The Perfect Cup
- Written by
- Deepika Sulekh
Whether you buy it from your favourite cafe or make your own every morning, the perfect cup of coffee sets your mood for the rest of the day.
Not only your morning kick, it’s also the perfect icebreaker, date, business meeting, treat, time out, or any other reason you can think of which is what makes it so special. With New Zealand’s coffee-forward culture, our most common invitation “let’s meet for coffee” and our love for flat whites, we’ve become a huge coffee-drinking nation. We even created the flat white which then spread to the rest of the world.
So coffee is a big deal for us. But what makes that cup the ‘perfect’ one?
Fresh Beans
Fresh coffee beans are crucial to making the perfect cup. Because once roasted, they begin oxidising almost immediately, start losing flavour, and at best, last two weeks to one month. Think of roasted coffee like a fruit bowl, it’s a fresh product so will not be at its best after more than a couple of weeks. Keeping about a fortnight’s supply is probably the best way to go. A local coffee roasting company like Volcanic Coffee can keep you supplied with fresh, great tasting coffee – they know what you love and ensure you get excellent coffee every time.
Have you ever noticed the one-way valve on your packaged coffee when you buy it from the supermarket? That’s there to keep it as fresh as possible. The valve allows carbon dioxide to escape as it builds inside but doesn’t let any oxygen in.
Clean Water
Coffee experts will know that the minerals in clean, filtered water are essential for great coffee. The perfect temperature to use: 93 degrees, any hotter and it will burn the coffee, making it bitter.
Milk
While it makes for great latte art, texture and foam toppings, the quality of milk can vary the taste incredibly. Using milk softens or disguises the coffee, weakening the taste if you’re not into strong coffee. Full cream milk carries the flavour of the coffee the best, and is most commonly used, giving your cup a balance of flavour, texture and consistency, with a sweeter taste than other milks. Low fat milk has more protein but gives the coffee less body and skim milk has no fat but is also not as flavourful.
Technique
30 to 50 percent of the perfect cup is all in the technique, which is why so many of us prefer barista-made. Baristas know exactly how much coffee to use, how to grind it and how long to extract it for it to reach perfection. If it’s extracted two seconds too long for instance, it’s going to lose its flavour completely. You’ll notice baristas normally grind the beans right at the time of brewing, that’s because once ground, coffee starts losing quality almost immediately, just another technique to keep your cup fresh and full of flavour.
Ambience
Your surroundings while you enjoy your coffee are just as important as what goes into making it, and everyone loves a great café. Taupo especially has one of the best café cultures in the region, with superb coffee, quality food and funky cafes. There’s child-friendly options too – places like McCafé let you enjoy your coffee in peace while the kids let out their energy on the playground, so you won’t need to hurry.
