Can Every Specialty Coffee Be Great?

In this introspective episode, I dive deep into one of my biggest challenges as a coffee enthusiast and professional: the quest to make every specialty coffee taste exceptional. Drawing from my engineering background and problem-solving mindset, I share my recent experience with a Sumatran coffee that led me to question what truly makes coffee "special." I explore the frustrations and revelations that come with trying to perfect each brew, discussing how I navigate between technical expertise and accepting a coffee's inherent characteristics.

In this episode, listeners will learn about the mental and technical challenges of coffee brewing, gain insights into a professional's approach to problem-solving in coffee preparation, and understand the importance of balancing perfectionism with acceptance in the coffee journey. I also share my thoughts on personal growth in coffee tasting and how our current perspectives shape our coffee experiences.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:30 Problem Solving in Coffee
• 3:15 The Challenge: Making Every Coffee Tasty
• 5:15 Experience with Sumatran Coffee
• 6:45 Accepting Coffee's Natural Character
• 8:30 The Quest for Coffee Excellence
• 10:15 Defining "Special" in Coffee
• 12:00 Personal Growth and Future Journey

Transcript

[00:00] Today is Saturday, January 25th, 2025, and we're doing pretty good. I hope you're doing well on this new year. Can we say happy new year? I think we're close on the verge to being done with that.

[01:00] I was thinking about a topic today, and it's one of the things that I've actually been going through. In regards to coffee, because that's what we're talking about - coffee and insights from my unique point of view. I started off thinking about problem solving because with my background being engineering, it's about problem solving. But I think everybody does problem solving. No matter what they do, that's really the name of the game. That's the jobs that we do in order to survive and live. We're always trying to provide solutions to issues and problems.

[02:15] My unique perspective is my unique perspective, but I think when we do these things, we are really coming from the same point of view. We just approach it slightly differently. I want to bring up a situation I'm going through right now. I've been testing out different recipes, scenarios, trying to be as objective as I can with my thoughts and feelings, but it always goes back to the same notion that's in my mind.

[03:30] Here it is. One of my biggest challenges I have with coffee is, is it possible to make every coffee tasty? I'm not talking about trash from the grocery store - some of it I know is pretty good - but let's talk about specialty coffee. I think that's very opinionated, but I have this thing where I can't get that all the time. I can't get that process or that feeling or that goal to solve or crack this coffee.

[04:45] What is it that I'm really trying to do? At the end of the day, I'm not really trying to change the personality or the perception of what that coffee is. I really can't do that, because that coffee is uniquely the way it is. That coffee is what makes it special to that person, special to that roaster.

[05:30] I had a Sumatran coffee and I brewed extensively. I tried so many different things to bring the best out of this coffee. But I realized that I was already behind the eight ball, meaning that it didn't do anything for me. As I came to this realization - the coffee is what it is.

[06:15] If you're trying to create something that is supposed to be magical specialty, it already has some innate special tastes or feelings that the roaster or producer has said this coffee is on this particular scale with the smell, the taste, and all the cupping aspects. But in truth, a lot of times coffee can just be okay.

[07:00] I haven't really taken myself to the point where I'm okay with it being the way it is. When something's presented to me, I'm able to use my knowledge with brewing, playing around with water chemistry, with third wave water, playing around with gadgets, to try to get to a place where I can make this thing magical - light, medium, dark, whatever.

[08:15] I get extremely frustrated and disappointed when I can't bring this coffee to light. I don't know if you go through that, but I go through that quite a bit. I don't know if this is just me trying to be obsessed with the craft of chasing that magic cup of coffee or just trying to pick one thing that is good about this coffee.

[09:00] I think what it is, is that I have to come back and just see things for what they are and be like, okay, probably this coffee is good this way. And just move on, or it just simply isn't great. And that's perfectly fine too. We have different palates, we have different expectations.

[10:00] As I understand coffee even more - taste coffee, analyze it, be as objective as I can in my approach - it's interesting that even though I'm getting better each day that I'm doing this routine, this craft, I'm chasing something. I'm chasing an amazing product.

[11:00] I don't want to let people down, especially when I'm selling this product. What does special mean? Above the ordinary, not normal, better. What does better mean? As we're talking about this, that's really extremely subjective.

[11:45] What makes coffee special? Because a lot of times it's not special, especially when we have all these gadgets, we're trying to manipulate the coffee, trying to understand the personality that it presents us. Those are some of the things that I think about constantly.

[12:30] As we explore our palates, our minds, and this journey, I think we're always going to be asking ourselves, what is special about coffee? Of course, it's the taste, the smell, all the memories it creates for us. It wakes us up, it makes us realize what comes out of a coffee bean, but it does disappoint us sometimes.

[13:00] We're going to keep going down this journey through this place where we don't even know the outcome. I guess what I'm saying is that we're always asking those questions. I'm always asking those questions. Why is this coffee special? What makes this coffee happy for me? If it is, it is. If it's not, it's not.

[13:30] I think we have to keep exploring because this is just the game that we're in. As we understand coffee even more, we will get there eventually. Everything we do isn't going to be a home run. But can most things, specialty-wise, be there? Are we working at a 70, 80% way of going about it?

[13:45] This is me, Okey, Everyday Bean signing out. Talk to you later.