When I was at university, I had a very short-lived part time job as a barista. I spent an hour shadowing the outgoing barista and then the title was passed to me. I was a terrible barista, and I’ve often thought I should issue a general apology to anyone who bought a coffee from me. It couldn’t have tasted very nice. I wouldn’t know, because at the time, I didn’t drink coffee.

One of the ‘to-dos’ that makes the list most weekends is to sort through one of our sheds or cupboards and pile up the things we don’t use so we can sell them or give them away. A few months ago, after a cupboard sort, I came across an unusual device that I couldn’t remember us ever using. It took a little bit to figure out how to fit the pieces together, but when I looked up the brand on the glass ‘Hario’ I found out it was a Japanese coffee syphon.

An espresso martini is a dangerously delicious drink. The first time Mark and I tried them at Opera Bar on the Sydney Harbour, we liked them so much they became our drink of choice for the evening. While, at the time, it wasn’t unusual for us to have half a dozen drinks over an evening, it was unheard of for us to have six espresso shots.