Roast winner: our tips for making the perfect cup of coffee

There are almost as many different ways to brew a great cup of coffee as there are varieties of bean – and with a bag of Bettys coffee by your side it’s difficult to go too far wrong. But if you’re looking for extra advice, we went to Tim Medley, one of our very own in-house coffee gurus, for some tips to lift your home barista skills from lukewarm to piping hot.

Our guide to the perfect brew

We recommend using a traditional cafetière, just as we do in our Café Tea Rooms. However, a V60 coffee dripper or AeroPress will also result in a top-quality brew.

Step 1: Just like warming a teapot, we recommend heating your cafetière pot by giving it a quick swirl with some boiled water.
Step 2: Add a tablespoon of ground coffee for every mug. Approximately, anyway, as you’ll discover what your own preference is. If you prefer a stronger coffee, add a little more and vice versa. If you are grinding your beans, pick a coarse setting for cafetière.
Step 3: Fill the cafetière with boiled water. That’s boiled, not boiling – unlike making tea, you should leave it a minute to cool slightly so that it’s not coffee-scorchingly hot.
Step 4: Give it a quick swirl with a spoon, then allow to brew for 4-5 minutes. We do apologise if this seems to be the longest 4-5 minutes of your life.
Step 5: Finally, push the plunger all the way down: if it resists, wait a little longer. Pour and enjoy your way.

For cup champions

If you’d like to take your coffee making to the next level, these extra details will ensure a perfectly consistent and tasty brew.

Freshly ground
The compounds in coffee that lend each variety its unique flavour and aroma soon start to degrade when exposed to air and moisture. It may take a few extra seconds, but freshly grinding your beans each time means that you’ll enjoy the optimum experience from every cup.

Speciality coffee
Did you know all the coffee we source at Bettys is classed as speciality coffee? This means that our coffees all score above 80 on the internationally recognised SCA grading system, a scale ranging from 0 to an exceptional 100.

Brew with care
Here at Bettys we love to add that extra bit of time and care into every Fat Rascal, every individual chocolate and to every last cup of coffee. Taking your time when weighing, brewing and waiting for your coffee to come together is part of its craft and makes for an extra delicious end result.

Weight
Weighing out your coffee will allow you to create your perfect coffee every time through consistency. Are you worried that getting scales involved will tip the balance between coffee fan and coffee fanatic? Embrace your new status and enjoy a cup precisely calibrated to your tastes.

Time
How long you brew your coffee is up to you. The longer you brew your coffee for, the stronger it will taste and vice versa.

Fun fact
The roast number on your packet of coffee has nothing to do with the strength of your coffee but is more about the taste. Roasting brings out the aromas and flavours locked inside the green coffee beans. A higher number means the beans will look darker, and the taste will typically include smoky, cedar and bitter strong elements, with less inherent individual flavour. With a lighter roast, the beans will look lighter in colour, and more natural coffee flavours such as floral, chocolate, or fruity notes will pull through.

The bean team

Our Bettys coffee has roast numbers from 3 to 5, giving you a great range to choose from. Here’s our breakdown of roasts and flavours to help with picking the best bag for you.

Roast 3

Bettys Café Blend Coffee: Served every day in our Café Tea Rooms, this blend of Kenyan, Central and South American coffees is slow roasted and ground for freshness and aroma to suit all coffee makers.

Kenya Karatina Coffee Beans: Bursting with citrus flavours balanced with a pleasant, honeyed sweetness.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Beans: An exquisite balance of smooth body, mellow flavour, and fine acidity.

World's Best Coffee Beans: Balanced with a smooth, mellow flavour and delicious citrus notes.

Roast 4:

Bettys Italian Blend Coffee: One of our signature roasts, this blend of Caribbean and Central America Arabica coffees has a luxuriously rich flavour.

Peruvian Pangoa Single Origin Coffee: Medium-dark roasted with a full, rich aroma and smooth, praline finish.

Italian Blend Coffee Beans: A rich and smooth blend of coffees from Latin America, Africa, and Indonesia.

Bettys Decaffé Blend Coffee: : Our decaffeinated coffee is a blend of specially selected top-quality Arabica beans from Brazil and Central America.

Roast 5:

Java Kalibaru Single Origin Coffee: A smooth but full-bodied coffee with dark chocolate flavours.

Our expert Tim’s Bettys coffee of choice is our Kenya Karetina: “Kenyan coffee is blackcurranty, citrus and bright and the lighter roast really highlights these inherent attributes,” he says.