Being late to the coffee game and somewhat pedantic about it
Growing up on the country-side my earliest experiences of coffee consist of elderly people pouring themself some bitter cup which can only be emptied with the sweet pie that is consumed alongside it.
Not the kind of beverage I would seek on my own. Also later during my studies I kind of pitied my fellow students that had to rely on this 'magical' drink to make it through their day. Being a morning person this was never a problem for me.
However recently during a low-calorie diet and inspired by some anime; I found myself wondering: "How deep is this coffee iceberg? What does it take to brew a cup of coffee that is universally considered good? And is there a coffee outside that even I would enjoy?"
So I started doing my research, mainly through Youtube and consumed some of the more popular channels. I wanted to invest more gradually into this potential hobby, ready to pull the plug if I hit a wall and saw no way to get past the (bitter) taste barrier. Having a estimated budget of around 400€ in mind and reading that pour-over coffee is generally considered less bitter than espresso, I settled for the following action list:
Step 1
- Go to city and ask in a established store for a selection of bean recommendations (whole beans)
- Buy some generic filter paper from the supermarket
- Lend some porcelain gooseneck kettle, an old plastic dripper and a hand-grinder (important to have control over the grind size and therefore taste) from my parents
- I had an electric kettle that could control water temperature in 10 degree celsius steps and a digital kitchen scale at home
Step 2
- Order some speciality coffee from the internet (whole beans)
- Make my own coffee water with a recipe from the internet
- Get a high quality electric grinder for pour-over coffee, my biggest investment actually so far
Step 3
- Get a dedicated electric gooseneck kettle for coffee water
- Get a coffee kitchen scale (with pour-rate meter, even though I barely use it these days)
Step 4
- Get the melodrip for extra sweet coffee
- Buy some drippers of my own, also tried paperless / steel, eventually I settled for the Hario Switch (highly recommended for sweet tasting coffee)
- Get "good" filter papers over the internet
Step 5
- Buy non-speciality coffee over the internet because it is very frustrating to find a coffee you like and it is not available any more ;)
These steps are not exactly how I intended my coffee journey but more or less how I ended up doing it, ready to pull out of the hobby any time if I would discover coffee would never be my "cup of tea".
So I ended up grinding my first few beans and varying the grind settings as I found alongside the water temperature (and bean type of course) this would affect the taste the most. Tried 3-4 recipes I found on Youtube and the internet and would document my experience as I went, since like my cooking and my coding I like reproducible results...
Which brings me to my next topic: "How to categorize coffee taste?"
Marcurion
