The case for bad coffee (2015)(seriouseats.com)
seriouseats.com
The case for bad coffee (2015)
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-case-for-bad-coffee
621 comments
I’ve gone through several coffee phases, some bordering on extreme — extremely sensitive weighing, timing, $2,000 grinders, $10k espresso machine, etc.
My happy medium is just doing basic pour overs, but with really good locally roasted coffee. To me, this is the cheapest and best approach.
In fact, even if pour overs require too much work (weighing, timing), then just do drip. But do it with quality coffee.
Quality is really about roasting time and date. You don’t want old coffee (anything older than a few weeks isn’t good), and low temp. Dark roast is burnt. It’s not a flavor. It’s used to remove the taste from shitty beans. If you use quality beans you want light to medium. This usually isn’t an option with quality beans anyway. They typically only sell the coffee roasted one way. So in most cases, you won’t even have to worry about.
Anyway, I guess my point is the opposite of the article. You don’t have to drink shit coffee to save money.
My happy medium is just doing basic pour overs, but with really good locally roasted coffee. To me, this is the cheapest and best approach.
In fact, even if pour overs require too much work (weighing, timing), then just do drip. But do it with quality coffee.
Quality is really about roasting time and date. You don’t want old coffee (anything older than a few weeks isn’t good), and low temp. Dark roast is burnt. It’s not a flavor. It’s used to remove the taste from shitty beans. If you use quality beans you want light to medium. This usually isn’t an option with quality beans anyway. They typically only sell the coffee roasted one way. So in most cases, you won’t even have to worry about.
Anyway, I guess my point is the opposite of the article. You don’t have to drink shit coffee to save money.
This was a really beautiful post.
As for coffee, like many other parts of life (movies, food, and music especially), I find that I like it very good or very bad—as long as it’s not down the middle, I can find a time/place to enjoy it.
I have a fairly expensive Rocket Espresso machine, I’ve learned some latte art. I have every coffee making contraption out there. And I enjoy all of it, at times.
When I’m in a hurry I’ll make instant or go to a gas station. Totally fine and the gas station coffee is kind of a favorite of mine for long trips in the car.
What I almost never do is buy Starbucks because to me, it feels like that middle-of-the-road experience. I’m not making a statement about the company or the culture or anything like that. It just feels like going to Applebees or something (yes you’re out to eat, but shouldn’t you just go somewhere nice or, on the other hand, somewhere cheaper/faster where you don’t have to tip?). It’s too acidic and too expensive for what it is. I’d rather pay for something nicer or go cheap.
As for coffee, like many other parts of life (movies, food, and music especially), I find that I like it very good or very bad—as long as it’s not down the middle, I can find a time/place to enjoy it.
I have a fairly expensive Rocket Espresso machine, I’ve learned some latte art. I have every coffee making contraption out there. And I enjoy all of it, at times.
When I’m in a hurry I’ll make instant or go to a gas station. Totally fine and the gas station coffee is kind of a favorite of mine for long trips in the car.
What I almost never do is buy Starbucks because to me, it feels like that middle-of-the-road experience. I’m not making a statement about the company or the culture or anything like that. It just feels like going to Applebees or something (yes you’re out to eat, but shouldn’t you just go somewhere nice or, on the other hand, somewhere cheaper/faster where you don’t have to tip?). It’s too acidic and too expensive for what it is. I’d rather pay for something nicer or go cheap.
Like most things, coffee is subject to diminishing returns. I have also owned nearly every device invented to make coffee - as I'm sure many others here have - and I've settled on a simple over-the-mug pour-over cone, but mainly because there's no moving parts or tubes to worry about cleaning. I don't even know what "correct" pour-over technique is, so I'm basically making bog-standard single-serving drip coffee with store-brand beans, and I couldn't be happier with it.
Ultimately I think fancy coffee is the same as fancy beer - it's not about the quality of taste of the thing, but rather it's about tribal membership and signaling. Among certain groups of people, caring deeply about 1% gains in taste value from small changes in coffee preparation or hop blends is a chance to prove your worthiness to the in-group.
The fact that so many can honestly profess that these tiny gains in subjective taste experience are Very Serious Business is a testament to humans' ability to convince ourselves of just about anything.
