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Coffee for people who don't like coffee
- k310 1y agoThe article discusses a drip system which I used to use under a different name, but went away. It has a cone with a filter mesh and a valve that remains closed as long as the cone and its integral base are sitting on a level surface, but which opens when you place it on a cup. It's now called "Clever Dripper" The main reason I got one is because it's so easy to empty the grinds after use, unlike a French Press, even the one that has a built-in scoop below the grinds that you lift via a handle. Of course, any filter facilitates this operation, but the convenience of "brew 4 minutes and park it over your cup" is nice.
- athrun 1y agoThe Clever dripper and the Hario Switch are the two main ones I think, but then there's a lot of niche ones. The overall category is called "immersion dripper". My main concern is the plastic, so I've got one from a smaller brand entirely made of ceramics. (it's much more expensive though).
- klausa 1y agoThe Switch has some plastic and rubber, but the parts that touch coffee/water are all metal and glass.
- cwegener 1y agoThe Clever Dripper is indeed a really neat invention. One of the old school specialty coffee guys in my city did recommend it. I have yet to move away from my french press though. I don't mind the little bit of extra effort of the french press. since you're in the EU (I assume), check friedhats.com for some fancy roasts EDIT: oh, and if you dont mind - what was the cheap grinder you got?
- pivo 1y agoI used a French press for many years and loved it but in the past few years I've started to prefer lighter roasts and I think the Clever dripper does those a bit better. I also think that the Clever is a tiny bit more work than a French press, not less. I'm happy to have both options, and also my Hario Switch on occasion as well.
- lylejantzi3rd 1y agoA radiation safety officer from UC Berkeley already invented coffee for people who hate coffee. He calls it The Black Blood of the Earth. A quarter of the sales are sent to his fixer who looks after the babushkas in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. https://shop.funraniumlabs.com/ https://shop.funraniumlabs.com/
- tdeck 1y agoPretty cool, definitely going to go on my "interesting gift ideas" list. It's surprising how this website devoted to selling something hides the basics of what's special about the product on the FAQ page though. I guess people hear about this through word of mouth?
- mock-possum 1y agoWhoa nice to know! I’ll have to check this guy out.
- ac29 1y agoIts good but its wildly expensive. Its also pretty potent stuff, I describe more as coffee for people who love coffee, not hate it.
- lylejantzi3rd 1y agoIt's expensive, but not wildly so. Yes, it's potent. If what you're looking for is a cup of coffee, you're supposed to dilute it with water. https://www.funraniumlabs.com/how-to-consume/ https://www.funraniumlabs.com/how-to-consume/
- ValentineC 1y ago> A radiation safety officer from UC Berkeley already invented coffee for people who hate coffee. Reading through, it's cold brew coffee with an extra vacuum extraction step.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- eximius 1y agoI drink chai lattes instead of coffee. Never could get on board with the bitter, brown bean water.
- brookside 1y agoChai from a coffee shop or mix is a sugar drink, which is why it is delicious.
- eximius 1y agoCompletely true, but comparable with lots of other coffee drinkers habits. I make mine half chai concentrate from a local restaurant and half 2% milk in small portion sizes of about 120 calories, so I don't feel _too_ bad about it. I might have slightly more sugar than is strictly recommended DV, but not by much.
- Filligree 1y agoHopefully he means milk tea. Which is indeed great, but so is a good coffee.
- kmm 1y agoI thought coffee for people who don't like coffee was instant coffee? The linked Clever Dripper seems like it's comparatively a bit more effort and waste. Apart from the advantage of instant preparation, to my undiscerning palate instant coffee has got all the qualities and taste of coffee I enjoy, and not being a coffee-connoisseur, I can't be disappointed by its apparent blandness or one-dimensionality.
- SoftTalker 1y agoYeah instant coffee is fine. Not great, but not any worse than any drip brewed supermarket coffee.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 1y agoIt depends on the instant coffee brand. Some are much worse, primarily due to the acidity content being much higher. The ones that are designed to reduce the amount of acidity are about on par with the normal drip stuff.
- karaterobot 1y agoIn general, I think having an unrefined palate is one of life's great gifts. I admit there are areas of food where I'm a snob, but that just means I can't enjoy examples of that food which I consider sub-par, which is more of a curse than a blessing. And, for all the areas where I have no particular expertise or discerning taste, I can just enjoy the cheapest and most easily available version of that thing. It's awesome! Take chocolate for example: at this point in my life, every piece of chocolate I eat is a treat, and when I'm with someone who just can't eat cheap chocolate (Hersheys) my reaction is "sucks to be you, nom nom nom". If I went down a rabbit hole where I could only enjoy a subset of all chocolate, I'd consider that a worse situation than being able to enjoy all chocolate. I think people believe there is something like a magnitude of enjoyment, and when you are an expert eating something you consider perfect, you enjoy it more. I think that's probably dead wrong, and nothing has empirically disproven that for me. Certainly in the long run you'll enjoy fewer things than people with no (supposed) taste.
