When Your Palate Outgrows Your Old Favorites

In this episode, I sit down with a cup of natural processed Costa Rican coffee and get real about something I've been circling for a while: naturals just don't do it for me the way they used to. I walk through what it's like to taste this coffee, noting how it hits you with a bold, fruit-forward punch right up front and then fades quickly, leaving me wanting more from the cup. I roasted this same coffee as both a light and a dark roast, and neither version gave me what I was looking for. I talk about why that first sip is everything with a natural processed coffee and why, for me, that's also the problem.

I also reflect on how my palate has evolved over the years. When I first got into specialty coffee, natural processed coffees were revolutionary to me. The intensity of fruit in a black cup was unlike anything I had experienced. But now, coming from a place of deeper knowledge, years of brewing experience, and a real understanding of water chemistry, I gravitate toward washed coffees that reveal themselves slowly. I contrast this current experience with one of my all-time top two coffees: a Bozo Black Honey Costa Rican natural that actually kept building and getting more interesting. By listening to this episode, you'll learn what it truly means to know your own palate, why your coffee preferences change over time, and why understanding the reason behind what you like or don't like is one of the most valuable things you can develop as a coffee drinker.

Transcript

[00:00:07] The best part of a natural processed coffee is the first sip.

[00:00:11] With this natural processed Costa Rican coffee, I've been trying to give it a shot. I even have a white honey that's okay. There are things I've learned from Ethiopian and African coffees. But this one's Costa Rican. I usually don't tend to get Costa Rican coffee much.

[00:00:57] There's one of them though that's just blowing my mind, and that's why this is a little ironic.

[00:01:07] I'm a washed coffee drinker most of the time. That's what I like to drink. That's what gets me out of bed, coffee-wise. And those are the things I've been fighting for the very longest.

[00:01:28] From the very beginning, I was a natural process type of person. I couldn't get enough of that kick, those fruit-forward coffees. I just couldn't believe that coffee could taste like that.

[00:01:45] Washed coffees are a little more subtle. But then later on they start presenting themselves. You have to pay attention a little more. But this one just tells you exactly how it feels right from the get-go.

[00:02:06] I think that's where the problem starts.

[00:02:10] I roasted this coffee as a light roast. I roasted it as a dark roast as well. That's the application it is right now. You would think it'll be a lot better than the light roast. Probably slightly better, a lot sweeter, especially on the tail end of it. But when you initially drink it...

[00:02:42] It doesn't do anything for me.

[00:02:46] You get that first hit of fruit. Yeah. Wow.

[00:02:59] And then it becomes elusive. It just goes down that wave and it's like, wait, wait, come back. I'm not done with you.

[00:03:13] And I keep sipping, getting that initial excitement of the coffee, and then it dies down. Fruit-forward most of the time. Sometimes a limiting type of taste, depending on the coffee. But I had really high hopes for this Costa Rican coffee.

[00:03:32] And I think that's where it lies. The whole story here is that these are my preferences. These may not be yours. You may like that initial introduction of amazingness and then the letdown after that. That's not a dig. That's more so the way I'm describing this coffee, the things I like about it, the things I don't like about it.

[00:04:10] You may think they're exciting. You may think they're delicious, which initially for me it is, and then it just dies down.

[00:04:26] And I think that's where we're at with coffee sometimes. Sometimes when we come back to something, we want it to bring us back to the reasons why we like it. We want to think about how this coffee is going to make the day more exciting. Or just have that moment where we're like, this is what it's all about. This is what makes me feel happy, curious, and all that good stuff.

[00:04:56] I know I may sound like a crazy person talking about all this stuff about coffee, but it's real. I'm not exaggerating. That's what I feel most of the time with coffee.

[00:05:11] But as I sit here with this Costa Rican natural coffee and how it doesn't do it for me, it's perfectly fine. It's not that I'm mad at the coffee. It's more so that my palate has changed. That could be it too.

[00:05:33] When I liked naturals at first, my palate was probably young. Probably because initially those flavors were something I had never tasted before. I'm not much of a wine drinker. But that combination of black coffee tasting so fruity, just intensified in your mouth, that was revolutionary to me. I just couldn't believe that coffee had so much personality up front, that it was actually saying something to you.

