Your Coffee Journey: What Are You Chasing?

In this episode, I conduct a taste test comparing coffee ground with two different grinders: a Kin hand grinder and a Baratza Virtuoso electric grinder. Using the same decaf coffee, brewing method (Hario V60), and Third Way water, I explore whether there's a significant difference in taste quality between these grinders. Surprisingly, the results are quite similar, with only slightly more clarity in the hand-ground coffee. This leads me to reflect on what coffee enthusiasts are truly "chasing" in their brewing journey - whether it's clarity, body, or specific flavor profiles. I discuss how water quality might be the real star of the show, with Third Way water helping to create an even playing field for tasting.

By listening to this episode, you'll gain insights into how much grinders really matter in your coffee brewing setup and whether expensive equipment upgrades are necessary for your personal coffee goals. You'll also learn about my approach to coffee clarity and how different variables like water, grind size, and brewing methods affect what you taste in your cup.

Transcript

[00:00] This one is a little different, but we're live right now. Today is February 1st, 2025, and we're doing pretty good right now. I want to do a little taste test, and then we're going to talk about the situation as we go about this. It's a different podcast. I think I've been on the whole thing about grinders and everything and see how much it really does matter.

[00:22] So once we're done with our taste test, then we're just going to be talking. I have two coffees right here. One of them is ground with the Kin Grinder, and then the other one is ground with the Baratza Virtuoso.

[00:42] We're going to go ahead and taste them. I didn't really go crazy with the dialing in of these coffees. I just wanted to make sure that they're more or less comparable. I am using Third Way water for both of the experiments. We're going to see if we're going to taste the difference, and then we're going to go from there.

[01:14] Let me also get some water to clean my palate. All right, so now it's time to drink the Baratza. [Slurping]

[01:30] Okay, just drink the other one. [Slurping] I think I'm almost there. We're going to let these coffees cool a little bit. Both of these coffees are decaf, my decaf.

[01:52] Like I said, 200 degrees Fahrenheit, 1 to 15 ratio. It was brewed on the Hario V60. I did about six pulses after the bloom.

[02:09] I'm actually standing up if you can see me right now. So it's a little different. I'm trying to see if there's a really big difference between the regular grinder versus the electric grinder versus the hand grinder.

[02:22] And like I said, I didn't go crazy with trying to really dial these in, but let's taste it again. [Slurping]

[02:35] I think for the most part, they really taste the same. So what does that really mean for us? I don't know really what that means. I think the biggest takeaway is that if you more so keep a lot of variables the same, meaning that the grinder, at least in this case for that particular coffee, doesn't matter as much as I would have thought.

[02:55] I thought that the hand grinder was going to taste a lot better, more clarity compared to what the Baratza is because the Baratza has a little bit more fines. This Kin grinder, I've noticed that it allows you to really taste a little bit more of the coffee.

[03:14] And then since they're both on the same playing field, meaning that they're using Third Way water, I can decipher a little bit more what I'm tasting in a cup. Probably a little slight edge for the Kin grinder, but if I was to do a real true blind test, I would probably say they're more so the same because I can get clarity.

[03:35] I can taste a little bit more of the essence of what the coffee is. I wouldn't say that the Baratza is like muddy or anything, but it's less clear what I'm actually tasting. It has like that tannin type of taste, mainly probably because of the actual processing of the coffee, but that's in both of these coffees.

[04:05] [Slurping] Yeah, just a little bit more of the degree of clarity and I'm not even explaining what I'm tasting. Just kind of like what's in my mouth right now.

[04:22] I will tell you right now that although I am a roaster and all that stuff, sometimes it's hard to decipher exactly what you're tasting, but that's fine. Those are some of the things that we get better with age and time where we can actually explain and describe what we're actually tasting.

[04:38] But both of these coffees taste pretty good. No real complaints in these coffees. So what does that mean for you really? Because that's what we're getting at.

[04:50] A lot of times, I will include myself at times, when it's time to actually drink the coffees, we're always wondering if we're missing out, meaning that, okay, I have this grinder or this cheaper grinder. Does that mean that I'm not tasting the things that I should taste because somebody else is telling me that?

[05:08] You have to trust yourself at the end of the day. You have to see if the hype is real, if it does make sense or whatever you do have is just good enough for whatever you're doing right now because we're all on different journeys.

[05:23] Like for me, for instance, the thing that I want to do in this whole thing, at least this year, is I'm chasing clarity. I'm chasing understanding what I'm tasting in a cup of coffee as much as I can. So that means that I'm going to go all in.

[05:37] I'm going to try to get the best water chemistry in order to brew the cup of coffee. I want to make sure that my grinders are in a way to where it does give me the best shot of actually tasting the coffees a lot more.

[05:50] So those are some of the things that I'm actually doing for myself in order to taste coffee clearly, objectively. And those are some of the things that I'm looking for. But if you're not necessarily looking for that, whatever thing that you may have, you may just be perfectly fine with the way it is.

