Lead barista and manager of Golden Harvest Espresso Bar in Sheffield, Joey Jackson, shares with us his mulled coffee recipe for the autumn/winter season. 
 

Having a big interest in anything botanical, I love this time of year. It's when all my favourite spices come into season such as Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Mace, All Spice and Cloves. 

FIRST, LET’S TALK ABOUT WHICH COFFEE TO USE

At this time of year we have access to a few African and Central American coffees, so which do we choose? It doesn't really matter.

All that matters is if it falls in the right flavour profile, so think about what kind of red wine you would use when you’re making a mulled wine.  Choose a coffee that mirrors the same characteristics. It needs to be rich, full bodied and have plenty of dark fruits and sweetness. 

NOW ON TO SPICES!

I love them, everything about them. So when sourcing what spices to get whether it be branded, whole, ground, dried or fresh, I always would suggest to go to a spice market or a whole-foods store.

Why? Because just like coffee you can find out its provenance, how it was dried and lots of other useful interesting information.

In my recipe it requires that you use three whole dried spices alongside fresh orange peel and the essential oil it holds.  The acidity of the orange peel is enough to help balance out the sweetness of the Cinnamon, Nutmeg and coffee.

HOW TO BREW

1. Heat the filtered water in the kettle to 96ºC

2. Whilst water is heating, grind the coffee quite coarse so that it can withstand a five minute steep and   place in cafetière.

3. Zero (Tare) cafetière on scales, begin the timer and pour 50g of the hot water onto the coffee making sure all grounds are wet. Agitate if needed and allow to bloom for 45 seconds.

4. At 45 seconds begin to pour the remaining 450g of hot water making sure to break the bloom crust and gets the grounds moving. This should take you 15 seconds.

5. At 1 minute add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and 2 of the orange peels and stir 2-3 times.

6. Replace cafetière cover and wait until the timer reaches 2 minutes and 15 seconds, at this time remove cafetière cover again and stir 2-3 times making sure all ingredients are moving freely. Replace cover once more.

7. At 4 minutes, slowly plunge the cafetière for about 30 seconds. Then immediately decant the mulled coffee into a large wine glass or brandy sniffer, leaving behind all spices and coffee sediment.

8. Finally, we flame the orange zest onto the drinks surface. To do this, you must take the remaining orange peel between your finger and thumb with the skin aiming towards the surface of the drink and light the flame between the peal and drink. You must do this while simultaneously squeezing the orange peel to release the zest.

9. Use the peal to garnish, sit back, drink and enjoy!