- nkrisc 1y ago1. Good beans. Something not roasted to a charred crisp (looking at you, Starbucks). Eat a coffee bean by itself. If it tastes bad on its own, it’ll probably taste bad in the brew too. I enjoy munching a few beans while I make my coffee. 1.5 Buy your beans whole and grind them. It really makes a difference. 2. Clean water. If your water tastes bad, so will the coffee. I just use filtered water from the fridge. 3. No science here from me, but after some trial and error I think 190F is a good temp. Might simply be because it’s at a drinkable temperature around the time it’s ready to drink (depending on how you make it). I just make it in a small pot that is essentially a tea infuser. I basically just steep coarse grounds for about 5 min at 190F.
- pton_xd 1y ago> Eat a coffee bean by itself. If it tastes bad on its own, it’ll probably taste bad in the brew too. I enjoy munching a few beans while I make my coffee. This just doesn't make sense to me. There are a great number of beans and vegetables that taste bitter or unpleasant "raw" but are very delicious with a bit of heat and time.
- simojo 1y ago> Eat a [roasted] coffee bean by itself.
- pton_xd 1y agoThat was implied but it still doesn't make any sense. Eating dry tea leaves tastes nothing like drinking a cup of tea.
- alright2565 1y agoWell, it makes sense for coffee. I would be happy eating any of the coffee beans I've purchased. If you don't think it makes sense, then don't do it. There's no reason to argue with people who in their subjective experience have enjoyed it.
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- dieselerator 1y ago> The idea that coffee can have any taste other burnt rubber was interesting. That summarizes the article. This is not a recommendation, but you can buy caffeine pills.
- dgunay 1y agoThe worldwide obsession with dark roast coffee baffles me. I guess if you're adding sugar then it doesn't matter that the coffee is burnt to a crisp.
- tomjakubowski 1y agoLight roasts are pretty popular in Denmark and elsewhere in Scandinavia.
- alabastervlog 1y agoAll I can figure is that with a place like, say, Starbucks, it's a consistency thing. Even their "light" roasts are pretty dark, and their medium is "burnt to a crisp", but if you want to put 25,000,000 12oz bags of coffee on shelves and for it all to be "the same" (all "Pike Place", say) then I guess burning all the character out of whatever beans you got ahold of is one way to do it, versus sourcing all the beans from the same small set of farms in the same country in a single season or whatever. I figure it's a similar story for most of the other big national or multinational coffee roasters, which is why it's almost impossible to find those correctly-roasted, delicate, tea-like coffees from anything but tiny roasters. Those places, two of their "medium roasts" may taste wildly different and if their supply of the beans for one variety dries up, that one's gone unless they can find a way to get more of it. Dunkin or whoever just want to always be able to have a bag with the same name on it on the shelf, and for it to always taste the same, even if that same-taste is not very good.
- dcrazy 1y agoThe espresso-loving nation of Italy universally roasts their coffee way too dark. I think it’s just a holdover from when coffee was first introduced to Europe.
- irrational 1y agoWhy not use caffeine pills? You get the caffeine jolt without the calories. Plus, they are far cheaper than buying drinks.
- Dr_Birdbrain 1y agoCoffee has longevity and health benefits that are not due to caffeine alone. It has so many antioxidants you can count it as a serving of vegetables. I tried caffeine pills in my misguided youth. They feel different, and one time I forgot I had already taken it and took a second—the resulting heart palpitations were some seriously scary stuff.
- euroderf 1y agoHeart palpitations AND tummy rot.
- ThrowawayR2 1y agoA black coffee is 2-3 calories and, when brewed properly, doesn't need anything added to be enjoyable.
- exiguus 1y agoIts ok to not like coffee. Tee or Mate is also fine.
- CrossVR 1y agoOr, hear me out, a life without caffeine is still worth living.
- jeffhuys 1y agoAnd for me, less dissociation and seizures. It’s still just ordinary drugs everyone is ok with taking.
- exiguus 1y agoWhat is your go-to when you do a small break or switch tasks/context (doing a small 5min break in between)?
- dagw 1y agoThere are lots of teas without caffeine. While I love coffee, I generally switch to rooibos after lunch.
- metalman 1y agoI'm struggling with this, to be nice,empathetic, understanding, but coffee for people who dont like coffee, is toggling back and forth across some unimaginable contradictory gulf, at a ferocious rate and leaves me wondering about how the world might look if it was filled with a complete set of things and services for people who dont like those things and serviced, and of course the whole theraputic ecosystem to kludge it along. sex for people who dont like sex and icecream for people who dont like icecreamm
- jerkstate 1y agoI switched to unsweetened cacao with some extras in the morning, had to lay off caffeine but theobromine seems fine. Here’s my recipe: About 15-20 grams of unsweetened cacao paste 2 grams freeze dried panax ginseng (some ginseng powders are disgustingly bitter and others taste nice and earthy) Dash of cayenne pepper About 3/4 to 1 cup milk (cold) Top up with about another cup of boiling water from the kettle and immersion blend until smooth I make it in a thermos cup so it stays warm. The idea is to prevent the cacao from exceeding 150 degrees or so, to prevent the compounds from breaking down. Tastes great, has tons of nutrients, and wakes me up.
