From cold brew to cascara: Why 2018 is the year of coffee

According to a survey by Taylors of Harrogate, more than a fifth of Britons believe it’s more important to have good coffee in the house than it is to have good wine. That’s a hell of a statement for a nation so devoted to its booze.

And as the out-of-home coffee industry has grown, consumers become more educated and curious about coffee, which translates into becoming more discerning about the coffee they drink at home.

We’re no longer content with a basic instant white – in fact, 10 per cent of survey respondents said they would even judge their friends if they served bad coffee at home.

Forget Instagrammable art, avolattes and glitter cappuccino – 2018 is the year we’re going to get really serious about our joe.

The Independent caught up with Rombouts’ coffee expert Jonathan Wadham and Rick Tingley, coffee specialist at Taylors of Harrogate and Gennaro Pelliccia, master of coffee for Costa, to find out which big trends are percolating for the year.

Wadham says that filter coffee continues to regain more fans due to its potential to taste great, be served fast, and the health benefits – as it’s preferably drunk black.

The experts all predict that more coffee shops will offer high quality filter coffee this year.

The Precision Brewer, the world’s first 1.8L drip coffee maker with the precision required to brew craft filter coffee automatically, will be shown for the first time at the London Coffee Festival this April.

Wadham explains that the reduction or substitution of cows’ milk is leading to a rise in smaller milk drinks.

“Part healthy lifestyle, part taste; the availability of smaller milk drinks will continue to increase; more flat whites, cortardos and piccolos.”

The popularity of almond milk and soy shows no sign of abating, but we predict that vegan-friendly oat milk is going to take over the milk alternatives market this year.

Nope, not an elaborate prank. This is a very real (and surprisingly delicious) hot-weather drink trend, made from quality espresso, tonic and ice, took over Instagram last year.

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We think this variation on the iced coffee is going to move from hipster photo trend into the mainstream, and skyrocket in popularity once the sun comes out.

According to Tingley, “There is a rising trend for natural processed coffee, which is when coffee cherries are dried with the fruit on the bean at origin. It results in extraordinarily fruity and berry-like flavour characteristics.”

The method itself, originating from places such as Ethiopia and Panama, has been around for hundreds of years, but it’s something that consumers are becoming more aware of and would now consciously consider when purchasing a coffee.

Coffee-cherry tea, or Cascara, is made from the discarded skin of coffee cherries – the fleshy outer casing that houses the coffee bean.

Commonly consumed in Bolivia, where it is known as sultana, it has similar levels of caffeine to regular coffee, but is drunk as a tea and can even be used in cocktails.

Tingley says he’s seen a rise in demand for this coffee “due to consumers becoming more environmentally conscious”, because the drink uses skins that would otherwise be thrown away.

That said, it’s not technically legal in the UK yet – and it’s a powerful laxative, so mind how you go.

Cold brew is brewed slowly for up to 24 hour, in cold water, then diluted to taste. “It’s more mellow and sweeter than traditional filter coffee,” says Wadham, “and very easy to make.”

By brewing the coffee in cold water, it helps draw out the acidity in the coffee, giving it a new flavour profile. Brewing over a period of hours rather than minutes creates a a very gentle extraction resulting in a sweeter, brighter cup.

Nitro brew is the next step – essentially, cold brew on tap infused with Nitrogen. The result is a rich creamy cold coffee, that has the mellow, sweeter taste of cold brew but has the velvety mouthfeel that can be compared to Guinness.

“Both these drinks offer something different,” says Wadham, “and they can also help boost coffee shop menus throughout warmer months where hot drinks as less in demand.”

Tingley, too, believes that nitro cold brew coffee is “set to be the next big thing”. Even Starbucks brought it to their UK stores, having had great success across the pond.

“Speciality coffee shops are investing in kits worth thousands of pounds to produce this kind of coffee for their customers – they’re also beginning to put this on retailers’ shelves in cans,” Tingley says.

“This is something we anticipate becoming much more prominent in the UK speciality coffee scene over the coming years.”

As coffee becomes more sophisticated, so too does the technology to produce it.

And then there are the coffee machines, like the luxury Swiss Jura range, which are smart connected. Just think of the possibilities – you could order your latte from your phone in bed, to be ready for when you finally have to depart from the duvet.

The luxury market will innovate, and the budget brands will follow. Stay tuned...

Pelliccia, reminding us that Costa was the first branded coffee shop to introduce the flat white in 2010, says they have now added a whole “flat family”.

So black is the new white – you can now order a flat black and even a flat mocha. If you can stand the mocha-ry.

And we know millennials are going crazy for the avolatte, but frankly we’d rather drink our coffee out of compost.

We’ve partnered with Kahlúa to celebrate National Coffee Week and you could win an overnight stay at the Hoxton Hotel, Holborn, plus cocktails and dinner for two. To be in with a chance of winning, tell us which Kahlúa cocktail you’d most like to try by clicking here*.

*Terms Apply: 18+. Enter before 23.59 on 22 April 2018. Please read full Terms before entering.