Whilst my affinity for beer is well known around campus, those who know me well will also know that I’m almost as passionate about coffee and chocolate. It’s not an overly unusual sight to see me wandering campus with a coffee plunger in my hand, filled with that gloriously dark liquid that so sustains me. As such I thought it might be nice to discuss some of the niceties and gleanings I’ve observed with regard to the beverage we so often take for granted.

It’s pretty hard to wander around campus without noticing several cafes where espresso is sold. Espresso in principle is a great way of brewing coffee, but often the results are quite variable. Now I drink my coffee black, and as such I take great notice of the full flavour (flaws inclusive) of a shot of espresso. For those that drink the milkier espresso based beverages, well steamed milk does a very good job of covering the flaws in a mediocre shot of espresso. Given that your flat white or latte tends to be a tad more popular than espresso in its purest form, a lot of baristas do a much better job of the milk than the coffee. If you want a good shot of espresso, it’s best to find a barista who prefers to drink short blacks. Chances are they make more effort when it comes to their preferred beverage. Cafes that roast their own coffee are also usually a good bet.

If, like me, you become disillusioned with the variability of espresso and/or feel the need to spend less money on your brew, a plunger or French press is a good option. If you know what you’re doing it’s easy to make consistently good coffee that way. My advice on making plunger coffee is to a) use a quality coffee, b) make it quite strong and c) add a little cold water to the grind before adding the hot water. This helps prevent you from burning the coffee so that it doesn’t become too bitter.

If you want to try something a bit different and interesting I’d suggest going to a cafe called Ben, on Fort St, where you can try vacuum siphon filter coffee. The result is a very smooth black coffee which I’d highly recommend.

Next week look out for my run down of Beervana.