The Art of Getting Better at Coffee

In this episode, I dive deep into the concept of progression and improvement in our coffee journey. I share my personal revelation about looking back at how far we've come in our understanding and appreciation of coffee. Using my experience with a French press - my first brewer that I initially didn't favor - I demonstrate how challenging our preconceptions and experimenting with unconventional methods can lead to surprising discoveries.

I discuss my experimental 10-minute brew method with a Honduras-Peruvian dark roast blend, highlighting how my understanding of variables like grind size, water chemistry, and brewing time has evolved. Through this episode, listeners will learn the importance of staying curious, challenging established norms, and recognizing that the journey of coffee appreciation has no endpoint - it's about continuous exploration and personal growth.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:15 The Importance of Looking Back
• 2:30 French Press Experimentation
• 4:00 Breaking Down the Recipe
• 5:45 Water Chemistry and Clarity
• 7:00 The Journey of Improvement
• 8:30 Embracing Curiosity
• 9:30 Challenging Coffee Norms
• 10:15 Closing Thoughts

Transcript

[00:00] Today is January 4th, 2025. We're doing pretty good. And we're going to get into it. Today I want to talk about getting better in the context of coffee.

[00:23] Getting better in coffee is something that I believe we probably take for granted when we don't look back in time to see if we're actually progressing. Of course we are progressing - we make coffee, we try it out, we start to develop preferences, things we like and don't like about coffee, which brewers we prefer, for whatever reason.

[01:15] As we go through time, I think it's good to reflect. I just had an epiphany about looking at things and realizing the progression I've made in this whole coffee world. Not for anybody else, but for me. Same thing for you - do you go through that too, to the point where you are truly seeing what works for you and how you have progressed?

[02:00] Let's use an easy example. Right here in front of me is the French press. I'm not too big of a fan of the French press. However, this was my first coffee brewer. Very simple to use - you put coffee in, wait a couple minutes, and go on your way.

[02:45] Today I decided to make a French press coffee. I have my own recipe that I've been doing with this particular coffee. It's a dark roast, a blend of Honduras and Peruvian. Together they don't really make it exciting for me, but those two coffees in a 50-50 split work really well as a light, medium, or dark roast.

[03:30] I brewed a cup from the French press. My recipe was unusual but it's been working well, allowing me, like with the AeroPress, to taste the coffee for what it is. I can get different elements out of the coffee now with this particular ratio, recipe, and whole makeup of what I call the coffee chain.

[04:15] It's interesting - I taste the clarity. It's not so much of a muddy cup anymore. I used my EK43 grinder at setting 10 out of 11, so relatively coarse but a bit finer since I'm dealing with a darker roast.

[05:00] I brewed it for 10 minutes. Who would really brew coffee for 10 minutes? I've noticed, thanks to the AeroPress, that my coffees tend to like more time, not a quick brew. I stirred initially, waited 10 minutes, then plunged down.

[05:45] There's no paper filter whatsoever. Everything is as non-filtered and unadulterated as they say. One of the biggest things I'm understanding more is water. I used Third Wave Water with a dark roast profile. It brought out the essence and clarity.

[06:30] Getting better is part of that whole experience. We know we gain experience with time, but how does that really look? Every person's different. With time, I am getting better. But you can get stagnant, doing the same thing over and over.

[07:15] I've gone through ruts where coffee wasn't doing it for me. My coffees weren't tasting good. It felt more like a chore than a ritual. Getting better is knowing that you're reaching for something even if you don't have that particular goal.

[08:00] How can we continue to get better in coffee realizing we won't ever perfect it? We have to challenge everything - the beans, water chemistry, filters, pouring technique. All of that gets us closer to perfection, but truthfully, I don't think we're trying to chase perfection. We're just trying to figure out that coffee for that moment.

[09:00] We can do anything we want - buy the gear we want, use the grinder we want, use filtered water, go down deep into different rabbit holes of coffee. That's okay because in our eyes, that is our getting better part, our exploring the discoveries of coffee.

[09:45] The people I'm talking to love coffee. They can't stop thinking about it. As much as they try to be well-rounded, coffee is their jam. Either you geek out or you don't - it doesn't matter.

[10:00] Let's keep exploring what we can do with coffee. I could drink this French press coffee all day, which is saying something since I don't usually like French press. But I'm tasting different things, exploring possibilities, challenging myself, doing something different.

[10:15] That's the beauty of getting better - the curiosity part. We have to stay curious in all of this. Whatever story you're trying to get out of your coffee, that's the story you're telling. Through your experience and what you're learning, you can truly continue to get better at anything you want to do.