How to choose your coffee

Skip the jargon. Start with how you actually like to drink it.

Most coffee advice starts with words that don’t help: origin, process, score. A more useful question is what you want the cup to feel like.

Three honest questions

• Do you want it light and fragrant, or heavy?
• Do you drink it black, or with milk?
• Is this an everyday cup, or one you sit with?

If you want aroma and a lighter cup, start with Arabica. If you want weight, bitterness and a cup that stands up in milk, start with Robusta. If you want both and don’t want to choose, a stated blend is the point of a blend.

Choose by personality, not by jargon.

That’s the whole method. The rest — grind, ratio, time — you can adjust once you know which cup you’re trying to make.