- Palomides 1y agocacao has caffiene, too
- jfengel 1y agoI find that a substantial fraction of people who drink coffee don't like coffee. They combine it with milk and syrup and whipped cream, and it's really more of a hot milkshake. No shade intended. Drink what you like. But I suspect a lot of people would prefer a steamer (same thing minus the coffee).
- Waterluvian 1y agoEnjoyed reading this. It reminded me of two things I did in university: 1. Caffeine pills. They worked well. But when combined with my ADHD meds would do interesting things. I wish I had kept my data log of all the experiments with combinations and dosages and timings. 2. I HATED coffee too. But I really loved the smell and it felt so cozy. So I just made hot mochas that began 90% hot chocolate and by the end of the first winter were 90% coffee. Could never go full black though even though I tried many times.
- senectus1 1y agoGuaraná is good for coffee replacement. quite potent and with no real flavor.
- 90s_dev 1y ago> You'll get diabetes. Have a coffee. When I was a kid, I hated even the smell of coffee so much, that tasting it could make me throw up. A few years ago, to help kick my soda habit, I forced myself to drink black coffee every single day. The first day, I could barely stomach a few sips. After a week or so, I could finish the whole cup with great difficulty. After another few weeks, I could finish it without minding. And finally, after maybe a month or a little more, I actually enjoyed the taste. It seems that if you force yourself to taste any food or drink for 40 days, you'll eventually enjoy it. I also noticed that I drink way too much coffee and way too quickly if I add cream or sugar. Black coffee is the ideal. Since I'm too stupid and/or lazy to figure out how to clean my coffee machine (the instructions said something about vinegar once in a while) I realized you could just put a tablespoon of ground coffee into a filter, fold it twice, twist the edges like a tootsie roll, and tie them together, forming essentially a tea bag, then put it in a bot of water about 1-2 cups worth, squish it up with a spoon a bit, let it sit overnight as if you were making ice coffee, and heat it up in the morning long enough to go to the bathroom, and it's the perfect tempature and taste, and you only have to rinse the pot to clean it.
- arealaccount 1y agoYou should learn about pour overs
- alabastervlog 1y agoI posted this elsewhere in the thread, but IKEA's got a really cheap steel pourover cup with integrated fine-mesh metal filter (you can still use paper filters in it if you want to get the oils out and avoid a little grit getting through, though). It's probably the cheapest non-DIY coffee making option out there.
- 90s_dev 1y agoNah, I'm trying to quit coffee.
- jerkstate 1y agoYou probably want to use citric acid to clean your coffee maker, vinegar will make it taste worse imo
- hanlonsrazor 1y agoRecommend giving DAK roasters a try, fantastic light coffee.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 1y agoI would say the best roaster is the roaster where you can get the beans shortly after they are roasted. That is the largest indicator of how much flavor you get out of roasting. I'm not a hardcore coffee snob, but I read the rule of thumb is that 1-3 days after roasting is optimal to begin consumption, with quality eventually decreasing after a week or two. So you want to source a roaster that is able to supply beans that were either roasted that day or shortly thereafter, of which there is rarely a guarantee unless you are going in and buying dated bags in person. Your second best bet is to just find a roaster that supplies all of the restaurants in your area, you can usually trust that their bean inventory is being churned constantly by the restaurant business and that the beans are going to be pretty freshly roasted when you get them.
- roboror 1y agoBeans should be rested for 2-10 days depending on roast level. Lighter = longer. You can freeze beans too.
- fsckboy 1y agocoffee beans are dessicated and so it's not exactly clear what is meant by "freezing" them, but yes, you can keep them in your freezer. Lower temperatures will slow down biochemical reactions, of course, but oxidation is your main enemy, so you need to make sure your frozen coffee is sealed airtight. the gold standard is to pre-measure the doses and that way you don't need to put coffee back into the freezer haver you have exposed it to more fresh oxygen by opening the container. you can/should grind it directly from the freezer
- mrexroad 1y agoDepends on how the coffee was processed and the roast profile. I have several beans at the moment that didn’t really open up until 4-6 weeks rest.
- maxwellg 1y agoDuring Covid I spent a lot of time on my home coffee setup - I've since dialed it back but I've kept the pourover, the grinder, and the Chemex. We found a local business that roasts beans in their garage that we love. The biggest problem is that really good coffee ruins bad coffee foreger. After making my own for so long, traveling and dealing with gas station or hotel breakfast coffee is especially jarring. Sometimes I wish I could forget how good coffee could taste.
- cmrdporcupine 1y agoThere are two kinds of coffee in my brain: Third wave fancy coffee I make at home in our Chemex or Technivorm or get in really really good shops, as you describe. McDonald's, gas station, donut shop coffee. It's swill but you confectionize it with cream and sugar. Double double as we say up here. It's not good, but it it's a utility. You just don't expect much from it, and that's fine The problem coffee is the stuff in-between. Stuff that pretends to be specialty coffee, overroasted, overpriced ... but not actually good. Starbucks or restaurant espresso. Grocery store whole bean coffees that markets itself in a nice bag but turns out to be stale oily overroasted mediocrity. Simultaneously expensive, raises your expectations... and then just turns out to be junk.
