Why Do You Brew Coffee?

In this episode, I get into the heart of what I believe is the foundation of any real coffee journey: knowing your why. My why is curiosity. It is wanting to understand why coffee does what it does, why it tastes the way it tastes, and why certain variables move the needle while others barely make a dent. I talk about the early fear and frustration that came with committing to this path, and how pushing through that uncertainty is exactly what started making things clearer. I also dig into paper filters, where I share my honest take on whether the marketing lives up to the reality, including my experience with Quebec filters, Hario V60 filters, April filters, and the Seabreeze fast filters.

I also spend time on what I think is the most underrated skill in coffee: learning to notice subtlety. Slowing down, staying in the moment with a cup, and actually paying attention to what changes and what does not. I talk about slow drawdown coffees, water chemistry, kettle accuracy, and the Colombian medium roast that surprised me by becoming something genuinely special. By the end, I turn the question back to you. What is your why in coffee? Is it dialing in a new bag? Understanding water chemistry? Just curiosity? Listen to this episode if you want to understand the mindset behind intentional coffee brewing and why knowing your reason changes everything about how you approach the cup.

Transcript

[00:00:00] One of the ways to master coffee is to know your why.

[00:00:06] My why so far is curiosity.

[00:00:10] Just wanting to know more about coffee. Why it does what it does, why it tastes the way it tastes with all the parameters and things that we have access to. I just want to know more of it.

[00:00:26] I want to geek out, I want to get frustrated, I want to get to the point where I know it all. And I know if I do this thing versus that thing, I am going to get the taste that I want out of it. Or if I do another thing, I am going to get something totally different. With all the gear, accessories, water chemistry, and of course the coffee.

[00:00:55] This journey so far of trying to master coffee has been a lot of fun. It has been more fun than frustrating.

[00:01:06] There are things that have happened that make me question why I am doing this.

[00:01:13] But it is just as equally rewarding as I go through this journey, more so by myself. I am so glad that I am documenting whatever I am going through right now, because I believe this can help other people.

[00:01:35] One of the biggest things that we have to understand, because people always say it, people always ask what is your why. And no matter who you are dealing with, everybody's why is different.

[00:01:53] And if you do not know your why, you do not know which direction you want to go in. At least initially. Because I am not going to lie, all of that actually changes when you are doing the thing, trying to figure things out. So as it was in the beginning of the year, being scared about this whole journey.

[00:02:18] I have come to realize that as long as I push through, as long as I try to understand as much as I can, that is all I can do. Because things will start to unravel, things will start to get more clear, things will stop being frustrating.

[00:02:36] The biggest thing here is that it is a journey worth going on. And if you are in a season of trying to figure out something in coffee, then really second guess why you are doing this. Because it is more than just a morning cup. It is more than just drinking it and going about your day. Those days are needed, more than you think.

[00:03:15] But if we are geeking out, trying to figure out a bag, trying to dial it in, trying to see how it works for our palates, we are already committed.

[00:03:26] One thing I noticed years before is that I would commit to only dark and medium roasted coffees. I would shy away from lightly roasted coffees. And I would only use a cone shaped filter, something like the Hario V60. I would not go that deep into the science and craft of all of it.

[00:03:52] But now that I am, I realize you are going to have to tackle every little spectrum of what you are trying to do.

[00:04:08] And there are still some things that frustrate me. Like paper filters.

[00:04:19] I am still going to do the series, I just do not know exactly how yet. I am testing each filter separately, randomly, as I brew my cups from time to time. But I think there is more hype and marketing involved with what you are actually going to get out of these paper filters. For instance, there is a Quebec paper filter that focuses on body and sweetness. How can a paper really do that?

[00:05:06] It works really well. It is a lot faster. Some brews, some situations call for that.

[00:05:13] There are also the Hario V60 paper filters. They are slow. We all know that. I would not necessarily call that a drawback. Just go coarser on your grind and play around with it that way.

[00:05:27] And then there are the Seabreeze fast filters. The expensive ones. The ones where I wonder if I have enough coffee in my batch to use them because I do not want to waste them.

[00:05:47] As I have dove deeper into actually using those filters, I have come to realize there is something to them. A little more subtle than what people say. Everything comes with subtlety, which we will talk about more in a bit.

[00:06:05] But it is there. I see the difference. I see that you can actually get a little bit more out of your coffees, depending on everything you do, which is kind of misleading, but it is what it is.

[00:06:19] The paper filter thing is something I still really struggle with. Because for me, most of them can really work. I have the Kalita Wave filters right now, the April filters, and the fast filters. All of them work in different situations depending on what you are trying to do. If I know which paper filter I am going to use, I just adjust the grind size accordingly and I can still get a really tasty cup.

[00:07:00] So it is not really so much about which one is better than the other. They all work. But I am going to get into the nitty gritty of trying to figure that out, because I think that is something we need to get more technical about to really understand if there is a meaningful difference. In certain cases there is, and in others, the jury is still out.

[00:07:17] One of the biggest things in this whole journey that I have come to understand is that if you are really digging in, if you are really trying to understand the craft of coffee brewing, it is in the small things.

