We spoke to one of the foremost voices on great coffee in Ireland, four times Irish barista champion Colin Harmon, and asked how can Irish Mirror readers ensure the brew the best cup possible at home.

You might be surprised to learn that 3fe founder Colin Harmon - who owns the biggest independent roastery and a string of great cafes and eateries - does not recommend spending a fortune on an espresso machine for home use.

Instead his advice is to brew filter coffee at home. Not only is it less expensive and easier to get right consistently, it's also more enjoyable as you get to experience the nuances and subtleties in the flavours of the many single origin coffees that you can buy.

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"If you're tasting different origins to espresso, It's quite an intense process and it's hard to understand the nuance of the coffee. It's like getting hit by a bus and somebody asking you what the registration plate was.

"But with filter coffee, it's more drawn out, the flavours are more kind of subtle and it's easy to absorb it because it's not as intense. So, I always say the people filter coffee at home, Leave the espresso to the masters."

Colin Harmon at the 3fe roastery
Colin Harmon at the 3fe roastery

"You could make a filter coffee at home as well as we can make it. It's a very achievable thing to do. And the ritual of it is quite grounding. I love making coffee in the morning and taking my time doing it, it's a really enjoyable process. If you use a good quality water, like something that's not too hard about too soft, and fresh ground coffee, you know, getting your ratios right, it's a wonderful hobby, let alone the taste and the caffeine that goes with it.

"It's also a better way to understand coffee than espresso."

Colin Harmon at the 3fe roastery
Colin Harmon at the 3fe roastery

The Irish 3fe brand is synonymous with quality coffee. It's a brand you will see in cafes, restaurants and shops around the country — and the firm delivers bags of freshly roasted beans direct to tens of thousands of Irish homes.

You can buy all the coffee you need, and all the kit too, on the 3fe website.

We recommends the Chemex as the best way to brew filter coffee at home, but you can also use a V60 dripper which is a more straightforward process that's ideal for just one cup. And the Aeropress is a great option too.

One of the most crucial factors in brewing the perfect cup of coffee is freshness. You need your coffee freshly ground, and the beans you use must be freshly roasted too - preferably in the past four weeks though up to three months will often be fine.

"Once we get the coffee delivered here, we want to get rid of it as soon as possible," Colin told IrishMirror.ie.

"Because It's not like wine, it won't get better over time. As soon as you pull a coffee cherry off a tree, it's dying. Everything is just getting worse. And so we want to get the coffee processed and shipped over here and then get it into a roaster to roast as fast as possible because, while it never tastes bad, what happens is that those favours get muted over time.

"So if you leave it sitting there for six months, 12 months, 18 months, all those flavours die away. So we want the coffee at its best when it's most vibrant. And in truth, most of the coffee that we land here won't last more than one month. In some cases, it's gone in days, depending on the size of the lot."

Here are the top tips that we picked up from our morning with the 3fe team at their roastery in Glasnevin...

1. Use beans that have been freshly roasted in Ireland, preferably within a month of the date of roasting which should always be displayed on the bag of beans. Some brands especially those sold in supermarkets will suggest that the beans will last for one year but they will have lost a lot of flavour over that time. Use beans within three months of roasting as a maximum but preferably within the first four weeks.

2. Do not use beans until seven to ten days after they were roasted (as they will be full of gases that you want to dissipate.)

3. Always grind your beans freshly yourself just before you brew your coffee.

4. Buy a proper home coffee grinder such as the Baratza Encore which is an entry-level conical burr grinder that delivers incredible consistency for home brews.

5. Grind your freshly roasted beans to suit the method of brewing. A fine grind suits espresso. A coarse grind suits French press. A medium grind suits the Chemex.

6. Use 60g of ground coffee for every one litre of water. Or 30g of coffee for half a litre. 15g of coffee for 250ml of water. Once you have got your consistency right you can tweak these measurements to suit your own taste. Add more coffee if you prefer a stronger brew, for example.

7. Use decent quality water that is neither too hard or too soft. You will get best results from filtered water or bottled water.

8. Make sure the water is the right temperature. You don't want to use boiling water for filter coffee. 94 degrees is ideal. You can buy kettles which will allow you to set the exact temperature of your water. (This is also useful for brewing green tea and white tea.)

9. Buy a gooseneck kettle for pouring over your water slowly and evenly.

10. Buy a digital weighing scales for measuring both your coffee and your water. One litre of water weighs roughly one kg. 250ml of water weighs 250g.

You can find out more information including specific brewing guides at 3fe.com

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