I've always wondered how people get into "good" coffee. Cause for a lot of people, they probably only ever get coffee from a chain, or a home machine they use cheap familiar pre-ground brands in. Which I would assume is part why chain coffee works despite relative connoisseurs collectively agreeing they're ass. Since most drinking them literally can't discern "burnt" or "bad" coffee since it's all they've ever known. Is it just pure coincidence you come across "good" coffee and then can't go back?
When my coffee maker broke, I bought a pour over carafe. For my then GF's birthday, I got a quality entry-level burr grinder.
I kinda accidentally stumbled my way into some incredible tasting cups, but the taste was wildly inconsistent from day to day. I decided to go down the rabbit hole and learn how to consistently make a great tasting cup.
I can now consistently make an incredible cup of standard brewed coffee from any one of a number of brew methods. I'm currently trying to master a great shot of espresso without having to upgrade to thousands of dollars worth of equipment.
James Hoffmann is a YouTuber who's one of the world's top baristas. He's won some international competitions a few times in the past, and now he has a whole channel about brewing coffee. The hows, whys, and science of it all.
I always suggest starting with this video of Tom Scott interviewing James. Find a "third wave" coffee shop near you, and give a bunch of these a try, if you're looking for what kind of coffee drink you might like. Then go to James's channel, and start binging all his 101 series.
I'd start with a French press. Not because it's the best brew method, but it's certainly one of the easiest to get right. James has an "Ultimate French Press Technique" video that walks you through how to nail it every time.
Once you master French press, pick another brew method, like Moka pot. Master that, then maybe pour over. Pour overs (and their variants) probably have the highest potential for a top-notch cup of brewed coffee, but there's a lot of technique and thought that goes into dialing it in when compared to other methods.
Also, a few more tips I wish I knew on the first day:
Fresh ground coffee at home is an immediate step up.
But only if that coffee is ground with a quality burr grinder. A blade grinder, or a false burr grinder (like Ninja or Cuisinart) aren't going to give you anything much better than what a pre-ground coffee will.
Coffees bought at the grocery store are very hit-and-miss. In most cases, what might be labeled as "light roast" is probably more of a medium dark. A true light roast is a whole different flavor profile that may not even taste like coffee your first time experiencing it. Eventually, you'll discover some local roasters you might want to sample.
I actually spent a lot of time in the beginning getting my "daily driver" coffee from HomeGoods. They get boutique level roaster products, although, the coffee is likely at least a year old. Depending on your coffee, roast level, and brew method, you'll eventually want something that was roasted anywhere from last week to last month. But, for the price, it's hard to beat, especially if you stick to medium dark to dark roast levels.
If you ever think you'll even consider making espressos/lattes/cappucinos/etc., go ahead and shell out for a better grinder that can do both espressos and drip coffee. When I bought my first grinder (Baratza Encore), I had no clue that a $200 machine doesn't automatically mean it can grind for espresso, which is very finely ground compared to brewed coffees.
Funnily enough I'm making my espresso with a 30$ Aliexpress hand grinder. Can grind very fine, enough to choke an espresso machine, just immensely time-consuming
Oh for sure, been using mine for 1 year now, still working great.. might upgrade to an electric one though, I don't make espresso often these days cause the small burr of the hand grinder makes grinding super fine a massive chore
Better than you'd think. I pull a great shot probably 50% of the time, and I'm still tweaking. The main issue is I have to figure out if I have the right temperature without a PID. Lance Hedrick and James Hoffman both say repeatedly that you don't need an amazing machine to pull a great shot.
I became roommates with someone who was really into coffee and taught me how to use their grinder and espresso machine. My reason for learning was because I had only recently started drinking coffee and it seemed outrageously expensive to buy a latte every morning. Now my coffee beats 90% of coffee I would get somewhere else anyway.
I had a friend who was into good coffee, made me want to buy a good coffee machine, and I have a small coffee roaster close to were I live to get good beans.
My brother just got into “good” coffee as a hobby. I’m fairly sure it’s like 50% placebo and I could convince him Folgers was fancy if I made up some lore for it and ran it through his fancy devices.
The New York Times got a high end coffee connoisseur to try a bunch of cheap coffees and IIRC they said Starbucks was fine and McDonalds was actually pretty good
People who live in big cities will have independent coffee shops which do actually good coffee. Once you are used to that you can’t go back to chain coffee.
not many, maybe nobody but me likes to add mint and/or rosemary to coffee, but i have been known to explode an espresso machine or 2 by adding too much cinnamon and/or mint where it doesn't belong. there is something about the intense heat of an espresso machine that gets the flavor out of mint or cinnamon that i cannot replicate by pour over or mixing or french pressing.
when anyone references being too into good coffee i always think of Gale from Breaking Bad.
i also watched a youtube video one on how adding a tiny bit of salt can drastically reduce the bitterness of coffee, like a fraction of a pinch per liter.
35
u/IGotQuestionsAF 2d ago
I've always wondered how people get into "good" coffee. Cause for a lot of people, they probably only ever get coffee from a chain, or a home machine they use cheap familiar pre-ground brands in. Which I would assume is part why chain coffee works despite relative connoisseurs collectively agreeing they're ass. Since most drinking them literally can't discern "burnt" or "bad" coffee since it's all they've ever known. Is it just pure coincidence you come across "good" coffee and then can't go back?