
When it comes to coffee, acidity isn’t what you think it is. It’s a sharp and vibrant taste, a tingling on the tongue. Good acidity tastes bright and crisp, whereas a coffee without enough acidity tastes flat and dull.
Body
Body describes the texture of the coffee as it coats your tongue, and the weight of the coffee as it settles in your mouth. A full-bodied coffee is rich and heavy, whereas a coffee without much body is thin and watery.
For many people, brewing coffee is an art form. Particularly for the professionals – the baristas. They pride themselves on their coffee skills and can whip up foamy works of art. Want to bring out your inner barista? Here are just a few different ways to brew a delicious cup:
Drip Coffee
You can make drip coffee by placing fine coffee grounds on top of a coffee filter over your cup. Then slowly pour hot water over it and wait as the coffee drips through to create a smooth cup.
French Press
If you have coarser coffee grounds, you can use a French press. To do this, you mix the grounds with hot water, stir and let it steep. After a few minutes, plunge the plunger and start pouring.
Espresso
If you’re after something a little stronger, a stove-top espresso pot brews coffee by passing boiling water through ground coffee, pressurised by steam. The result? A perfect espresso.
Turkish
Turkish coffee is made with a special pot called a cezve. Extremely fine coffee grounds, sugar, cardamom and water are added to the cezve and brought to the boil, for an intensely rich coffee.
Instant coffee has a longer shelf life than most coffees. But whether you like your coffee made from beans or granules, it’s important to store it correctly.
There are so many different ways to enjoy coffee. Whether you like yours simply black or flamboyantly flavoured, piping hot or ice cold, with added cream or a splash of liquor, there’s a coffee to suit whatever mood you’re in.
Flavoured coffees have been around for centuries and you can find them in coffee shops and supermarkets all over the world. Flavours can be added to the beans directly, or as flavoured syrups mixed in with fresh brews. Some of the most popular tastes are chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, hazelnut and almond, but there are many more exotic combinations.