Brew master Felix Daniel Mathew in action at Cafe Coffee Day. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Teaching consumers how to brew the best cup of coffee at home is the goal of Cafe Coffee Day’s Coffee Festival 2010. As part of a month-long promotion, customers can ask the in-house brew master any question about making coffee. They can also try their hand at making coffee and even get a brew-master certificate for themselves.

“People are not confident about coffee. So we decided to train the consumer on how to get the kind of coffee they like at home,” said Felix Daniel Mathew, F&B manager, Cafe Coffee Day.

The champion brew-master was in the city last week for the launch of the festival that CCD believes will increase coffee appreciation, and thus sales. “The kind of coffee we serve at the cafe cannot be made at home. Cappuccino, for example, requires foamed milk that you need professional equipment for. But a good coffee experience at home will make people open up to coffee and get them to try out different brews at the cafe,” Mathew explained.

On offer are different kinds of home-brewing equipment like the French press or plunger and the stovetop espresso maker. Making the right choice from a range of different kinds of coffee is vital to get the flavour you like. “I think Arabicaah will go down well here because it’s lighter and smoother. It’s also a nice aromatic coffee and perfect for that morning cuppa, when you want to wake up your senses. For the evening, one can choose Dark Forest, which is stronger,” he suggested.

Once you know how to make the perfect cup, it is time to learn to enjoy it. “The natural taste of coffee is strong and bitter, but you should not let that overwhelm you. Roll it in your mouth. The aftertaste is the real flavour of the coffee.”

Coffee has as much of aroma and flavour as tea, Mathew claimed. Different coffees grown in different places have different flavours. Indian coffee is spicy, because it is often grown alongside spices. To complement those latent flavours, Mathew has experimented with adding spices like cardamom and cinnamon to the coffee. He has also tried more innovative brews with different chutneys.

An easy-to-make cooler:

Brew a cup of coffee with15g (three spoons) of Morning Java in 150 ml of water. Add ice and cold milk and a sweetener (sugar or condensed milk) to taste and shake well. Enjoy your homemade cold coffee.