The Beauty of Meh Coffee

I've been sitting with an Ethiopian white honey coffee that I just couldn't get to click for me. I brewed it every way I could think of. Different devices, different grinders, different ratios. I went down the rabbit hole hard with this one. I used the AeroPress, the ZP6, brewed it at 1:15 and 1:18, played with the grind size, even thought about water chemistry. And for a long time, it stayed meh. Not bad. Just not talking to me. In this episode, I walk through exactly what I discovered about this coffee and, more importantly, what I discovered about myself as a brewer because of it.

The real lesson here isn't about the Ethiopian. It's about what these mediocre, frustrating, won't-quite-land coffees actually teach us. I explain why I've come to appreciate meh coffees just as much as the ones that blow me away, and why being able to articulate exactly why a coffee doesn't work for you is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. If you've ever had a coffee that just didn't do it for you and didn't know what to do with that feeling, this episode is for you.

Transcript

[00:00] One of the greatest joys of a meh coffee is understanding why it doesn't work for you. The intimate details of why that coffee isn't special to you.

[00:15] That's what I went through with this Ethiopian coffee.

[00:19] I was excited. Truly excited when I first started to drink it.

[00:25] And then after one brew, two brews, three brews, something about it was off. Not that it was a bad coffee. It just didn't really gel with me. I didn't know what it was. I truly really didn't know.

[00:44] I was getting a little frustrated.

[00:47] So I sat there for a bit, contemplated why it wasn't working for me. And then I just went to work. I brewed it this way, that way, on this device, that device. I brewed it with this grinder.

[01:04] And then it started to come alive a little bit. But for the most part, it was still meh.

[01:14] And then after a while, instead of getting frustrated, I started to see if I could really figure out this coffee. I tried all the things I normally do with coffee. But this one made me go down the rabbit hole of trying almost everything.

[01:36] When I went down that road, the coffee just didn't really do anything for me. So I put it down, came back, and brewed it again.

[01:51] And what I started to notice is that the coffee was different each time. This is a white honey coffee. That's just the way it's processed. It's from Ethiopia, it's heirloom, and all that. So you'd expect greatness from it.

[02:13] What I was getting from this coffee was a Meyer lemon softness. The aftertaste was just fleeting. And as it was fleeting, I started to get more uninterested.

[02:31] Then I started to notice the drawdown. How significantly slow it was. High elevation, probably. But at the end of the day, it just wasn't working for me.

[02:45] But I kept noticing more things. Like how this coffee liked to be presented at a 1:18 ratio, and sometimes 1:15. It worked really well with the AeroPress. It was a little clearer and more understandable with the ZP6.

[03:01] So I started to understand that this was more of a lemony, Chianti-type profile, if that makes any sense. It had that richness in the aftertone.

[03:22] But as I kept drinking it, I started wondering more about why this coffee wasn't really working for me. I started thinking through all the things I was experiencing with it. Why it wasn't gelling for me. That doesn't mean it won't gel for you.

[03:45] As I sat there and pondered, I started to think about what I don't like about this coffee. What are the characteristics that would help me later on?

[03:55] I didn't have that realization in the beginning. I was too excited. I wanted to find that essence. It had been a long time since I'd had an Ethiopian coffee.

[04:14] So I started picking it apart. I know that if I went too high on the grind size and used a booster, it would push toward more of a grapefruity aftertone. And I started asking myself why I don't like those flavors. What was not gelling with this Meyer lemon taste?

[04:39] Probably because it was one-noty. Probably because as soon as it touched your palate, it died off.

[04:49] Those are the things I started to observe. Not geek out on. Just observe.

[04:58] I was there thinking about why it wasn't working for me. And why we need these coffees. Because you're going to encounter this too. The meh coffee. The okay coffee. The coffee that doesn't talk to you.

[05:17] I always try to bring it back to people. And as I tried to understand this coffee even more, it reminded me of that stubborn person you keep trying to talk to. You're just trying to get something out of them. Trying to get to know them.

