Coda di topo, pelle di tigre (mouse’s tail and tiger skin).  That is the sign of a great coffee. The coffee should come out of the machine like it is a mouse tail and should have a cream on top like a tiger skin.

Our wake up alarm when we were growing up was the smell of the coffee brewing in the Bialetti.  As we grew older, we upgraded to a bigger Bialetti.  No fancy machines.  Just a top stove coffee maker.

Things have moved on since then and not necessarily for the better.  Some of the coffee around is pretty abysmal.  Those pods. Seriously. 

We like our coffee strong.  We choose our beans, we choose our type of roast and we choose the people who support us in providing the most amazing coffee (and loose leaf teas) in Herts.

Our coffees are all double shotted, unless you ask for a weaker coffee.  Our beans are a blend of mostly Arabica beans and a small percentage of Robusta to add cream and depth of flavour.  They are gently roasted by Smith’s Coffee to our specifications.  It is more of a Northern Italian roast than a Southern Italian one. 

We feel so privileged that we can just make a phone call and ask the roaster to roast coffee for us and get it delivered by the afternoon. Where else?

We can talk coffee until we are blue in the face.

Back home, we visit friends often if they make good coffee; less often if their coffee is not so good; never if they offer the granules stuff.  Life is too short for Nescafe.