Ultimately I think fancy coffee is the same as fancy beer - it's not about the quality of taste of the thing, but rather it's about tribal membership and signaling. Among certain groups of people, caring deeply about 1% gains in taste value from small changes in coffee preparation or hop blends is a chance to prove your worthiness to the in-group.
The fact that so many can honestly profess that these tiny gains in subjective taste experience are Very Serious Business is a testament to humans' ability to convince ourselves of just about anything.
I feel the same way about restaurants. I realized a few years ago that I don’t crave Enoteca’s rigatoni; I crave the feeling of unwinding with some friends after a failed attempt at going to an ice cream festival. We were hot. Annoyed. Tired. And had a great time laughing about it at this tiny bistro as the sun set. The food and the restaurant was a setting, and essential, but it was second place behind the social connection of commiserating with friends and laughing about the million little things that went wrong with that day.
Going back, the food is good. It’s definitely worth a visit. But nothing will be as tasty as that night. Now that to realize that, I try and seek out those chances to “make a memory” where I can.
Going back, the food is good. It’s definitely worth a visit. But nothing will be as tasty as that night. Now that to realize that, I try and seek out those chances to “make a memory” where I can.
I bought a very expensive espresso machine thinking I'd cut down on my coffee shop visits. Turns out, I use the machine maybe a few times a month and I go even more frequently to coffee shops. I realized I don't go to coffee shops for the coffee itself, I go because I want to get out of the house, take a walk, sip good coffee and enjoy the ambiance of the world.
Of course the article is less about good coffee or bad coffee but about how coffee is intertwined with our lives and our culture (at least, American culture). For example, the author mentioned Perkins and I knew exactly what he was talking about. The stories about his stepdad Ted were touching as well.
Two memorable coffee experiences come to my mind.
One was a dinner I had with the late John Vlissides (probably known to some HN denizens as one of the Gang of Four design patterns folks) at a basement Indian restaurant in San Francisco. The meal was excellent, and for some reason we had coffee afterward instead of the usual masala chai. The coffee was far from bad, in fact it was quite good, so we asked about it. The waiter came back with the answer. It was not Peet's, not Graffeo, not some gourmet roaster I had never of. It was Hills Brothers. Hills Brothers was (I guess still is) an old school coffee roaster founded in San Francisco in 1900.
Soon after, I went to the grocery store and bought a can of Hills Brothers coffee and brewed a pot. It was disappointing. Not nearly as good as the coffee we had that night in the restaurant. It could be that Hills Brothers delivered different coffee to bulk buyers such as restaurants as opposed to the retail market. Or the difference could have been my dining companions.
Another coffee memory is hauling my late parents' 50+ year old Pyrex glass percolator out of the closet and brewing a pot. I remember when I was a kid, watching the clear water start to boil, and droplets of coffee falling from the grounds basket into the water, turning it first reddish brown, then darker brown, and then finally black. There is something mesmerizing about watching coffee percolate this way. After it was done I had a cup. It tasted kind of burnt, but at the same time kind of thin and weak. Not terrible, but not really very good. I don't think I made it incorrectly; I think this is how coffee always was for my parents. Hm, that was a while ago. It's about time to haul out the percolator again.
Two memorable coffee experiences come to my mind.
One was a dinner I had with the late John Vlissides (probably known to some HN denizens as one of the Gang of Four design patterns folks) at a basement Indian restaurant in San Francisco. The meal was excellent, and for some reason we had coffee afterward instead of the usual masala chai. The coffee was far from bad, in fact it was quite good, so we asked about it. The waiter came back with the answer. It was not Peet's, not Graffeo, not some gourmet roaster I had never of. It was Hills Brothers. Hills Brothers was (I guess still is) an old school coffee roaster founded in San Francisco in 1900.
Soon after, I went to the grocery store and bought a can of Hills Brothers coffee and brewed a pot. It was disappointing. Not nearly as good as the coffee we had that night in the restaurant. It could be that Hills Brothers delivered different coffee to bulk buyers such as restaurants as opposed to the retail market. Or the difference could have been my dining companions.
