How to pour the perfect pint of Guinness

Siobhan Dooley, co-proprietor of Melbourne's the Drunken Poet and its food-focused sister The Last Jar, has a tried-and-true method for pouring the perfect pint.

"I always use a clean and badged Guinness glass.

"I tilt the glass and pour to the top of the harp – a bit more than three-quarters to the top.

Then I let it settle for a few minutes – allowing time for a quick chat to the customer – before pushing the tap back, which restricts the gas going in. The top of the pint should be concave – so it's sitting above the ledge."

She says on Paddy's Day and busier Friday nights they might opt to line up several three-quarters-full pints for quick top-ups, but generally they "pour to order".

Not that it matters to some of the Guinness virgins she encounters.

"In a busy bar, it can be amusing and infuriating when a customer doesn't understand that a Guinness must
settle before it's served. To quote Oscar Wilde: 'Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.'"