[00:06:18] And now as I sit here, letting the coffee cool and drinking it from time to time, it doesn't do that for me anymore. It doesn't excite me as much as it did before.

[00:06:35] And the ironic part is that before, I was using tap water. I was predominantly using the Hario V60, sometimes the French press. And that was it. Now I have gear everywhere, playing around with water chemistry. I understand quite a bit about coffee, extraction, and all that. I've learned a lot.

[00:07:19] So now that I'm coming at it from a more experienced place, I can see exactly why it works and why it doesn't work for me.

[00:07:38] Why does something work for us? That's the beauty of this particular cup. In this cup, I want the story to unfold. I want the coffee to start subtle, get more exciting, get a little sweeter, and then interesting from here to there. That's my ideal specialty coffee.

[00:08:15] There have been many times where coffee has surprised me. Where it's like, I didn't know I was going to like that.

[00:08:25] And now this particular coffee, the way it's presented to me, the story is already told. Especially that initial sip. It's fleeting. You want more out of it. And there is a little appreciation there. But I want more out of the coffee for myself.

[00:09:06] I want things that are going to be exciting. I want things that are going to tell more of a story.

[00:09:15] And I wonder if it's just the nature of natural coffee. They hit you right up front, and then they dissipate. Is it in their nature to act that way because of the process and the way that we usually drink coffee?

[00:09:37] What is it about naturals that just don't gel the same way as what I remember them to be?

[00:09:56] I just want more.

[00:10:01] But then I start to think about the appreciation of coffee. You don't have to like everything about coffee. But I do think you need to know exactly why you don't like it. You don't have to express it to the world. As long as you express it to yourself.

[00:10:23] Write it in a journal. Do a video like this where you explain why you like it and why you don't. Read the notes on the bag. Understand the possibility that if you see those notes on the bag and they don't appeal to you, you're probably not going to like it. Look at how the coffee is processed. Don't let it just be one experience.

[00:10:54] Natural process coffee: try a couple of them. Brazilian coffees don't count. They're a different beast. Chocolate-forward, sweet, widely available. Those are just a different type of coffee. What I'm really saying is: try, test, see what's out there for you. Because that's really what it comes down to. It comes down to you and your palate, especially at that particular point in time.

[00:11:39] You're probably into wine or you're not. You might be getting into different foods and cheeses later on. Maybe you're going through life changes.

[00:12:00] But those other things probably have a lot to do with how you feel and how you taste coffee, beyond the gear and the technical knowledge. Take those also into consideration.

[00:12:20] For me, I don't really get down with naturals anymore. It's been a while. I've come back to it, roasted as a light, roasted as a dark. Just doesn't do it for me. And that's not a dig. That's just honesty and appreciation of what you understand about a particular coffee.

[00:12:54] The ironic part in all of this: kid you not, top two coffees of my life. It's a Costa Rican natural. Bozo Black Honey. Even more intensified on the palate. But then it started to get sweeter, more interesting, across light, medium, and dark roasts. That's really one of the first times I ever truly tasted sweetness as a flavor note in coffee. I think I've already told that story, but I could keep talking about that coffee.

[00:13:31] And I think that's what I was looking for in this particular coffee. Something that reminded me of greatness. Something where I knew exactly why I liked it.

[00:13:50] This isn't fair to this coffee, and that's fine. This could work for somebody else. Somebody could say you're crazy, this is delicious, this does exactly what I need it to do.

[00:14:10] That's perfectly fine. It's not a dig. It's just you knowing what you like. And I think that's the biggest thing in all of this: as long as you know exactly what you like and the reasons why, that's all that matters.

[00:14:31] So don't let my dislike for something, or anybody else's dislike for something, deter you from what you like. If you like naturals, like them. You may like them because of that very thing I mentioned: that initial fruit bomb hit right in your face. That's perfectly fine.

[00:14:58] As long as you know what you want to do with it and you enjoy it, that's all that matters.

[00:15:10] Talk to you later. Bye.