Another coffee memory is hauling my late parents' 50+ year old Pyrex glass percolator out of the closet and brewing a pot. I remember when I was a kid, watching the clear water start to boil, and droplets of coffee falling from the grounds basket into the water, turning it first reddish brown, then darker brown, and then finally black. There is something mesmerizing about watching coffee percolate this way. After it was done I had a cup. It tasted kind of burnt, but at the same time kind of thin and weak. Not terrible, but not really very good. I don't think I made it incorrectly; I think this is how coffee always was for my parents. Hm, that was a while ago. It's about time to haul out the percolator again.
I'm currently a home roaster, which I suppose is the direct opposite end of the spectrum from instant "bad" coffee. But I'm a long time drinker of coffee and had phases of everything from instant mixed with hot cocoa mix, to six teaspoons of sugar in diner coffee, to loving starbucks and to hating starbucks (to not caring when I need a cup of coffee). I've never been a coffee snob in the sense that I've never cared what other people drink and if you offer me a cup coffee in your house in the morning I'll happily drink it with no complaint even if it is as close to dirty dish water as can be while still being coffee.
The one thing I found slightly odd about this article from my perspective is that the majority of the anecdotes are about buying coffee and coffee as a commodity. My coffee takes about as long to make as instant and while roasting takes about 1 1/2 hours a month or so it's a bit of a wash time wise considering how often I used to have to run out to get coffee from the grocery store. Really good green beans are also very cheap, $6/lb for premium to $2/lb for frankly incredible bag ends. I only really buy new beans a few times a year.
I don't even consider myself a huge coffee nerd (I used to), I just like roasting, grinding and brewing my own coffee each morning because it's something I consume everyday that I can make as much from scratch as possible for a product that fundamentally depends on global trade. I feel about coffee the same way I do about grilling a hamburger in the evening for dinner. I suspect if I grilled hamburgers every day I'd get a meat grinder and just grind my own beef.
When I drink coffee in the morning, my daily brew is probably some of the best coffee I've ever had, but I don't spend much time thinking about it. Most of the time what I'm drinking in the morning is no different than the cup of instant described in the post, just something in the background of every breakfast while my wife and I chat about the world. But, we do sometimes pause and note that it is a really good cup of coffee.
The one thing I found slightly odd about this article from my perspective is that the majority of the anecdotes are about buying coffee and coffee as a commodity. My coffee takes about as long to make as instant and while roasting takes about 1 1/2 hours a month or so it's a bit of a wash time wise considering how often I used to have to run out to get coffee from the grocery store. Really good green beans are also very cheap, $6/lb for premium to $2/lb for frankly incredible bag ends. I only really buy new beans a few times a year.
I don't even consider myself a huge coffee nerd (I used to), I just like roasting, grinding and brewing my own coffee each morning because it's something I consume everyday that I can make as much from scratch as possible for a product that fundamentally depends on global trade. I feel about coffee the same way I do about grilling a hamburger in the evening for dinner. I suspect if I grilled hamburgers every day I'd get a meat grinder and just grind my own beef.
When I drink coffee in the morning, my daily brew is probably some of the best coffee I've ever had, but I don't spend much time thinking about it. Most of the time what I'm drinking in the morning is no different than the cup of instant described in the post, just something in the background of every breakfast while my wife and I chat about the world. But, we do sometimes pause and note that it is a really good cup of coffee.
I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but I've never had a cup of coffee I didn't like. There have been some pretty terrible tasting ones. I drank them anyway. All in all, pretty good beverage.
I get the authors point and agree mostly, the best cup of coffee is the one I had at wafflehouse when I was 16 with my only friend who had a car, smoking cigarettes at the table with nobody giving a shit that we weren't old enough to be smoking. It had a lot of sugar in it too.
But I enjoy hand grinding some beans I get that are reasonably priced and pretty good, and putting them in the French press with turmeric and mint from the garden. I sit out and listen to the birds chirp and sip on it for about 20 minutes in the morning. It's not fancy, it's not a $10k espresso machine, but it's a little more then Folger's in a percolator and I like it.
I don't get the snobbery but I don't see how people can drink swill day after day either.
But I enjoy hand grinding some beans I get that are reasonably priced and pretty good, and putting them in the French press with turmeric and mint from the garden. I sit out and listen to the birds chirp and sip on it for about 20 minutes in the morning. It's not fancy, it's not a $10k espresso machine, but it's a little more then Folger's in a percolator and I like it.
I don't get the snobbery but I don't see how people can drink swill day after day either.
