How to make the perfect cup of coffee… according to PETER HITCHENS
Peter Hitchens argues that good coffee has become hard to find, displaced in Britain by bitter espresso drinks and instant coffee. He traces his appreciation of coffee to a cup served on a train from Calais to Paris when he was 14, which changed how he understood the drink.
He recalls preferring that coffee’s fresh-ground aroma and balanced taste, with hot milk, and contrasts it with the instant coffee he drank after returning to Oxford. The article presents his personal search for a way to recreate that first experience, while criticising the coffee commonly served in Britain.
In short
- Hitchens says Britain has lost sight of good coffee.
- A cup on a train to Paris shaped his taste.
- He prefers coffee that tastes freshly ground, not bitter or weak.