[00:07:40] It is the subtlety of things. The things that get you going in a way where you are really picking out the nuances. And if you can start to do that, you are really on your way. Meaning that if you make a particular variable change, you taste your coffee. What are you tasting? How does it change? Is it a meaningful change or is it not that big of a deal?

[00:08:18] Those are the things I think about when I am sitting with the subtlety. The things that are just small, so small that you will miss them. And I think that is what I am really understanding and liking so much about this. It is allowing me to pay attention more. It is allowing me to slow down. It is allowing me to see that particular coffee for whatever it is and expand my mind, and just stay there in the pocket a little bit longer.

[00:09:03] That is the biggest thing. You are not going to see the subtlety of the coffee or the differences if you are moving too fast.

[00:09:15] For instance, I knew there were slow drawdown coffees, but now that I am actually experiencing it and seeing it for myself, I am like, wow. What does this really mean for us? Do we have to approach the brewing process differently? Do we have to see it for what it is?

[00:09:31] That is more of what we are trying to understand. And as I look at that, I start to change the way I look at it. I start to approach it a little differently. Sometimes I push myself to let the slow drawdown be what it is and still be able to make a decent cup of coffee.

[00:09:50] I also understand that there are still some coffees I just do not like. And the biggest thing about that is that I can now explain exactly why I do not like them. I can tell you the nuances. I can tell you when something tastes limiting or one note. Talking about you, Ethiopian white honey slow drawdown.

[00:10:28] And I can tell you why a coffee is special to me. Why it talks to me.

[00:10:35] I think that is one of the biggest things. And I am still not all the way there. But that is what I am leaning towards and understanding more as I go through this process. Will I master coffee? Most people say no. Just drink the coffee, some will say. Which is true.

[00:10:58] But this is a lot of fun. This gives me that hope and wonder that coffee can still be interesting no matter how we look at it, no matter how we focus, no matter how we try to treat it as more than just a beverage.

[00:11:18] That is the biggest thing. It gives me that sense of hope, that desire to keep going down the journey, to try different brewing methods. I have been really enjoying the percolator. It has been a lot of fun.

[00:11:37] I have been enjoying all the different types of brewers I have, really stepping back to understand them for what they are, going deeper into the water chemistry, seeing how that really affects the coffee.

[00:11:53] Those are the things I am dealing with right now. The things I am most trying to understand the best way I can.

[00:12:03] And I think that is the cool thing about this whole journey. All the different variables you can play around with, the ones that truly really matter.

[00:12:16] Like the whole kettle thing. I do not think we realize how much the kettle reading lies. How much we trust whatever that kettle says. And then how much water we are actually putting in a cup of coffee and how that affects the temperature holding.

[00:12:39] Using the Melodrip is fun for a while. But then after a while, it is just another tool. Not that big of a deal.

[00:13:00] Like, what really matters? Because to an extent, all of it does matter. But truthfully, there are only a couple of things that really move the needle.

[00:13:12] I just do not want to focus on the 80%. I want to focus on the 100%. I want to focus on all of it because all of it gives us the chance to test the variables we are working with. We are trying to make a really good cup of coffee. And eventually, we will get there.

[00:13:37] I have already experienced that with this Colombian medium roast I have had. I did not notice it before. It was something I thought was just okay. Probably I just needed more time with it.

[00:13:56] But with the things I have done with it, using this grinder, using this pouring technique, it became something really special to me.

[00:14:09] I think that is really where I am getting it. Trying to find the nuance and the specialness in all of it. Even the coffees that do not really work with my palate.

[00:14:20] Those are still things that are elusive in this journey. Still some naivete and ignorance in the process. But that is fine. That is okay.

[00:14:32] Those are the things we are going to figure out together. You are going to give me suggestions or not. And we are just going to keep putting ourselves out there to understand all that we want to do.

[00:14:47] So that is where I am at with this journey right now. Curious. Hopeful. Happy. Excited.

[00:14:57] Because it is something I have looked forward to doing. I think I wanted to do this for a long time. I just needed a reason.

[00:15:14] And I guess the turn of the year just pushed me in that direction.

[00:15:19] We are going to find sweetness in lightly roasted coffees. Going to try hard. We are going to find why I love medium and dark roasted coffee. Is it the sweetness with a little bit of acidity that excites me? Or does it really depend on the coffee? Do all of them work that way?

[00:15:42] Those are the things we are going to figure out. Those are the things I hope I stay curious about for as long as I can. Because truthfully, that is my driving force. Just wanting to know more. Wanting to understand why it really works.

[00:16:03] So what is your why? What is your why in coffee? Why do you like it? Why do you not? What are the things that keep you up at night? Is it dialing in that new bag of coffee you do not quite understand? Are you lacking in knowledge of water chemistry? What is it?

[00:16:30] Why do you like what you like? Do you like cold brew? Why do you like it? Really ask yourself these questions. Because if you know, that is your journey. That is the journey you are going to go on. No matter what anybody says to you about what you should do or should not do.

[00:16:56] What is your why? Or is it also curiosity? What are you curious about in coffee?

[00:17:06] Let me know. Talk to you later. Bye.