The Water

Good quality water is essential to the perfect coffee. Ideally you should use filtered water (see web information on automatic coffee machines with water filters). Experts say you should go as far as using pure mineral water, but lets face it, that’s a very expensive option.



The Grind

The grind varies from coarse for a plunger to flour-like for Turkish coffee. Many coffee machines today have conical grinders built in. Ensure the grind is even to ensure smooth water flow and pack it down well. Moisten the coffee with cold water first to bring out maximum flavour. At least 7g of good coffee is needed for each 210ml of water. But note that too much coffee will make your drink more bitter and obviously too little gives a pale and tasteless result.



Sugar

Connoisseurs say sugar masks the true taste of coffee, but most of us mere mortals enjoy a sweet drink. When using sugar avoid brown and coloured sugars. White sugar dissolves better and won’t destroy the ‘head’ on your espresso.



Miscellaneous

Serve coffee straight away, reheating gives coffee a nasty stale flavour. Keep your coffee machine clean with the right machine cleaners, residues can taint an otherwise great drink (see chapter on Jura machines). Finally, choose a good brand of coffee, that is a freshly roasted, good quality Arabica. For example, anything in the Lazumba range.