Claire knows the secrets of the perfect coffee

A cup of coffee now and again might be the perfect pick-me-up for most of us, but for Claire Wallace, coffee is a way of life.

Claire, who works at Machina Espresso in Edinburgh, recently won the Scottish AeroPress Championship in which professional baristas and coffee lovers compete to make the best cup.

Claire’s prize was a trip to Seattle to take part in the World AeroPress Championship, which takes place on Thursday.

So let’s start by asking what seems a fairly obvious question.

What is an AeroPress?

Turns out it’s a simple, budget buy option for those who love real coffee.

While you can spend upwards of £250 on an espresso maker, you splash out just £25 on an AeroPress and get “real” coffee at home whenever you fancy it.

Claire spent hours perfecting her winning recipe.

“I had a lot of over-caffeinated late nights. I remember sitting in my house after midnight, having had about 17 cups of coffee, wide awake and thinking this was a bad idea,” she laughs.

The sleepless nights were worth it, though.

“I didn’t expect to get past the first round,” she says. “I wanted to find out more about coffee making and meet some new people. The whole event was great, a cross between a competition and a giant party.”

This is big business with Britain’s coffee industry worth £6.2 billion in 2014. There are over 18,000 coffee shops in Britain.

What does Claire think has made the industry take off?

“It’s always been one of those affordable luxuries,” she says.

“Even at the end of the month you can go out and have a lovely cup of coffee. And now there’s an awareness of quality and people appreciate coffee the way they appreciate wine.”

She’s right. Claire talks like a wine expert, describing her winning blend as “a really nice, clean cup with lots of fruity flavours”.

What did Claire do to produce such a winning taste? It’s a bit more than a spoonful of instant and some boiling water. She talks about grinding her coffee to table salt consistency, brewing times and adding more coffee at precise intervals.

So where would Claire be without her daily dose of perfectly brewed coffee?

“Hmm,” she says, horrified at the thought. “I’d be a shaking wreck!”

Make mine a misto

Once you could simply order: “A cup of coffee, please”. Now you need a whole new language. So here’s a handy guide to the correct coffee lingo!

Misto with added steamed milk and a little foam.

Macchiato just a dab of foam.

Dry cappuccino mostly foam.

Extra dry all foam.

Flat lots of milk no foam.

God shot the perfect espresso.