- kaishiro 1y agoYou and I were seemingly writing our comments at the same time - and yours describes what I was trying to say so much more successfully than my own! Completely agree on all counts.
- fallingmeat 1y agowhat is wrong with dark roasts? tastes like a nice cigar (and pairs well). some like smokey flavor (eg bourbon)
- kbelder 1y agoThat's right. Every so often... like once a year... I'll smoke a cigar, and it feels like I'm breathing a good cup of black coffee.
- dockd 1y agoI think the success of Red Bull and Dutch Brothers is due to their ability to provide coffee to people who don't like coffee.
- senectus1 1y agoI love coffee, black and without sugar. but something in my stomach decided over the last 10 years that i can no longer drink it. if I do I get IBS like issues :-( I used to be able to drink it 4-6 time a day no problems. I'd happily drink one before bed and sleep like a log. It didnt keep me awake it made me want to ignore that that it was time for bed. getting older sucks. much of what I used to enjoy eating and drinking is being taken away from me.
- anonu 1y ago> 4-6 time a day no problems I think that was your problem. That seems like way too much coffee and caffeine.
- jeffhuys 1y agoIt sneaks in though. I only knew I had a problem when I started getting seizures. Didn’t start at 6 cups a day. That happened over years and years of easy and accepted access to the drug everywhere I went. Having caffeine jitters is a joke in society. But it’s literally just overdosing on drugs. Just plain ordinary drugs.
- senderista 1y agoI can't tolerate caffeine anymore, but still make decaf espresso at home. Not quite the same, but good enough. (Ditto for N/A beer: there are some great options now.)
- AstroJetson 1y agoI would love to find Decaf cold brew, but it seems the only way is homemade. I do miss coffee after 20+ years. I grew up on “field engineering blend” where it poured like 40 weight motor oil. Ditto on getting older sucks, but I’ve been told not getting older sucks worse.
- jeffhuys 1y agoSame man, be happy you didn’t get as far as me: seizures and dissociation. It’s just plain drugs. Mass addiction. I mean, look at this thread, and replace coffee with anything else and it’s just junkies everywhere. I understand, but from the other side it’s weird to see.
- anonu 1y agolight beans == more caffeine
- bch 1y ago> light beans == more caffeine For any single lot. Different varietals can have different caffeine levels -- so one can imagine a dark-roasted high-caffeine bean having more caffeine than a light-roasted low-caffeine bean.
- gorfian_robot 1y agoOP should try nestea and save a lot of hassle. Next up: Restaurants for people who don't like food!
- alexjplant 1y agoPeople are allowed to like coffee that isn't burnt trash that tastes like sludge from an old WRX's oil pan.
- zwaps 1y agoYou are allowed to like whatever you want, even if it is bodyless, tastesless and oversour bean water in which you invariably dump loads of milk in order to taste it even less. We are just saying it is equivalent and easier to just drink tea and steep it for only 30 seconds.
- sham1 1y ago> Next up: Restaurants for people who don't like food! This might come off as overly snarky, and if so, that isn't my intention, but isn't a restaurant for people who don't like food just fast food? I mean, it's not like fast food is going to be that high quality overall, and is really meant to be eaten quickly without necessarily enjoying the experience.
- ErrorNoBrain 1y agonestea? by nestlé the worst company on the planet? there's a ton of alternatives
- Apes 1y agoIt's very expensive, but Geisha varietal coffee might be of interest to you. It's extremely smooth, and tastes more like a light tea than a coffee. I've only had it once, and it was by far the best cup of coffee I've ever had.
- zwaps 1y agoI hate modern coffee. It tastes like sour water, or at best like tea. It tastes nothing like good coffee, the properties of which we already figured out long ago eg. in a good Italian espresso. And then these people dump all aggregates of milk in their 19ml of white roasted coffee, only to guarantee that they do not taste any coffee at all. Here is a hint: If you do not like coffee, you are allowed not to drink it! Save the rest of us from your unroasted, watery garbage.
- owebmaster 1y ago> I hate modern coffee. :s/modern/US My coffee in Brazil is still as pure, strong and black as 20 years ago. And no sugar.
- herbst 1y agoI was wondering about "modern" too. I am surrounded by good coffee in Switzerland, better quality just getting more common. Starbucks is soacially accepted to be bad quality. Nearly everyone I know has a coffee machine or espresso machine or at least a proper mocca thingy. Like owning a fridge or a washing machine
- dagw 1y ago'Modern' coffee has many parallel movements and developments, and all of it certainly isn't for everyone. You see this in all kinds of areas, like for example beer, where you have development of both better quality 'basic' local lagers and experimental sour beers happening in parallel. End result everybody gets access to better beer that appeals to them, even if there is also lot of beer that not only won't appeal, but that they'll consider virtually undrinkable.
