How to make coffee badly

It has been said that cooking is an art, baking a science. Coffee is like baking  - making the perfect cup of coffee every time means doing it right, doing it the same, every time.

Which is not to say that there aren't dozens of different ways to make coffee. Rather that, just like someone who loves to bake their cookies that little bit softer learns exactly how long to set the oven timer for; so for your perfect cup of coffee, you want to learn exactly how much, how long, how hot ...

So here are half a dozen ways to ruin your coffee; or even worse, to get that okay-but-not-quite-what-you-were-looking-forward-to effect.

  • Don't clean your equipment
  • Use stone cold cups
  • Don't descale
  • Use old coffee
  • Use different quantities every time
  • Use the wrong grind