THE ART OF COFFEE:At a private tasting, JOHN WILSONdiscovered that the more he learned about coffee the more it seemed like wine
‘COFFEE IS A fruit and should taste of fruit.” So says Karl Purdy the man behind The Coffee Angel chain of mobile coffee shops, based mainly in the IFSC in Dublin 1. Purdy’s mission is to get us all drinking good coffee. He argues that it does not require a huge amount of time, nor a lot of money, and the rewards are great.
Apparently we do not need all of those Celtic Tiger espresso machines. He says: “There is no point in having an espresso machine if you haven’t got the proper grinder to go with it. I don’t mean one these little whirly-blade things, I mean a proper burr grinder. But even then you are always going to be chasing something unattainable at home.”
Instead he recommends a cafetière or a drip filter. “It will be completely different, but very good. An espresso machine is like an amplifier of what the coffee is; if there is even the slightest mistake that error will be amplified, because it such an intense process.” This means that if you start off with bad coffee, it will only taste worse. “There is a litany of faults that I come across in coffee shops, from incorrect tamping, over-roasting or stale beans.”
Purdy put on a tasting of a range of coffees from around the world for me in his Dublin workshop. Each had a distinct character and style. The more I learned about coffee, the more it seemed like wine. The soil, the weather, the variety of bean all play a vital role in the final taste. The treatment after picking and the roasting are equally important. The tasting terms are very similar to wine, too. You just have to swop the alcohol for caffeine.
The perfect cup of coffee takes about seven minutes to make, and surprisingly little expensive gadgetry. A digital scales helps, a measuring jug, and a bur grinder (I bought one for less than €50) but other than that, a standard cafetière or a drip filter will give you a very good cup.
Purdy says a dripper will give finer, more aromatic coffee, with more acidity and high notes. Coffee from a cafetière gives deeper, slightly muddy notes, but it is still pretty good. You should always grind your own beans, and do it daily. The most important thing is to buy good fresh coffee. A pack of coffee should always have a roasting date, and not just a best-before date. It begins to lose aroma and flavour a month after roasting, so buy little and regularly.
To make a cup of coffee, measure out 60 grams of coffee per litre (or 15 grams for one cup), and 250 mls of water. With a cafetière, give it four minutes, stirring once after a minute. A bloom or foam should appear on the top, indicating freshness. Pour as soon as possible. A dripper is even easier. Warm your cup, put the dripper on top, and pour water over slowly. “All coffee should taste clean, never bitter, and always have fruit,” says Purdy.
As one who normally preferred a stiff espresso with spoonfuls of sugar, my own Damascene conversation took time. I now enjoy one cup of delicious light coffee, with a half-teaspoon of sugar or less (sugar tends to blur the flavour) at around 11am clock each day. It is a much more refreshing drink, and enjoyable too.
Online coffee sources
The Coffee Angel, coffeeangel.com; Has Bean Coffee, hasbean.co.uk; Coffee Roasters, squaremilecoffee.com.