I certainly like instant coffee and prefer it over many other types I have tried. It took a few tries to find a good one, however. Perhaps it's because I mostly like coffee quite milky, which might cover over any quality issues.
Developing a taste for good coffee (or wine, etc) doesn't seem attractive to me. You end up needing more and more equipment. You need expensive high quality beans. It's typically messy, time consuming, takes up valuable kitchen space and expensive. I'd rather something ok, which is quick, cheap and convenient.
Developing a taste for good coffee (or wine, etc) doesn't seem attractive to me. You end up needing more and more equipment. You need expensive high quality beans. It's typically messy, time consuming, takes up valuable kitchen space and expensive. I'd rather something ok, which is quick, cheap and convenient.
I like good coffee, and I'm not ashamed of it. I'd rather taste flavors than burnt mess. There's so much you can do with a bean in terms of its processing and roasting. I also drink good coffee because it puts a premium on the work a farmer puts in. I'm not sure "premium coffee" is the end all be all of fair trade, but going directly to farmers is better than the top-down negotiating that Starbucks or some other macro-roaster imposes.
I do kind of like diner coffee... endless mugs of black stuff that can be doctored with milk. But my ritual is brewing a V60 or Moccamaster of the good stuff each and every morning and slowly getting going.
Drink what you enjoy. Honestly, I couldn't care less. Just don't ever take an espresso in a paper cup to go.
I do kind of like diner coffee... endless mugs of black stuff that can be doctored with milk. But my ritual is brewing a V60 or Moccamaster of the good stuff each and every morning and slowly getting going.
Drink what you enjoy. Honestly, I couldn't care less. Just don't ever take an espresso in a paper cup to go.
I moved somewhere that has incredibly good coffee. You can literally just walk into a park in the city and find a coffee bush that probably nobody is harvesting, grab some, and bring it home to roast in a toaster oven. Good stuff from the grocery store [1] is about 4$ for a half kilo (20$+ for a bag on amazon if you can find it), and the way to make it is basically an apparatus (Can be made out of anything from nice wood to a coat hanger) which you use which holds a sock-like bag that has a wire in it to hold the mouth in an O and operate as a handle, which you then fill with coffee and pour hot water into to fill the vessel you want to drink or serve out sitting below. This simple device is called a chorreador [2], and it's a great gift to bring home if you ever come down for a vacation in the region. [3]
The cheaper stuff is weighed down with sugar for some reason but even that's not bad. About 1-1.50 a bag for the same amount. I haven't had it outside of convenience stores when in a pinch but it's not that bad. It's so ubiquitous that I stopped drinking it daily just to enjoy it a little more.
Whatever the hell gets sent up north gives me digestion issues and doesn't taste great when black. Some of the less cheap instant brands aren't as bad but anything in that category still needs to have milk and sugar in there for it to be tolerable and that's not really my style. Oh yeah, the secret of starbucks coffee is that it's actually really terrible quality coffee at an insane price and what they really serve is coffee milkshakes.
[1] https://cafe1820.com/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorreador
[3] https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1095/7444/articles/el-chor...
The cheaper stuff is weighed down with sugar for some reason but even that's not bad. About 1-1.50 a bag for the same amount. I haven't had it outside of convenience stores when in a pinch but it's not that bad. It's so ubiquitous that I stopped drinking it daily just to enjoy it a little more.
Whatever the hell gets sent up north gives me digestion issues and doesn't taste great when black. Some of the less cheap instant brands aren't as bad but anything in that category still needs to have milk and sugar in there for it to be tolerable and that's not really my style. Oh yeah, the secret of starbucks coffee is that it's actually really terrible quality coffee at an insane price and what they really serve is coffee milkshakes.
[1] https://cafe1820.com/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorreador
[3] https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1095/7444/articles/el-chor...
The only part of being a "coffee snob" that I personally respect is the concern regarding the origin of the coffee itself and the conditions of the workers farming it. I'm not interested in the intricacies of what beans are used or what soil it has grown in, but I think there's a case to make that if you're buying Nestlé instant coffee and taking some kind of contrarian pride in that, you're at least partly proud of also not giving a shit about other people or how the things you consume affect our planet. That's of course up to every human to decide, but I don't consider it a very sympathetic trait.
This reminds me of that Order of the Stick strip about bad coffee:
Xykon: Hell no, it's the most disgusting sludge I've put in my stomach in years. But you see, nothing really compares to a cup of truly awful coffee.