[06:10] And those are some of the things that we have to think about a lot of times when we're talking about grinders. Although, don't get me wrong, this Kin grinder is cheaper compared to this Baratza. This Baratza is about 200 bucks, 250 bucks, something like that. You get the base model that's like 150, I believe, 160, 170.

[06:30] So you can go about it that way too. And if you just want to press the button, you can press the button. If you have something comparable, you can go from there. I would say that this is probably the minimum amount that you'll need.

[06:42] But I have noticed though, that overall the Kin grinder compared to the Baratza, in this case, it does produce a cleaner, clearer type of cup of coffee. A lot of times when I was using the Baratza, the cups were less defined, they're more muddy. That's what I mean by that.

[06:58] It's very hard to decipher what you're really tasting. Everything's like homogenous together and all that good stuff. So the coffees are cooling, so let's taste it again. [Slurping] Yeah.

[07:19] And I think really just thinking about this out loud, the real big star in this whole thing is the Third Way water. It helps put all of this stuff in more of an even playing field.

[07:32] Because sometimes when we think about gadgets and experiments and things that we're doing, we're like, okay, are we really missing out? What kind of things do we need to do in order to really kind of get to the place to where we're trying to really enjoy the cup of coffee?

[07:47] And then in this case, all you would need is a package of Third Way water. And then for the most part, then you'll be pretty good with tasting the coffees a little bit more. If your coffee's not as exciting as you would thought that it would be, then more than likely it's probably your coffee.

[08:03] And I think that's the reason why I do like the Third Way water, because it does give an amplification. It does amp up the coffee a little bit more compared to using just tap water. What I've noticed in the past month, month and a half of actually really trying this whole experiment.

[08:25] I haven't tried my new grinder, which is the Fellow Opus, something like that. So that may actually provide even more of a dimension. But again, it's one of those things to where you're going to keep going down the rabbit hole of chasing these little bit of incremental betterness, so to speak, in your cup of coffee.

[08:45] If you want to go down that road, go down that road, which as you see, I am. But I guess the biggest takeaway in all this is that, what is it that we're chasing? I know what I'm chasing. What are you chasing?

[08:59] What are some of the things that you care about when you are drinking coffee? Are you a black coffee drinker to where whichever device you use, you're chasing that clarity or that full bodiness? What are the kind of things that you're chasing?

[09:13] That's the things I'm kind of wondering about because at the end of the day, that's all that matters. I can tell you what I like, what I don't like, and the reasons why and all that good stuff. But if you don't care about that, you just simply don't care about that.

[09:28] So what are you truly really chasing? [Sipping] There's some acidity onto this coffee, but it's very pleasant. If you kind of let it linger or will linger a little bit, there's a little bit of grapefruity type of rind flavor on it, but it's not too bad.

[09:52] Let's taste the other one. This one has a little bit less than that, probably mainly so because of the grind. So it's more approachable, it seems, the Virtuoso. And there's a little bit more fines in a cup compared to the other cup.

[10:15] The one on my right, your left, was the Kin Grinder. And the one on the left, your right, has a little bit more boulders inside of the cup of coffee for the Baratza.

[10:30] So that could have also helped in not over extracting the coffees, and again, I don't really change the grind settings of this one. The only thing I would do differently if I were to make another cup, is to simply put more water in there.

[10:45] So the recipe will probably be a one to 16 ratio compared to the one to 15 in order to get the extraction a little bit lower, let it be a little bit less acidic and whatnot.

[10:56] So those are some of the things that I'll change. If I don't want that acidity as much as pronounced, I'll probably go down with the temperature. It will still extract about the same, but the acidity will be a little bit lighter, a little bit more presentable compared to what I'm drinking right now, if I have the same ratio.

[11:17] So what is there to this coffee thing? What do you truly really care about? Because I know what I care about. It'd be cool to get your opinion in things that you care about in drinking coffee.

[11:30] Are you a milk and sugar person to where probably a lot of this stuff doesn't really matter? Can you really taste the difference in the different water chemistries that you may be using? What are different coffees? After a while, you'll know exactly where you want to go with this.

[11:52] So, no, it's not sweet. It's more acidic than anything, but it's not like a crazy about acidity to it. It does have like an oaky type of taste to it too. It could be probably some of the chocolatey type of flavors that is coming through with this medium roast.

[12:15] This Baratza is a little bit more approachable and that's probably more so because of me probably nailing the grind size perfectly. So it's all good for me. I don't know about you.

[12:28] What are you chasing in coffee? What do you care about? Why do you care about it? And whatever you do pick along the journey, does that dictate of like gear you get, coffee you get, things of that nature?

[12:41] Because at the end of the day, that's how we really go about buying things in general, not just coffee. It's like, okay, what do I really care about? And as I care about this, this is how I will dictate the way I go about expressing myself in order to get to the goal that I'm trying to get to.