- dagw 1y agos/modern/US Nah, you can find places that server that style of 'modern' coffee all over Europe as well if you go to the right (wrong?) places.
- Quenby 1y agoRecently, I've started grinding my coffee beans just before brewing, and the difference is really noticeable. The freshness of the grind seems to bring out more complex flavors, especially with lightly roasted beans. I'm curious—do you think there's a noticeable difference in taste between freshly ground coffee and pre-ground coffee? What tools do you use to brew your coffee, and which one do you think gives the best results?
- jarebear6expepj 1y agoHand crank grinder and pour over or French press has never done me wrong. Also, black. Dairy and/or sugar change the chemistry substantially in my opinion. It’s a completely different taste profile on its own. I don’t manage temperature or quantity of beans but that could potentially change it further.
- merek 1y agoSame here with the hand grinder and French press. There are many factors I'm experimenting with. This is what I've found so far: - Finer grind is better. I know they say use coarse for the French press, but I find this gives too weak a flavor. Finer grind also means I spend a good 10 mins grinding each morning, which kind of sucks but it's part of my routine and feels like honest work for a worthy outcome. - Water temperature: I find cooler is usually better. I can set my kettle to 80deg C. I've heard using room temp water and letting it brew in the fridge over night produces amazing results but I've never done this. - Brew time: I leave it for 2min 30s - Stirring: I've found this to be a massive factor, and stirring even a little too much can easily cause awful bitter / bland flavors. I stir extremely gently and briefly, just enough to make sure there are no clumps. - Freshness: fresh is noticeably better with more complex flavors (within a few weeks of roast date). - Amount of coffee: Whatever fills the hand grinder. The ground result is visually similar in what would be used for an espresso in a cafe. - Type of beans: I go for rich and bold flavors. I don't really care for the fruitier coffees. With all these factors, I still struggle with consistency. Most days the result ends pretty good. Sometimes it results in an amazing coffee that makes made my day. Rich, smooth, complex, zero bitterness or unpleasantness. Each sip takes me on a flavor journey. The problem is I can't figure out what I do differently on those days to produce such great results.
- JoeDaDude 1y agoJolt Cola! I drank boatloads of the stuff in the 1980s, even had a bright red t-shirt with their slogan: "All the sugar and twice the caffeine". All this time I had no idea it was part of the hacker scene in Sweden.
- irjustin 1y agoFor this group, gaggiuino[0] is extremely fun for the hardware+coffee people. Rabbit hole of cost with James Hoffman + Lance Hedrick, but they are really pushing home coffee forward. [0] https://gaggiuino.github.io/ https://gaggiuino.github.io/
- riknos314 1y agoI'm not on Matrix, but the author might be interested in Swerl roasters in Sweden. https://swerl.se/ https://swerl.se/
- owlninja 1y agoI like coffee, but many years ago I realized I don't like drinking hot liquids. Anyone else like this? I live in North Texas where it's uncomfortably hot most of the year. It used to boggle my mind playing golf with my Grandpa who would grab a coffee at the turn just as temperatures were cracking 90F.
- breckenedge 1y agoEmbrace the coffee sweats
- euvin 1y agoWhenever I don't finish my cup of coffee and it's cooled down, I like to add ice and cold sparkling grapefruit water to make the world's laziest approximation of espresso tonic.
- memco 1y agoIced coffee or cold brew might work for you. I used to do aeropress or pour over coffee every morning but now I brew a large batch of hot coffee in a jar and then leave it on the counter overnight. The next day I remove the grinds and put the coffee in the fridge. Then on weekdays I just pour some over ice. It’s barely more work than making one pour over and I get 7 days of coffee with no prep work in the morning: delayed instant gratification all in one.
- aitchnyu 1y agoTea and coffee is still the main choice for cool or sweltering Indian cities. They still feel refreshing but cool drinks just provide 2 minutes of coolness.
- herbst 1y agoI do espresso and cold milk. Never liked warm warm coffee, even in cold swiss winters
- bluGill 1y agoWhat is wrong with plain water? Why try to mess it up with flavor, just drink and go on. I hate coffee, soda, and tea. water has always work well so why change it.
- Adambuilds 1y agoOur taste preferences evolve over time. Just like we’ve adapted our food to suit our personal tastes, why not do the same with drinks? I used to be a big fan of water too, but after trying different coffees, teas, and even flavored waters, I realized how much variety and experience they can bring. Coffee gives me that kick I need to get through the day, tea offers relaxation, and flavored water just feels refreshing. Isn’t it part of human nature to seek variety and pleasure in our experiences? If we were all content with just plain water, would we ever have discovered the joy of our favorite drinks?
- owebmaster 1y agoI hope you are drinking all of them without sugar, milk or anything else added
- Adambuilds 1y agoI don't do sugar much. But for coffee or tea, sometime I do drink latte or milktea. Like what I mentioned, I'm the kind that will seek for variety flavors and experience, like how I pursue my life.