Right-Eye: Uh, how about a cup of really good coffee?
Xykon: Not the same thing at all. When you drink a cup of really good coffee, you try to immerse yourself in that cup. You focus all your senses on what you're drinking. How it smells, how it tastes, how it feels on your tongue. You savor the experience. But when you drink a cup of absolutely horrid coffee, you do everything possible to NOT immerse yourself in it. You try to shut out your senses from what you're drinking. Inevitably, you try to stave off the assault on your poor innocent tongue by mentally comparing it to all the better coffee you've had in your life, reliving each cup in comparison to the godforsaken sludge you're pouring down your gullet right now. So when you drink a good cup of coffee, you're only drinking that one cup... but when you drink a bad cup of coffee, you remember every good cup you ever drank. And at my advanced age, that's a helluva lot of good coffee.
Xykon: Hell no, it's the most disgusting sludge I've put in my stomach in years. But you see, nothing really compares to a cup of truly awful coffee.
Right-Eye: Uh, how about a cup of really good coffee?
Xykon: Not the same thing at all. When you drink a cup of really good coffee, you try to immerse yourself in that cup. You focus all your senses on what you're drinking. How it smells, how it tastes, how it feels on your tongue. You savor the experience. But when you drink a cup of absolutely horrid coffee, you do everything possible to NOT immerse yourself in it. You try to shut out your senses from what you're drinking. Inevitably, you try to stave off the assault on your poor innocent tongue by mentally comparing it to all the better coffee you've had in your life, reliving each cup in comparison to the godforsaken sludge you're pouring down your gullet right now. So when you drink a good cup of coffee, you're only drinking that one cup... but when you drink a bad cup of coffee, you remember every good cup you ever drank. And at my advanced age, that's a helluva lot of good coffee.
People talk about 'bad coffee' but many times they don't say what constitutes bad coffee. We all have different preferences. There are some very expensive fancy coffees that I dislike because I taste them as overly sour or acidic. Meanwhile I can drink very expensive blue mountain or a very cheap nabob full city dark in an aeropress and enjoy both.
I used to occasionally get starbucks on the way to work but the line ups at the drive through have made 'fast' food not fast, and the price of starbucks coffee seems to have risen so high it wasn't hard to stop doing it.
I've had maxwell house instant, its not great, but its also not sour or acidic, so its just drinkable. Nescafe instant is fine too.
I used to occasionally get starbucks on the way to work but the line ups at the drive through have made 'fast' food not fast, and the price of starbucks coffee seems to have risen so high it wasn't hard to stop doing it.
I've had maxwell house instant, its not great, but its also not sour or acidic, so its just drinkable. Nescafe instant is fine too.
Comically - I work with people that like to virtue signal around humility/thriftiness which is fine (even laudable) but I definitely find myself sneaking off early from the hotel to whatever the local coffee roasters to have my $6 gourmet cup (and not telling my colleagues about it!).
I also enjoy bad coffee, maybe because I really enjoy traveling, and it reminds me of a hotel breakfast.
It's an interesting piece because it's clear they dove head first into the coffee lifestyle, community and culture. Now that they are disenfranchised, they're potentially reflecting in on overcorrection, which is making them feel as though how they once lived was all a bit silly. They're also discovering perhaps a set of blinders on culture they didn't realize they had. I resonated with the story about Ted, and his point about long conversations over bad coffee. I think what he's noted is that sometimes being passionate about something will alienate you from parts of society without you realizing it.
I do feel it's important to remember that we get interested in things for a reason though, and you can't fault yourself for being enthusiastic about something. I'm not saying when we get disenfranchised that we should crawl back, but try not to be too hard on yourself for having enjoyed something in life, even if you no longer do.
I do feel it's important to remember that we get interested in things for a reason though, and you can't fault yourself for being enthusiastic about something. I'm not saying when we get disenfranchised that we should crawl back, but try not to be too hard on yourself for having enjoyed something in life, even if you no longer do.
Great coffee is one of those things that doesn't scale. It requires labor at every stage. Expensive and slow.
Getting OK coffee scales wonderfully. Easy and cheap.
You can still get tired of great coffee, or at least start to feel like it's routine rather than pleasant.
