Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Roast - 100g

Costa is the coffee shop chain much of Britain does its queuing in, and the medium roast is the middle of the road in the best sense. Not a dare, not a whisper, just the cup most people would order without looking at the board.

People in Canada search for it by name because a coffee can be a place. A station platform at half seven. A wet Saturday in town with your mum. The services on the motorway, where the coffee was somehow the best bit of the trip. Same name, same roast, now in your own kitchen.

The 100g pack is a size for your own cupboard. Close it up properly after each go and keep it somewhere cool and dry, away from the steam of the kettle. Make it as strong or as milky as your household argues about.

Costa makes other roasts too, but this is the one to start with. It also sits very well next to a packet of British biscuits, because a coffee with nothing to dunk is an opportunity missed.