- junebash 1y agoThis strikes me as a tad disingenuous. Indeed, why try anything new? Why can’t everything be the same forever? Folks like variety. Maybe you don’t, that’s fine, but acting incredulous about it isn’t going to make you any friends.
- herbst 1y agoYour question is provocative, but the answers are within the most utopic things I've read. Sounds like we evolved to be over water basically. Ideocracy calling
- Adambuilds 1y agoIt’s amazing how coffee has evolved. From the traditional bitter brew to light roasts, fruity blends, and decaf options, the range of choices today is endless. What started as a simple drink has transformed into something that caters to almost every taste and health need. Personally, I’ve always struggled with the bitterness of coffee, but when I discovered lighter roasts and fruity flavors, it completely changed my experience. Some with whiskey flavour is one that surprised me the most. It’s fascinating to see how human innovation can take something so basic and make it fit our ever-changing desires.
- mastazi 1y ago> Here in Sweden, it is customary to roast and brew coffee the same color as your soul: dark and ragged Strange, I thought it was the opposite given that very light roasts are sometimes called "Nordic roasts" - my understanding was that the name came about because light roasts are common in Northern Europe. Maybe that applies only to some but not all Nordic countries?
- curtisszmania 1y ago[dead]
- yoko888 1y ago[dead]
- YZF 1y agoA good espresso shot shouldn't taste that bitter. But like other things, it's an acquired taste. I used to drink only tea, then I learnt to love (or got addicted to) coffee. I started with turkish coffee which is about the most "hard core" coffee I guess so anything else feels subtle compared to that...
- timewizard 1y agoI always recommend an Americano (or a Long Black). It's an Espresso shot with hot water added. It drinks like a coffee but much of the bitterness is removed and the underlying flavor of the coffee is revealed. With a good quality coffee I rarely feel the need to add milk or sugar.
- bschwindHN 1y agoEveryone has their own opinions, but to me an Americano is the worst form of black coffee. Espresso blends are typically on the darker side (more bitter), and often include Robusta beans in their blends to produce more crema. Robusta doesn't have a particularly great flavor on its own, some (including me) liken the taste to burnt rubber. I think the clearest way to show someone how different "black coffee" can taste is to go to one of the extremes - pour over, hot or iced, with a light-roast bean from Africa, perhaps with a Natural or Anaerobic Natural process. You can get some pretty insane flavors out of a bean just by the processing it goes through after picking the coffee cherries. They can sometimes blur the lines between coffee and tea flavors.
- timewizard 1y ago> Espresso blends Oh god, no. Just use regular coffee beans.
- bschwindHN 1y ago
- iamthemonster 1y agoIt's quite interesting how coffee is treated in different cultures. In Australia, coffee would normally be consumed as a dark roast, but with texturised (that is aerated and steamed to create a microfoam). Dark roast coffee is less acidic, and when made into an espresso + texturised milk drink it becomes very sweet and smooth tasting. Light roasts used in espresso-based milky drinks are not so pleasant, and are more prone to astringency, especially if you use the same grind size, temperature and shot volume as a dark roast (which home espresso makers probably would, but cafes would know better). Light roasts are best with pourover or French Press methods and served black, which are not really methods that are as common in the Australian tradition. I'm quite surprised that someone who didn't like dark roasts would find light roasts less challenging, but hey I'm Australian not Swedish.
- mastazi 1y ago> In Australia, coffee would normally be consumed as a dark roast I live in Sydney and I mostly drink espresso shots (no milk), the roast is very noticeable to me due to the type of coffee I drink. I would say at least half of all cafes that I've tried use a light roast for black coffee, and dark roast for milk-based drinks. Italian-style cafes and non-specialty big chains, use dark roast for everything. But that's becoming less and less common especially in fancier establishment. This is based on my experience in the CBD, Lower North Shore and Inner West. YMMV
- guidedlight 1y agoAustralia is the market where Starbucks struggles the most. It’s also rare to see automated coffee machines in Australia, outside of a 7/11.
- iamthemonster 1y agoAh yeah, I'm in WA and although things have really advanced a lot in the last ten years, there are still plenty of cafes that "you don't really go to for the coffee" and it's more normal to just have one set of beans on offer. A lot of cafes, you just go there for the ham and cheese croissant or smashed avo or the great view. I reckon less than a quarter of the cafes would really be "coffee specialist cafes" where you'd get multiple roasts on offer.
- podunkPDX 1y agoA few years back I discovered that the Ethiopian run minimart up the street sells unroasted coffee beans, $6/lb. I bought a pound and followed the proprietor’s advice, roasting small quantities in a cast iron pan on medium high and agitating/stirring until it looked right. This was too labor intensive to be sustainable (40m for about 100g), but the end result was breathtaking. Immediately bought a roaster from Sweet Maria’s and haven’t looked back. I’m in the Pacific Northwest and we are spoiled for choice with artisanal roasters and coffee shops alike, but mine still tastes better since I roasted it yesterday.
