Friday 14th September

I am afraid that instant coffee just doesn’t do it.  And as for those sachets of so-called Latte and Cappucino they sell nowadays, ‘just add hot water and stir’, yes, I have done that and now exactly what do I do with the gelatinous mess of baking powder, dried milk and some hint of coffee.  No, surely you don’t expect me to actually drink it do you?  I have in the past invested in a coffee machine and am sorely tempted to do so again.  However unless it is plumbed in, and very expensive you cannot achieve the pressure to properly steam heat the milk.  And then you have to clean  and de-scale it regularly.  I quite like the idea of those Nespresso machines, but I fear the milk steaming bits won’t really work.  And anyway do I really want my Latte to be that easy.  It tastes great after the morning rush-hour journey, strap-hanging and squeezed, a moment of sanity arrives in the shape of your first Latte of the day.  And this is my reward for getting up every day and slogging it to work.  And at my age too; I should really receive a medal.

But oh, when that Latte arrives and though it is almost too hot to drink you tentatively put your lips to the china (or corrugated cardboard) cup and take that first sip.  Heaven.  As the milky froth dissolves you are left with the slightly sharp hit of coffee breaking through all that softness.  I used to be addicted to sugar and have worked my way down from two to one to a half a spoon of sugar.  Then for a while I would sprinkle some vanilla flavoured icing sugar on the froth, but now I have at last achieved perfection and cut sugar out completely.  I now enjoy the pure unadulterated taste of coffee, and if I ever do stop working the thing I will miss most will be that first sip of Latte in the mornings.  Maybe then I will have to fork out a few hundred for a decent coffee machine at home.  At least I will have the time to clean it.