Have you ever sat down to a warm, steamy mug of coffee, take a sip and just go…meh? If so, you have our sympathies. Bad coffee is intolerable, so we thought we’d share our secrets for how to make the best cup of coffee you’ll ever drink at home. And in this case, it's got to be a cappuccino.
Select the correct blend
Before you do anything, make sure you have the correct coffee waiting for you in the kitchen. Highlands Coffee offer 4 different blends of batch coffee to buy from our online store. Enough to suit everyone’s taste!
The Ben is a carefully blended combination of Arabica & Robusta blend coffee beans, which have been roasted to a dark chocolate colour.
The Bothy is a wonderfully smooth blend with an intense chocolatey flavour.
And The Loch is absolutely packed full of flavour. 100% made from Arabica beans, this coffee is a bit milder than usual, although absolutely full of taste.
For those keen on the taste but not the caffeine, our Dress Decaf coffee gives you all of the flavour without the kick. Perfect for a gentle sip at night without the worry of being wide awake at 3 am.
Use the best coffee-making appliance
A great coffee machine doesn’t always make a great coffee - but it will if you follow these steps!
We like using an espresso machine. Whenever you begin, make sure you have the coffee in the group head nice and tight - this is called tamping. Make sure you are pressing down hard enough to remove any air bubbles. Also, make sure your edges are nice and tidy. It’s important to put your group head in the machine tightly and press on the relevant button for a double espresso.
Prepare your milk
You can’t have a good cappuccino without good milk! So let’s get this part right. Many people say it's the hardest part, but once you know what you’re doing, it’ll be easy every time. And do you want to know what the secret is?
It’s all about listening and watching.
Pour your milk of choice into a jug, and then add your steam wand. In a milk jug, pour your milk in now place your steam wand in the milk. Important tip: never turn your steam wand on before you have it in the milk! It will add way too much air.
Then, hold your steam wand about 1cm under the milk and move your wand to the left-hand side. Now turn the steam on high for about 15 seconds, after which the milk should be swirling and frothing by itself. You don’t even need to do anything in these 15 seconds except look forward to your imminent coffee!
Now drop the wand a little more in the milk to heat through for around another 10-15 seconds, giving you the right amount of time to decide what biscuit or cake you’re going to enjoy. When your milk is done, turn your steam wand off and remove your jug. It's important to clean your wand straight away and purge the steam wand to clear out any milk in it.
The more often you do this, and listen to the sounds and watch the bubbles, you’ll soon learn the exact amount of time you need to keep the wand in for your perfect froth.
Bring it all together!
Now let's bring our cappuccino together. So you know, have your espresso in your cup and your milk in a jug. Give your jug a tap or two on the counter, and remove any air pockets.
Swirl your milk gently and start your pour, beginning with your cup on a tilt, slowly bringing the cup upright as you fill it with your milk. Then, if you are feeling fancy, finish with some chocolate sprinkles.
And just like that, you have created the best cappuccino using the finest beans from Wild Highland Coffee! Now, when someone asks you how to make the best cup of coffee, you'll be able to show them the Wild Highland way! Of course, coffee almost always tastes better when someone else makes it for you, so why not pop along to our coffee shop at Loch Lomond Shores and see how it’s done by professionals? Batch coffee, luxury ground coffee, frothy milk, lighter roast coffee...whatever you want, we've got it! We’d love to hear how you get on making your coffee at home!
Use the best coffee-making appliance
A great coffee machine doesn’t always make a great coffee - but it will if you follow these steps!
We like using an espresso machine. Whenever you begin, make sure you have the coffee in the group head nice and tight - this is called tamping. Make sure you are pressing down hard enough to remove any air bubbles. Also, make sure your edges are nice and tidy. It’s important to put your group head in the machine tightly and press on the relevant button for a double espresso.
Prepare your milk
You can’t have a good cappuccino without good milk! So let’s get this part right. Many people say it's the hardest part, but once you know what you’re doing, it’ll be easy every time. And do you want to know what the secret is?
It’s all about listening and watching.
Pour your milk of choice into a jug, and then add your steam wand. In a milk jug, pour your milk in now place your steam wand in the milk. Important tip: never turn your steam wand on before you have it in the milk! It will add way too much air.
Then, hold your steam wand about 1cm under the milk and with your wand to the left-hand side. Now turn the steam on high for about 15 seconds, after which the milk should be swirling and frothing by itself now. You don’t even need to do anything in these 15 seconds except look forward to your imminent coffee!
Now drop the wand a little more in the milk to heat through for around another 10-15 seconds, giving you the right amount of time to decide what biscuit or cake you’re going to enjoy. When your milk is done, turn your steam wand off and remove your jug. It's important to clean your wand straight away and purge the steam wand to clear out any milk in it.
The more often you do this, and listen to the sounds and watch the bubbles, you’ll soon learn the exact amount of time you need to keep the wand in for your perfect froth.
Bring it all together!
Now let's bring our cappuccino together. So you know, have your espresso in your cup and your milk in a jug. Give your jug a tap or two on the counter, and remove any air pockets.
Swirl your milk gently and start your pour, beginning with your cup on a tilt and slowly bringing the cup upright as you fill it with your milk. Then, if you are feeling fancy, finish with some chocolate sprinkles.
And just like that, you have created the best cappuccino using the finest beans from Wild Highland Coffee! Now, when someone asks you how to make the best cup of coffee, you'll be able to show them the Wild Highland way! Of course, coffee almost always tastes better when someone else makes it for you, so why not pop along to our coffee shop at Loch Lomond Shores and see how it’s done by professionals? Batch coffee, luxury ground coffee, frothy milk, lighter roast coffee...whatever you want, we've got it! We’d love to hear how you get on making your coffee at home!