- tkgally 1y agoI started roasting my own coffee a few months ago. I use a light pan with a screen cover I found online and roast the beans by shaking the pan over a high flame for seven or eight minutes. I judge the degree of the roast from the sound, the smoke, and the smell. It took a few batches before I got the hang of it, but now it works great. Home coffee roasting is, as one might expect, a deep rabbit hole that one can spend a lot of money on. But if you're only roasting for yourself, a simple setup like mine should be fine. I live in Japan, and there are coffee wholesalers that carry raw beans from all over the world. I'm currently trying beans from Nicaragua, Cuba, Ethiopia, and Indonesia. When I use those up I'll try four other origins.
- chii 1y ago> But if you're only roasting for yourself, a simple setup like mine should be fine. i wonder how consistent it is to do it over a pan with hands... I personally have a roasting attachment in my air-fryer, which is a rotating drum. And the air fryer has temperature setting, which can be used to correctly tune to roast your beans! But i just buy mine from a good local roaster...their skill is worth paying for since i find my own roasting to be uneven and inconsistent.
- tkgally 1y agoI understand. I don’t get exactly the same degree of roasting each time. The roasted beans themselves are not as consistently roasted as ideal, either; after I grind them, I notice some lighter and darker grounds mixed in. But that doesn’t seem to affect the taste, as least as far as I can tell. Anyway, it’s for my consumption only. I’m enjoying the manual roasting process, and I think I am gradually getting better at it.
- bschwindHN 1y agoFor those who don't like coffee because it's served hot (as mentioned in the article), try a pourover on ice. This is just _one_ recipe and not _the_ recipe but good to start somewhere: * 15g of coffee, ground for drip/pourover * 150g of hot water * 4-5 ice cubes (around 80-100g of ice) When you're ready to brew, put the ice in the vessel you'll brew into (I use a simple hario glass server). Do the whole hand-drip thing with the 150g of hot water, letting it drip onto the ice cubes in the server. By the time you're done, pretty much all the ice will have melted. Stir the server, and then pour all of its contents into a mug/glass filled with more ice. Since I moved to a hot climate I make this once or twice a day, I'd say it's a pretty solid recipe.
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- jeffhuys 1y agoLoved coffee. Now gives me dissociation episodes, sometimes leading to seizures. Tried it a few times still, but still happens. I’m not alone in this. Watch out with high dosages. Even low doses make me trip now.
- crossroadsguy 1y agoI finally realised that black coffee isn't for me (i.e just coffee and water; not even if it has chicory). I just can't have coffee without milk. So for it's the filter coffee (kaapi), or the instant coffee with milk, and cappuccino et al. I prefer well made instant milk coffee. Second comes the filter coffee and then everything else. Usually more coffee and really heated and stirred milk otherwise the typical fresh milk sort of taste remains and that's not nice. So I have to tell "swalpa strong, sugar beda" (little strong, no sugar). I have tried for years and I could never make even instant coffee at home that I could like (while I make decent milk tea/chai). So I gave up again and I mostly have coffee outside. At home I keep a bit just for emergencies when I must fight the sleep and I don't have time to step out. Also, because even though I live in the coffee/kaapi heaven Bangalore I am on the outskirts so things are far.
- looofooo0 1y agoThe cheapest delonghi will produce decent espresso with a good mill.
- blarg1 1y agoDepends on the beans, if you can find some that don't have all those weird "flavour notes" nor tastes too concentrated (dark?), also have the amount of water so it isn't strong but also not diluted, then black can be really nice. Coffee shops don't make them like that though, I used a vietnamese coffee maker and had to experiment on how much grinds to use and how much water to put through.
- crossroadsguy 1y agoI have tried to taste some but couldn’t go far. There are not places here where I can go and do the “tasting” paid or sampling (there are many for tea though) and I really don’t want to spend ton of money blind buying and trying.
- southernplaces7 1y agoSo, the way I make coffee, and as far as I'm concerned the easiest and most versatile way to make it: Needed: 1. One small to medium aluminum or steel pot (any will do, just hopefully narrow enough for an easy boil) 2. Obviously, coffee, preferably freshly ground by you or some seller, but bagged, ground coffee is just fine if it's a good brand. 3. Distilled water. You could use tap water, but damn do I hope you live in one of those few places where the stuff from the tap is great stuff, because it often isn't and tastes like lead-lined ass. Otherwise, any distilled, filtered water will make a huge difference on final coffee quality. 4. Heat Source of some kind. It could be a gas stove, electric stove, induction stove, campfire or even a nuclear reactor core, as long as it can boil your pot water. 5. Your favorite cup, or any cup really, preferably one thick enough to trap heat for at least a bit. 6. Something for filtering prepared coffee. Could be a tiny kitchen sieve, a spare coffee filter, or even a (preferably very clean) sock. I've used them all. 7. Spoon. Process: 1. Pour water into your (preferably clean) little metal pot, measure out how many cups worth you want. 2. Heat said water until it boils. 3. Take water down from boil and just as it stops bubbling, toss in tablespoons of coffee. I prefer one tablespoon per cup's worth of water, but you can play with this based on strength preference. 4. Let sit for 5 minutes. 5. Serve yourself some fine damn coffee by pouring it into your cup through the little filtering screen of choice (see above), whether you're at home, on some mountains, or inside a nuclear reactor..
