"Roast It Right. Sell It Right. Serve It Right"

Prufrock Cafe, London

An opinionated definition of third-wave coffee terms

• Chemex: A one-piece hourglass-shaped coffeemaker that is revered by coffee purists for brewing the most impeccable coffee possible. Worth trying once or twice, but the subtle differences may not be noticeable to the average coffee drinker.
• Cold Brew: A method where coffee is made overnight using a brewing method that requires no application of heat, resulting in coffee lower in acid and caffeine. In the warmer seasons this is a great way to make iced coffee at home.
• Cupping: The process of tasting finished coffee, not unlike tasting wine. Coffee isn’t swallowed but is instead loudly sucked over the palate and swished around the mouth in order to identify flavour and aroma notes. Not for everyone, but an exciting way to experience coffee for all that it can be.
• Direct Trade: When coffee roasters buy directly from the farm rather than from a bean broker. This results in a higher profit for the farmer and quality assurances.
• Estate: A defining term for wine and coffee, meaning that the grapes or beans were all grown on a single farm. Most wine and coffee uses raw material from many locations.
• Fair Trade: A certification program and social movement that aims to help producers in developing countries receive a fair price for their product.
• Latte art: Images created by pouring perfectly steamed milk into a shot of espresso, leaving a design or image behind. Watch for “bad” latte art, used by “drawing” on the top of the drink—true latte art uses only pouring motions to make the design. Latte art is more than beautiful, it signifies perfectly steamed coffee.
• Single origin: A single type of bean, collected from a single farm and roasted using only one roasting technique.
• Terroir: Taken from the French word for land—terre. It is the taste and flavour imparted to fruit, vegetables, meat, or dairy by the environment (soil, topography, climate) in which it is grown or raised. 

(source: http://www.buffalospree.com)

    Five steps to the best cappuccino

1. Know where your beans come from.
2. Freshness. "You need to know when the coffee was roasted." Three weeks is optimum.
3. Favour a burr grinder, not one of those helicopter blades because they don't grind evenly.
4. Get a good-quality machine with a stable temperature.
5. Keep the frothing wand clean. "If you overheat the milk it loses its sweetness."