Everyday Beans Podcast - Mostly About Coffee and Other Stuff

The Introvert's Guide to Coffee Shop Culture

• Oaks, the coffee guy • Season 1 • Episode 156

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In this enlightening episode, I dive deep into the art of enjoying coffee shops as an introvert and coffee enthusiast. Drawing from my personal experience as both a coffee roaster and self-proclaimed introvert, I share my recent visit to a popular coffee shop and the insights it sparked about the true essence of café culture. I explore the parallels between stepping into a coffee shop and going to the gym for the first time - both experiences that can feel intimidating but rewarding.

Throughout this episode, I reveal my four key strategies for making the most of your coffee shop experience, regardless of whether you're a coffee novice, introvert, or simply curious about expanding your coffee horizons. Listeners will learn practical tips for building meaningful connections within coffee shop communities while staying true to their comfort levels, and discover why the best coffee shop experiences often transcend the quality of the coffee itself. This episode is perfect for anyone looking to enhance their coffee shop visits beyond just ordering a drink.

For good tasty coffee, check us out at: everydaybeans.com

For tips, tricks and still trying to figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/@everyday-beans

[00:00] Today is January 18th, 2025. We're live right now. So, what are we going to be talking about today? Let's get right into it.

[00:45] It's been a while since I've actually used this mic. As you probably can tell, I love a lot of stuff. And as I was doing all this stuff, trying to understand audio and podcasting, I went down the rabbit hole of mics. I don't use this mic that much because it gets a little tinny from my voice, but it doesn't matter. I think that kind of plays into the topic that we're going to be talking about today. I actually wrote some notes down. So we'll see how the notes do for us. But before we get started, let's go ahead and have a cup of coffee or a sip.

[02:00] I'm going to talk about grinders a little bit more because the way that this coffee came out on this particular grinder is drastically different compared to what I've gotten from my new grinder. That's a topic for another day. As we go through this journey in coffee, we go through different rabbit holes. We talk about the gear, we talk about the coffee, we talk about our experience. Sometimes we talk about how it affects our lives.

[03:15] This past week, I actually tried to push myself. As you can see, I am more so like a loner. I tend to do a lot of things on my own. I'm a classic introvert. I like to have my own hobbies. I like to explore. I can do a lot of things by myself.

[04:00] In this case, this particular day, I went to a coffee shop. And we already know how I feel about coffee shops. If you don't know, I don't know how to do coffee. I don't think they're really about coffee, which I don't think they're designed to be that way.

[04:45] But I went to a popular coffee shop. I'm not going to say the name. It doesn't really matter. But I was looking to explore. I ended up getting two drinks: my classic drip coffee and also my macchiato.

[05:30] I go there for different reasons. I go there to assess the coffee quality. I go there to see if what I'm doing makes sense because I'm a roaster. I can roast my coffee whichever way I need to for myself and for the clients that I talk to or interact with, and also for my YouTube videos.

[06:15] Here's the experience. After I got there, I went ahead and got out of the car, went to the counter, looked at the menus, talked to the barista or the server at hand. And when I did that, it felt very soulless. They're very nice to me as they were to everybody else, as many coffee shops are - they're very inviting to an extent.

[07:00] They ask you if you want cream or milk and sugar on it so they can leave some room for it. But for the most part, it was very clinical. I did get eye contact. I did feel like a warmth of human interaction. But that's about it. And truthfully, you can't really blame a barista to give you more than what they're supposed to give you.

[08:00] I left there and I really wanted to talk about this whole experience. What is the true point of a coffee shop? What are you really trying to get out of it?

[08:45] Let me get my notes. The title is "How to enjoy a coffee shop experience as a noob, introvert, or just curious coffee drinker." I think it's like going to the gym. I am a big workout person past four or five years. Before the pandemic, I did go to the gym quite a bit because I have a home gym.

[09:30] When you go to a gym, you are very intimidated. You're wondering if people are looking at you. You're wondering if you're doing the stuff right. You're wondering if you'll get the benefits as what people would say that you would get.

[10:15] Let's talk about the first bullet: Start with the main goal of enjoying the coffee and experience. Go for the coffee. What I mean by that is that you're going to see if you can taste something spectacular, something magical, something more than what you're actually getting or doing at home.

[11:00] When I did go to the coffee shops, I was only really interested in the quality, the care and the differences of coffee. I'm a coffee slut. I want to try as many different coffees as I can. And it's cool to not be the one preparing everything, not being the one sourcing and analyzing the beans.

[12:00] Second point: Only select a couple of local shops for whatever your reasoning. If you tend to like to go to coffee shops either in the morning time before work or it's part of your morning routine, only go to a couple of them.

[13:00] When I used to work in downtown Houston, I did go to this coffee shop from time to time. As I went back there a couple of times, this particular barista started to notice me. We just started talking about the coffee. He introduced a couple of things to me. He would tell me what they were roasting. He would give me a little sample bag of something that they were experimenting with.

[14:15] I felt that that was my spot. I felt like a part of the organization. You don't really get that if you're constantly moving to different places. People are creatures of habits. After a while, you start to see regulars. You start to see people who are there all the time.

[15:30] The last point: Good tasting coffee isn't the goal. It's about the people. You probably can make a better cup of coffee than that barista. You do that all the time. You know your technique. You probably have a TDS meter. You're probably on your Reddit forms. You can probably make a better cup of coffee than anybody in that joint.

[16:45] But it's not about that. It's about actually interacting and understanding how people groove and do their things and how you can grow into the whole experience. There's more people in coffee shops than coffee.

[17:30] I don't like using the word community because it's kind of an empty type of word, but you can create your own community. What is your definition of community? What is the thing that you care about in your life when it comes to people?

[18:15] As you stay there and get more in the routine of going to these shops and interacting with people, you start to realize that you have other things in common with people. I think that's pretty cool. Other things that you may have not even thought about, somebody may have opened you up to different things.

[18:45] That's my logic, that's my thinking. Let me know what you think about that. Those are my quick tips or insights of ways that you can actually go about enjoying a coffee shop because it's more than just coffee. It's more about the people. And that will take time.

[19:00] This is Okey at Everyday Being signing off. Talk to you later, bye.