How to be your own barista

Brew a perfect cup of coffee at home

A genuine coffee lover can truly appreciate the value of a flavourful morning cup - a daily ritual for those who crave an amazing start to the day. While a bad coffee can potentially ruin your day (and mood), a perfect brew can get you active and raring to go. Your creative juices start flowing and your mood peaks.
A true coffee enthusiast knows that it is not that easy to brew a perfect cup; it is an art as much as it is a science. However, you can achieve perfection by understanding and executing a few fundamentals and through persistent trials and improvement. This requires an experimentation of different roasts, origins, and preparation methods, since the right way to make coffee is the way you like it the best.   
1. Undeniably, a great taste comes from great beans and the trick is in always using freshly roasted ones. The aroma dissipates if the beans are stored for too long after roasting. Therefore, buy fresh roasts in small batches only, which can be consumed within two weeks.
2. To preserve the delicate aroma of freshly-roasted coffee, it has to be stored in an airtight jar and should be freshly grounded just before brewing. The size of the grind is equally vital to bringing out the taste, as finely-ground beans may be bitter to the palate while beans that are too coarse may taste flat.
3. I am sure you have never given water as much importance as freshly roasted and grounded coffee beans. But from now on, make sure you use filtered or bottled water if you are not sure about the taste and odour of tap water; avoid distilled or soft water. More importantly, be aware of the right temperature of water; it should not be boiling and scald the grounds, just hot enough to draw out their flavours.
4. The Coffee-to-Water ratio gives the right strength to the beverage. The 'Golden Ratio' should be one to two tablespoons of ground coffee for every six ounces of water, which can be adjusted to suit individual preference.
5. Preparing coffee is not rocket science; it is as much about precision and consistency as much as it is about beans, freshness and the grind. Following the same steps over and over will help you identify your mistakes and eliminate them to gradually better the quality of your brew. There is always room to improve, explore and innovate, and following these steps will help you ensure a consistently perfect cup every morning.
(The author is co-owner and Roastmaster at Specialty Batch Coffee, a licensed instructor at the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and the Coffee Education and Championships Coordinator for the Organisers of the International Coffee and Tea Festival.)

• Food and Dining