Ashley’s ambition

There are some magical coffee moments you never forget. For Dinner By Heston Blumenthal’s Chef Director Ashley Palmer-Watts, that moment was five years ago when he, two chefs, and a maître d’ climbed Africa’s highest mountain peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.

“I had some beans from Colombia which I had pre-ground, and my AeroPress, which I took up the mountain so we could have proper coffee in the morning. On the first day I brought my AeroPress out the guys thought it was incredible. It was one of those lovely surprises to wake up to,” Ashley recalls.

Based on his coffee terminology alone, Ashley could be mistaken for any Melbourne barista. He knows his V60 pour over from a Clever Coffee Dripper, understands the importance of particle grind size and coffee’s 850 flavour molecules, and is adamant the Mahlkönig EK 43 is the most consistent grinder on the market. Ashley