I made coffee tonight after watching a bit of Heston Blumenthal’s latest series on Channel 4 (thanks to their 4OD service) so couldn’t resist doing some experimenting. The brew already had the headstart of fresh ground beans as I was out of pre-ground stuff and had a pack of beans in the fridge. We have a metal cafetiere (glass is a silly material for them, which breaks far too easily!) so I sat it on an oven ring on the lowest heat setting with the coffee inside while the water boiled in the kettle.

The aim was to give it some extra roast flavour and release more of the aromatic oils that contribute to coffee’s flavour. My impression was that it seemed to work pretty well although I will have to figure out some way of doing a blind taste test to be sure. It certainly didn’t hurt, although one would have to be careful not to turn up the heat too high or leave it on for too long.