[05:35] And they're not really saying much. And then towards the end of a couple of conversations, you're still frustrated. Because you're the only one talking. You're the only one doing the work.

[05:54] But secretly, you don't realize this — that's how open that person is going to be to you. That's how expressive they're going to be. That's what this Ethiopian white honey coffee reminded me of.

[06:14] It was probably saying a lot. Probably telling me exactly who it was. That's what made me pay attention a little bit more to the coffee. To see it for what it is. To see how to use that drawdown. To use the one-hit quality of its limited taste to my advantage.

[06:39] I got to the point where I could start to manipulate how much of that aftertaste I wanted, or how much less of it, depending on the application. I could start to pick it apart. I could start to see what it was good for.

[06:58] I blended it here and there. But I like to try coffees for what they are for a long time, to see what else they're going to tell me.

[07:10] And that's the thing about these particular coffees. Even though they're probably not going to be the best coffee you've ever had, you're going to be more frustrated with them.

[07:20] The biggest takeaway from this coffee — and they all smell great, that Meyer lemon quality, the variety — is that you're not going to like everything.

[07:38] As much as I love being in that place of understanding, of seeing the joy in every single coffee, there are going to be coffees like this Ethiopian, this medium roast Ethiopian, that just don't work for me.

[08:03] Now that I understand myself, with the experience and knowledge I have, and knowing how to bring out the best in a coffee, one of the biggest realizations I've come to is that I can explain exactly why it doesn't work for me.

[08:21] I can tell you that I'm not much of a fan anymore of that one-hit lemony flavor. There were times in my past where that was the only thing I geeked out on. That acidity right in your face. That was coffee to me.

[08:44] This coffee may work for other people. They may find joy and excitement in it. But now I can explain to you exactly what I don't like about it. Why it's not special to me. I'm not saying the coffee isn't special. It's just not special to me.

[09:08] As much as I love to tell you why that Colombian coffee was special, the one that kept giving me different notes as it cooled, this one didn't. When it was hot, I'd taste that Meyer lemon. As it cooled, it was still there. More pronounced.

[09:37] I didn't like that. I like my coffee to change as it cools. That's my personal preference. That may not be yours.

[09:47] We just start to pick it out and try to figure out what we like and don't like. That's why I started learning more about drawdown. That's why I'm not scared of going over three minutes on the brew. Going a little finer on the grind. Letting the coffee tell me exactly what it wants.

[10:15] That's the thing you don't learn from a coffee that produces magic the moment you throw it in the brewer.

[10:26] We need these meh coffees. These mediocre coffees. These coffees that are not gelling with our palate. At least when we know exactly why it's not working, that's probably more important than you think.

[10:53] I've gotten better as a brewer through this. Understanding the coffee. Thinking about water chemistry. Bringing down the acidity by doing something with the water. Bringing in a little more sweetness. Those are the things I was practicing. That kept me pushing through, because I was trying to find the greatness in this coffee.

[11:21] And after bringing everything out, the kitchen sink and all, I understand exactly why it doesn't gel with me. And I understand exactly why the little tips and tricks I've learned with this coffee, I can take with me to any other coffee.

[11:45] So if you have a coffee that's just meh, that's just okay — don't discard it. Don't freeze it. Don't throw it away. Don't make cold brew out of it. I kid. I know people love cold brew. I like it sometimes too.

[12:06] Stay with the coffee. Stay with it just a little bit longer. Step back.

[12:16] Ask yourself why you like or don't like that coffee. What are the characteristics you do like? What are the things you really don't like? Because what you're really doing is sculpting and shaping your palate. You're not just saying it's bad. You're explaining exactly why it doesn't work for you.

[12:42] So then when you get to another coffee that's similar, with the tricks and knowledge you've built, you know you can probably bring out the best in it. You can probably find something about it that gels and works for you.

[13:05] So let's rejoice in the meh coffees. The basic coffees. The coffees that don't tell us anything. Because truthfully, that's how we're shaping our palates. That's how we're shaping the way we look at things in life.

[13:23] I think so. Let me know what you think. Talk to you later. Bye.