Coffee Dependence

The Swedes, as The Guardian informed us yesterday, call it “fiska,: which is a more interesting name than “coffee break” and, by the sound of things, a more interesting communal office activity.

But the interest, I suspect, lies more in the conversation than in the coffee itself. This aspect is underplayed in The Guardian’s article, though it’s something I myself would rank very high. Swedish coffee, in my experience, is not the most enticing in the world, and although it might not mar a coffee break it would not necessarily improve it either. At any rate, I would want to know more than The Guardian divulges.

In Edinburgh I no longer work in an office - where I used to take pleasure in making coffee for colleagues, including the occasional editor - I have a few favourite cafes where I like to drink a coffee with family or friends. At home my breaks are more often solitary - they tend to be screen breaks from my computer - but they may also be with friends or family if  anyone is around.

The conversation is important but so, in my view, is the coffee. If I am making it myself, it’s likely to involve good fresh beans and a French-style cafetiere of appropriate size. I prefer this, on the whole, to a stove-top espresso pot - which  is something I also like (and prefer to small domestic espresso machines, which are too often disappointing, I find).

But my appliance of choice is at present the very clever plastic Aero-press, which can be bought through Amazon in the form of a coffee-making kit, complete with an accompanying measuring spoon, stirrer, filter papers and a packet of good ground coffee.

It’s an amplification of the German Melitta method, whereby you traditionally pour hot water through finely-ground  coffee in a conical filter and flask. Instead, with an Aero-press, you press the hot water through a sort of vacuum tube (at the bottom of which the coffee is waiting) directly into  a cup. It’s simple to operate and the result is genuinely flavourful. If used in conjunction with a good-quality milk frother - I employ an admittedly quite expensive  but beautifully designed and efficient Severin, also available through Amazon - it gives you a superb cappuccino and, as my wife confirms, an equally desirable latte.

 Good conversation is dependent on the quality of the accompanying coffee. Good coffee is enhanced by good conversation. For the moment, I think I have my answer to the fiska challenge.

17 August 2014