Very seldom do I get a good one when I’m out – although two of the chains (Costa and Nero) can do a decent Espresso Ristretto – because the people who make coffee in cafés and restaurants too often think espresso means ‘black coffee with froth’.

Someone who serves you with one of those things and says ‘Urrrgh, I don’t know how you drink that!’ invariably is serving up something I don’t know how I drink. A beverage inhabiting the scrubland between espresso and filter, black and bitter with no body.

Some time ago I exchanged a shed load of Amex loyalty points for a Dualit Espresso machine, and a few months ago I finally got round to buying the other bit of kit I need – the grinder.

So now I’ve had more variables – fineness of grind, for a start – to play with. But so far the extra messing (and mess) has been well worthwhile.