Freshly Brewed Coffee

During current times we’re spending much more time at home than we normally do - and that means drinking more coffee.

We enjoy our coffee brewed differently through the day. For breakfast the quick and easy route to a good cup is a cafetière. Six scoops of freshly ground coffee and boiling water produce 4 good cups of coffee at the breakfast table with minimal effort.

We avoid glass cafetières as they are far too easy to break. Our favourite cafetière is by Le Creuset and is bright yellow - ‘Soleil’ - perfect for a cheery breakfast table. The ceramic pot keeps the coffee warm during a normal breakfast but if we want a more leisurely time we also have a metal thermos cafetière which keeps the coffee warm much longer.

For a good, rough, Italian espresso we have a stove-top moka pot. Although it’s the classic design, in aluminium, ours is an eye-catching turquoise which cheers up the table. There’s no denying that stove-top espresso is gritty and bitter but for that authentic Italian experience it’s difficult to beat. We have a second moka pot which is made of stainless steel with brass accents.

Sometimes, in the afternoon, we like a simple cup of fresh, clear filter coffee. For this we have a metal filter which sits in a glass carafe. It’s a cross between a V60 and a Chemex and produces a delicious cup, although it needs to be drunk immediately as there is no heat retention.

Our preferred coffee style in the evening is Nespresso. The press-button simplicity is perfect for the end of the day when we’re too tired to think. The matching milk frother produces perfect café au lait every time. We’ve recently discovered compatible coffee pods from Blue Goose which are filled with a particularly delicious single origin Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. In our opinion, better than any of Nespresso’s own coffee pods.

We buy our coffee beans from different places but our favourite for consistency and value is Adams and Russell of Birkenhead. They offer a range of single estate coffees from around the world at the good price of £25 for three bags. We also pick up bags of beans from artisan roasters when we see them, as long as they are light to medium roast - and not the current fashion of dark, sticky beans, roasted to within an inch of their life and tasting more of old rubber than fine coffee.

Our latest improvement has been to invest in a burr grinder. Previously we used a Krupps blade grinder which is fine but inconsistent. Our new DeLonghi burr grinder works a bit like an over-size pepper mill. Simply dial in the number of cups and coarseness, press a button, and the machine produces consistently ground coffee every time.

Numerous brewing methods and pots, along with perfectly ground coffee. What more could you ask for? Ideal for topping up the caffeine during the lockdown.