Philippa Stevenson: Seeking coffee perfection

Little did I know that when I reluctantly took my first sip of sticky coffee-and-milk-in-a-can that a couple of decades hence I'd do a course on how to make a decent cup of the real thing.

But last Saturday I found myself, in the company of 10 others, grinding, tamping, and steaming the milk in search of the perfect espresso.

None of us, though, seemed likely to challenge the ever-growing cafe sector and its claims on the nation's taste buds. We just wanted a few of its secrets so we could go some way to matching their product at home.

There was a moment at the start of the course, as tutor Christy Fepulea'i of Hamilton's Urge coffee shop spoke of the passion for coffee she and her husband Craig shared, when I wondered why I was giving up a Saturday morning for a beverage.

Was I passionate about coffee, I wondered, or just happily hooked?

It may have been the latent tea drinker in me - a confirmed state until I hit my teens in the 70s when tea, which I'd drunk to the point of anaemia, was not groovy.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stand the taste of coffee. But social ostracism was worse so I decided to train my palate. It was a great day when I moved to Greggs instant coffee from Nestle's cloyingly sweet, coffee-flavoured, condensed milk.

Now that I'm a confirmed coffee quaffer I find that my journey to this contentedly caffeine-dependent state is part of a fascinating trend in New Zealand's social history.

It's been good for the economy, too. According to Statistics NZ, the increasing trend towards eating out and "going for coffee" meant cafe and restaurant numbers rose by 8.7 per cent to more than 5100 by February last year, when they employed around 38,000 full-time workers.

But food historians say our current love affair with coffee is just the latest high in decades of its place in society waxing and waning.

Through the 1940s and 1950s, European immigrants, dismayed at the absence of cafes, were prominent in establishing the first coffee shops. Another early influence was the stationing of American troops in Auckland and Wellington from 1942.

Antiquated liquor laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol in restaurants contributed to the popularity of coffeehouses, which women especially found more congenial than pubs with their six o'clock swill.

But cafes went into decline in the late 60s, mostly it's thought because the liquor laws were reformed but also possibly because import restrictions meant espresso machine parts were hard to get, and television was making home entertainment more attractive.

But consumption grew - and forays like mine would have contributed - when instant coffee was introduced the same decade.

On nzhistory.net.nz Nancy Swarbrick suggests the return of the cafe in the 80s and 90s "perhaps owes more to international than to national trends, although it has been suggested that deregulation and the growth of business enterprises, a more pluralistic society, and the increase in numbers of New Zealanders travelling overseas have all contributed".

"More restrictive drink/drive laws may also have played a part, making cafes safer and more attractive venues for socialising than pubs."

Nestle NZ maintains that on average each New Zealander now imbibes 380 cups a year. Not quite up with the world's biggest coffee drinkers, the Finns, who each knock back 1400 cups a year, but well ahead of the tea-tippling Chinese, who drink less than one coffee annually.

Saturday's course suggested the interest in more sophisticated coffee preparation is widespread.

One couple were along from Taumarunui, a man already well-versed in coffee lore was a South African immigrant, another enthusiast was English, and someone definitely knew the taste of one woman - recently married, she'd got a coffee plant as a wedding gift.

And our tutors were a sign of the times, too. Christy, a school teacher-cum-fulltime mum, and Craig, a builder, bought a 60-year-old espresso bar and specialty tea and coffee shop in Garden Place nearly four years ago.

It's managed by Craig's mother, Carol, and while keeping their day jobs the couple have studied the coffee process from bush and bean to short black and flat white.

They launched their Art of Coffee courses 18 months ago. Designed for the home coffee maker mystified by their espresso machine or plunger pot, they have proved a success.

The two-hour, 10-person sessions held in a comfortable school staffroom (a legacy of Christy's teaching days) are always fully subscribed.

I left much better informed and am mending the errors of my self-taught ways. I'm still shy of passionate status but I'll certainly be a more discerning cafe customer.

The number of such courses on offer suggests there's a growing number of better educated palates - something to note for the owners of cafes affiliated to the dishwater school of coffee making.