I am always ready for a cup of coffee. The offer to get behind the counter at Barista’s Connaught Place outlet in Delhi was irresistible. I reached the coffee shop at 11 am and there were few groggy customers waiting for their espresso shot. Chetan Tiwari, from Barista’s beverage team came up to me and introduced himself, he was going to show me how to go about making a mean cuppa cappuccino. I was all ears. Anyway how difficult could it get to make a cup of coffee. I already make good instant coffee and we have filter coffee at home. So this is just another type of coffee right? Wrong. I did not get to go anywhere near the coffee machine for another hour after I met Chetan. I had to first understand what exactly went into the coffee millilitre by millilitre, gram by gram. I was feeling sleepy as he spoke, but kept nodding. I was faking it. If coffee is like sex, then this was not so difficult. But all the gyaan was not lost on me, as his explanation was peppered with a lot of Italian words and interesting coffee jargon.I had to understand the basics. The espresso itself is a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing very hot (but not boiling) water under high pressure through ground coffee. Then we have La Macchina: The Machine, La Miscela: The Blend of coffee, La Macino dosatore: The Grinder and La Mano: The Barista who makes it; Barista is an Italian word for an artist who prepares fine coffee. Chetan showed me how to grind a fresh batch of coffee — a mix of Arabica beans ( the ratio is a trade secret, so I was not let on that one), load the ground coffee, fix it in the espresso machine and while the ‘mouse-tails’ (that is what the drip of a good coffee extract should look like when it drips) made their way into the cups I had to take a jug of milk and get it all frothy for the espresso.A steam wand (another magical touch) is used to get steam stirred into the cold milk to raise its temperature and get it frothy. While the milk went whiz and hiss, the mousetails had disappeared over the cappuccino cups. Chetan then showed me how to get the frothy milk on the extract. “When you look at the extract, you see a lighter brown Crema on top of the extract, with which you can judge if it is a good extract or no. Secondly, the milk froth should be the exact temperature and the froth should be uniform with a mirror finish. You have got that right, so the coffee should be good. When we make a cup of coffee for the customer, we have to know just by the way it looks whether the coffee is good or bad.”So my beginner’s luck had held me in good stead, but how about a coffee for a customer? “It takes a long time and several months of training for a person to learn to brew properly. And even the presentation is an art. Each Barista is certified in the art of coffee-making to ensure our guests receive the perfect cup of coffee,” said Chetan.I took on the challenge. I will try making a cappuccino without Chetan’s help. He smiled and let me do it. I got the freshly ground coffee loaded, I got the mousetails right, and the frothy milk was ready. As I poured the milk over the extract, I was nervous. The extract rose embracing the frothy milk. Chetan’s words echoed in my head. “The milk should not be too frothy!” Did I make it too frothy, or is it just right? Watch out! Don’t let it overflow!I looked back at a design akin to a Chinese alphabet in the cup. I had done some latte art without knowing it. Chetan smiled. “Are you sure you want to be a journalist?” he asked.I was beaming. I was high on the compliment. The coffee, my baby, my first cappuccino cup then made its way to a customer, a friend of our photographer. There was no response. I guess no news is good news, at least they did not send the coffee back.So what say do you want to go out for coffee sometime?