I just feel like there are vetter things to spend time on that are more intellectually rewarding. Learning an old craft, or music, or reading a book. Or cooking. At least with cooking there is a real difference in the nutritional quality... I doubt that's true of fine coffee vs bad coffee.
Getting OK coffee scales wonderfully. Easy and cheap.
You can still get tired of great coffee, or at least start to feel like it's routine rather than pleasant.
I just feel like there are vetter things to spend time on that are more intellectually rewarding. Learning an old craft, or music, or reading a book. Or cooking. At least with cooking there is a real difference in the nutritional quality... I doubt that's true of fine coffee vs bad coffee.
It occurred to me as I was sitting alone in my motel room, staring at a single-serving of peanut butter, a stale bagel, a bruised banana, and a three-quarters cup of single-serving Folgers coffee with the non-dairy powdered creamer and sugar packet, that this is what living after the apocalypse will be like. The coffee tasted of burnt toast soaked in whey. And yet I knew that in a future post-apocalyptic wasteland, this meal would be a luxury traded like gold. It felt like peeking behind the curtain to some alternate future where I was blessed with a bounty few could hope for. For a moment, in that cup of coffee, was a vision of a different life. That bagel, a different country to explore. And yet somehow, in every motel with a continental breakfast, that universe still exists, waiting to be visited.
Finnish coffee culture context here, which prescribes an incessant intake of an agreeable light roast, all day long from morning to evening.
This is why I brought a plain coffee brewer to my workplace of whole-bean espresso machines. Filtered and unfiltered coffees differ quite remarkably. Taste and texture aside, there's health factors to consider. Filtered coffee can reduce cholesterol raising components by 80% compared to unfiltered preparations, which may add up if you're a big consumer.
Espressos and such quickly reaches a physical threshold of minor caffeine poisoning if you're trying to substitute water.
edit: Instead, "coffee" means filter brewed, household-name coffee labels, "the usual" roast (so no one need to think too much of it). This is why I brought a plain coffee brewer to my workplace.
This is why I brought a plain coffee brewer to my workplace of whole-bean espresso machines. Filtered and unfiltered coffees differ quite remarkably. Taste and texture aside, there's health factors to consider. Filtered coffee can reduce cholesterol raising components by 80% compared to unfiltered preparations, which may add up if you're a big consumer.
Espressos and such quickly reaches a physical threshold of minor caffeine poisoning if you're trying to substitute water.
edit: Instead, "coffee" means filter brewed, household-name coffee labels, "the usual" roast (so no one need to think too much of it). This is why I brought a plain coffee brewer to my workplace.
Well put: the author's "ode to bad coffee" makes the point that high-end coffee is to brag about whereas most valuable personal memories tend to be connected with _low-end_ coffee; part of what makes one value low-end coffee more highly than high-end are indeed these personal memories associated with it (e.g. finishing one's dad's leftover coffee from his cup in the morning).
Wow this article speaks to me. I was staying with an old friend on a visit up to Canada where I also grew up. I asked for coffee in the morning and he handed me a jar of Tim Hortons Instant coffee crystals and a kettle. He said he prefers it. I live in Palo Alto now and was used to picking up Blue Bottle every morning. Since that morning I switched to instant. I took home 15 jars of tim hortons instant coffee and have done so every visit back to Canada
I really wish this idea of "bad" vs "good" when it comes to taste and flavor profiles would die. Each different coffee brewing process has an end-product that is different. If you like it, and can taste the difference, knock yourself out investing in consistent grinders and espresso machines that are able to maintain the same brew temperature through a pour. Don't - go for your Maxwell or instant coffee or whatever.
I love good coffee but it’s only worth so much money. Oak Cliff Roasters here in Dallas is, by far, my favorite coffee but it’s just gotten so expensive (about $20 for 3/4 lb). I don’t care how good something tastes once it crosses a value threshold in my head i can’t bring myself to buy it. So I just stick to what I find at the grocery store at 1/2 the price. It’s good enough and I don’t feel like a fool buying it.
commodity coffee is bad
- for the farmers and workers (low, inconsistent pay)
- for the environment (mono-cropping)
- for the roaster (inconsistent quality and needs to be over-roasted to equalize)
- in the cup (tastes over-roasted)
sorry. just because we have all gotten used to commodity coffee pricing "for your daily fix" doesn't mean it's good or acceptable. it's inextricable from it's history in colonialism.
