Food & Drink

A gentleman's guide to... coffee

When lunch hour hits and it's your turn to suggest a place for a good coffee, it's time to impress by knowing more than enough to tell your colleagues the difference between your arabica and robusta coffee. GQ talks to Director Jeremy Challender and General Manager Tom Hopkinson of Prufrock Coffee to learn the cheat guide.

By Jordan Bunker

11 August 2015

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Do talk about the bean origin

"The most famously expensive and desirable beans right now within speciality coffee would be geisha, which is a variety from Panama, specifically from the farm Hacienda Esmeralda.

If you are going to name drop that's the name to drop. Failing that, talk about your washed Ethiopian."

Don't be afraid of using milk and sugar

"There's absolutely no shame in putting sugar or milk in your coffee if it's imbalanced. For example if it's excessively bitter, stick some sugar in it and it'll give it some balance, kind of like lemonade. You won't get any flak for ordering milk drinks and adding sugar."

Do understand the science behind a good coffee

"Definitely understand that brew ratio is a legit term. You work it out by weighing the coffee that goes into the group [the little metal thing that clips into a coffee machine] and weigh the water. This is the brew ratio."

Don't gloat about the crema (the foam layer on your espresso). Just stir it

"The crema, a very desirable sign of a good espresso is actually by itself not very tasty, so stirring it actually spreads it out as a lot of the sugars come together at the bottom.

So somebody that says I love the crema is a little bit behind the times."

Do drink your coffee in bone china

"In bone china coffee cools down faster because the porcelain is thinner. You want a cup of coffee to last around twenty minutes to appreciate it across the whole range of flavours.

Thicker mugs means it stays at roughly the same temperature for too long."

Do think in ounces when buying coffee

"8oz is a latte, 6oz is a flat white, and 4oz is a cortado. Traditionally an espresso is 1oz, so you should always think in ounces."

The coffee terminology you need to know

Processing "You need to know your coffee processing. Washed.

Natural. Pulped natural. It's like knowing red wine from white wine."

Washed

In this process, water is the emphasis. The coffee cherry is brought to the wet mill where it is then pulped and the outermost fruit skin is removed. Washed is what most people prefer, and tastes more acidic than most.

Natural

The coffee cherries are picked and dried as full cherries. The green seed is taken out, leaving the other layers behind. The flavour profile of a good natural is like dried fruit, but when it's bad it can taste a little composty and fermented.

Pulped Natural

The skin is removed from the coffee cherry, leaving the fruity mucilage in one piece during the drying stage.

Acidity

The Acidity of a coffee is a great bullshitter's term. So washed is always more acidic, natural is often more sweet and has more body."

Arabica

Speciality coffees are all Arabica, which at its best has flavour notes ranging from floral jasmine, to fruity apricot, to nuts, caramel, and cocoa.

Robusta

Robusta is native to lower-lying areas of West Africa. It's cheaper to grow and more resistant to climate change.

It's much more bitter and has less sweetness and acidity. Typical flavour notes are tobacco, leather, black pepper, and rubber.

Robusta also has nearly twice as much caffeine.

Want to learn more? Visit Prufrock Coffee to get your coffee fix and take part in their coffee tasting sessions. Prufrock Coffee is located at 23-25 Leather Lane, London, EC1N 7TE.