- globular-toast 1y agoThere are certainly better options if you're at home but brewing coffee like this has worked for me before. You don't even have to filter it. You can just put ground coffee in a cup, add hot water, stir it to make the bites go to the bottom and drink it very carefully to avoid churning up the sediment. It's worked for me before when travelling. If you plan to make coffee while camping you might as well bring a Moka pot, though. But do learn how to use it first.
- southernplaces7 1y agoHad to look up what you meant by moka pot, and see that you're talking about what we call an Italian press where I live. Agreed that it's a useful camping tool, and in general for good, easy to make coffee, also much less fragile than a french press. Though I still think a simple pot and literally any sort of straining filter screen, even a spare paper coffee filter cup, is an even easier combo. No need to ever avoid swallowing grounds like that. Anything fancier than the above for just coffee is a waste to me. Big complex devices break down and with the accumulated heat, humidity, oils and so forth, quickly turn into refuge camps for both cockroaches and bacteria..
- globular-toast 1y agoThis post covers one thing they don't tell you about coffee, namely that it doesn't have to taste like generic burnt plant matter. The other thing is you don't have to like espresso. It took me a while to realise this. Espresso is everywhere because it's easy to mass produce. They just press a button basically. But it basically all tastes the same (IMO). You might like filter or cafetière coffee even if you don't like espresso. Espresso made with burnt beans, e.g. Starbucks, is naturally the worst of the worst. There's a reason their drinks are mostly milk and sugar.
- eth0up 1y agoAs an ignorant kid, yet unwise to the evils of this world and my part in fighting them, I had a magical source from which to procure endless jolt cola. All it required was a little nocturnal recon work involving dark clothing, slithering prone, and timing. And of course, a momentary suspension of morality, a concept I hadn't yet figured out wasn't just adult propaganda. And holy fukuda, those things changed me. I'd sometimes drink one right before boarding the school bus, and what havoc I hadn't wreaked during the journey, was thoroughly unleashed at school. Until the effects wore off, by which time some iteration of a suspension or prelude to one was often in the works. Grade A canned trouble. And the only substance I can remember that ever made me actually kind of want to go to school. The only truly excellent coffee I've ever had was an African pea berry, as good as fine tea, in a way that discouraged adulteration with any form of sweetener or cream. It was vaguely floral and silken, and reminded me of indigo and velvet. Every coffee since has been a neutral or unpleasant means of banishing weariness, or barter for inspiration.
- incomingpain 1y agoLattes, they are essentially sugar milk that you only slightly dirty with an espresso.
- jagermo 1y ago2 things I would recommend to people in a similar position: 1) Affogato: An espresso shot poured over a nice serving of ice cream. Does not have to be much, but a good vanilla gelato with an espresso over it is heaven. 2) Try a cold brew. Simply get ground coffee that smells good, put 2 to 3 scoops in a bottle, fill with water, and let it sit in the fridge for 24+ hours. After that, run it through a filter. The resulting liquid is pretty intense and has a high caffeine concentration, but, most of the time, will not taste bitter and even offer some different flavor profiles. Even cheap ground beans can taste quite good that way. You can drink it over ice in the summer or simply add some boiling water (basically an americano). oh, and shop around for coffee places, smaller roasters and or speciality coffee shops, they normally roast different and their coffee has a wide variety of taste. from fruity to nutty, coffee can be so much more than just a dark liquid.
- jghn 1y agoWhere I live, Dunkin Donuts is king. All one needs to do is stand in line behind the average patron ordering a coffee with 8 creams and 10 sugars to identify "coffee for people who don't life coffee". Or take a gander at any Starbucks ad pushing their latest dessert for breakfast drink offering.
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- johnea 1y agoShouldn't people who don't like coffee, just not drink coffee? The article makes it seem like caffeine is an essential nutrient. Is this kid just addicted? I drink an espresso or two each morning. I find drip coffee... uninteresting. If I travel, or am in any situation where I don't have easy access to espresso, I just don't drink coffee. It's not a big deal. I do agree with the aversion to sodas... In addition to the sugar, they're packed full of other wonky ingredients.
- dgimla20 1y agoI'm surprised you are the only person saying this. I don't like coffee, and I'm not going to keep drinking coffee until I like it (or become hooked on caffeine). It seems odd that so many people's first impression is to find new ways of changing somebody's mind.
- dgimla20 1y agoWhy keep pursuing it if you don't like it in general? I don't like coffee. I've tried most of the variations over the years, and don't like any of them. So I don't drink it. The top comment and tons of others are people trying to work around what for many is simply a general dislike of coffee. Good beans, clean water, certain temperature. That's not going to change somebody who doesn't like the taste of coffee. I just drink water. It's all we need.
- xunil2ycom 1y agohow boring.
- dgimla20 1y agoThere's more interesting things to a person than their drinking preferences.
- xunil2ycom 1y agoAs I understand it, a lighter roast retains more caffeine than a darker roast.