- for the farmers and workers (low, inconsistent pay)
- for the environment (mono-cropping)
- for the roaster (inconsistent quality and needs to be over-roasted to equalize)
- in the cup (tastes over-roasted)
sorry. just because we have all gotten used to commodity coffee pricing "for your daily fix" doesn't mean it's good or acceptable. it's inextricable from it's history in colonialism.
Agree with the author 100%.
I drink instant coffee, black, sometimes with ice in the summer. I make a big mug or bottle full and then get started on my day. If I'm out traveling, it's diner or hotel coffee, black. Get a cup, wait for it to cool a bit, and start the day.
I'm not thinking or talking about the coffee. I'm talking about how last night went, what today holds in store for us or what we could do. Where we've been before and where we're going. If it's my day off and I'm alone, I'm thinking about my chores, or old hobbies, or about exploring that new city that I saw in the distance in the videogame I was playing last night. Not about the coffee.
The coffee's just a comforting, familiar presence that's always there.
I've tried some of the pretentious coffee before. It's just not as good. It distracts from life. Cheap standard coffee just gets out of the way and enhances life.
I drink instant coffee, black, sometimes with ice in the summer. I make a big mug or bottle full and then get started on my day. If I'm out traveling, it's diner or hotel coffee, black. Get a cup, wait for it to cool a bit, and start the day.
I'm not thinking or talking about the coffee. I'm talking about how last night went, what today holds in store for us or what we could do. Where we've been before and where we're going. If it's my day off and I'm alone, I'm thinking about my chores, or old hobbies, or about exploring that new city that I saw in the distance in the videogame I was playing last night. Not about the coffee.
The coffee's just a comforting, familiar presence that's always there.
I've tried some of the pretentious coffee before. It's just not as good. It distracts from life. Cheap standard coffee just gets out of the way and enhances life.
Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed reading it.
I can totally relate to the what the author is saying. I went through a mini-version of the same journey.
For a while I was buying expensive beans, grinding them on a Baratza Vario (a mid-level grinder) to make espresso in my E-61 based heat exchanger machine. I made some excellent coffee with that setup and more than a few sink-shots.
I gave it up though because I found that the better I got at making coffee, the less I enjoyed it in general. I couldn’t enjoy a mug of diner coffee. I couldn’t drink the stuff they give you on an airplane or at a donut shop. I couldn’t deal with k-cups that work provided so I brought in a kettle and aeropress.
I’m better these days. Like the writer, I’m now able to enjoy just about any coffee I can get my hands on (although IHOP coffee still seems impossibly watery).
I can totally relate to the what the author is saying. I went through a mini-version of the same journey.
For a while I was buying expensive beans, grinding them on a Baratza Vario (a mid-level grinder) to make espresso in my E-61 based heat exchanger machine. I made some excellent coffee with that setup and more than a few sink-shots.
I gave it up though because I found that the better I got at making coffee, the less I enjoyed it in general. I couldn’t enjoy a mug of diner coffee. I couldn’t drink the stuff they give you on an airplane or at a donut shop. I couldn’t deal with k-cups that work provided so I brought in a kettle and aeropress.
I’m better these days. Like the writer, I’m now able to enjoy just about any coffee I can get my hands on (although IHOP coffee still seems impossibly watery).
Someone should write the equivalent for beer. Maybe my palate isn't very advanced, but I do not like fancy beer. I only like cheap beer.
Same with coffee. Same with most food. Not sure if it was my steady diet of microwave dinners growing up but the fancier the food the less I usually like it.
Same with coffee. Same with most food. Not sure if it was my steady diet of microwave dinners growing up but the fancier the food the less I usually like it.
Edit: Hope I didn't come across as too harsh to folks replying with their favourite coffee styles. I think I find myself in a near-constant state of, "but what about the things that matter" when spending time in VC/Startup/SV/AI/crypto/etc. culture. I know more unhappy-but-wildly-successful people here than I can shake a stick at, and I think we (as a community) are hugely complicit in pushing a consumerist culture where stuff>people. I was deeply moved to see a piece surface to HN which poetically argued for the opposite value set, and I had a moment of frustration when it wasn't clear that it was coming across to people in the comments. :)