The Caterer Blog

I was in the queue at my local Caffè Nero earlier today (which I fear I am addicted to) and I saw firsthand the wonderful effect the marketing bods have had on the, you'd think, simple process of buying a coffee.

An older fellow in front of me made the hesitant mistake of asking for a small black coffee and a cup of tea (ah, a coffee bar virgin I thought).

The barista, as we will now call the trained serving staff, let the black coffee request slide by and assumed the poor pup meant americano (double espresso topped up with water in Nero's case).

However small is a term that is obviously unacceptable and beaten into the new recruits during training - perhaps they're given a roasting if they use it? Mean beans - and the girl serving took umbrage at this "rude word" and chastised the customer informing him in no uncertain terms that the only option was regular or large.

Well Caterer’s Green Month may be over but you can still check out all the cumulative wit and wisdom from the series in our Green Zone.

Despite the apparent need for us all to think about our business practices and become more sustainable, I was still shocked when a glance at a Costa press release seemed to show the coffee bar group was now compacting redundant baristas to be more environmentally friendly.

Fear not, the picture is actually of Gihan Weerasinghe who was named Barista of the Year by the Whitbread owned company.

Weerasinghe represented Costa Middle East and North Africa and is based in Dubai no less.

He ultimately triumphed over 800 contestants from 750 Costa stores around the globe to take the title at a final held at the company’s Lambeth roastery in London on the 31 October and has won himself a trip to Brazil with spending money.

Second In the competition was Xu Jun (Peter) representing China and Danielle Golding, based in Plymouth, flew the flag for the UK placing third.

Costa Coffee reveals China launch plans>>

Costa to open 600th store (possibly)>>

A tall slim man and his friends huddle over a line of containers and take it in turns to noisily slurp a dark rich liquid before spitting it out and moving on to the next.

This might sound like a rowdy wine tasting session but it is actually the daily routine of the Twinings' tea tasters.

The slurping sound is so loud and sudden that it sounds positively indecent and not something you'd associate with such a refined British beverage. But with over 200 varieties of tea sold across 100 countries you can understand the experts' need to ensure consistency of quality and taste.

According to one of the tasters, it takes around five years to fully develop a tea tasting palette and as we discovered, that slurping technique is something of an art. Our feeble attempts left a lot to be desired.

With so many teas to try under the black, green and white categories it is amazing to think that they all originate from the same one plant, Camellia Sinensis. Much like wine, it is factors such as climate, altitude and humidity that account for their differences.

The bergamot oil and black tea blended Earl Grey is Twinings' biggest seller closely followed by English Breakfast although the company offers all matter of teas to suit every mood or state of mind including the Infusions.

Customers looking a bit stressed out? You could suggest Camomile and Spearment. Or if they're looking a bit sleepy serve them Lemon and Ginger.

I thought I'd give the Lapsang Souchong black variety a go. The tea leaves are flavoured by laying them over bamboo trays and smoking them with pinewood.

Sounds great but my tea-tasting palette must be pretty pathetic as I was soon reaching for the traditional English.

According to Twinings, making the perfect cuppa involves four simple steps.

1. Make sure the kettle is regularly de-scaled and use fresh water every time.
2. Use one teaspoon of tea per cup plus one teaspoon for the teapot.
3. Brew tea for three to four minutes or one to two minutes for white/green tea
4. Add milk first and then tea before serving

p.s. I always thought the rule was tea before milk but unlike Twinings I don't have 300 years of experience in tea-making so I think I'll let it rest.