Is a taste for gourmet coffee an acquired one?

[mretzloff]

I must admit, I have ignored The Café for quite some time. I finally ventured in here and, as Badger & Blade normally causes one to do, started looking into better coffee. I used to drink pre-ground coffee in one of those big tins from the grocery store. In the past month, I have tried many others, from McDonald's all the way up to locally roasted coffee. I must say, though, I think they all taste the same.

Is this normal? In order to tell the difference between premium coffee and the crappy grocery store coffee that most of America drinks, would I have to continue drinking premium coffee, kind of like someone who has always eaten steak would notice the difference between steak and ground beef?

 

[ouch]

It's another rabbit hole, Matt. I'd advise that you run for the hills while you still can.

 

[Micheal Halliday]

Agreed, but let me scurry down the rabbit hole with yo for a sec...

I liken this to my taste for beer.
1) Went to college, drank whatever swill i could get cheap.
2) graduated college and felt I was special now and had to have premium beer. You know...Life is too short to drink bad beer, smoke bad cigars, drink bad coffee...etc....
3) Have reached a point in my life where I take stock of what really matters to ME. And Bud Light is JUST FINE!

SImarly I can tell the difference between a $5 bottle of wine and a $20 bottle of wine (generally speaking) but the difference between a $20 bottle and a $60 bottle is pretty much lost on me, so I don’t pretend to be that particular, pretentious or knowledgeable. So $15-20 bottles it is at the Halliday household.

Ditto, cigars
AND COFFEE. Gas Station coffee these days (as they are trying to compete with the likes of Starbucks, is just fine for me.


THAT SAID, I own a number Guitars that are likely better than my playing deserves, and soon a number of razors that is completely UNECESSARY. Fountain pens that i do not need any better than a ball point pen.

IT is a matter of what you are sensitive to, or care about.... If you don’t have a palate that discerns the difference between coffees, or do not care.... so be it, you will find other ways to waste your hard earned dollars

Editing now since I did nto answer your question: I think if you kept at it, tried a varieties of coffess, put your mind to it, you could developa sense to be able to tell the subtle differences...the question I would ask is.....to what end? If you are happy driking McDOnalds coffees (as I am), I say save you $

 

[kaliandee]

For me the "acquired" bit was getting to like coffee and alcohol in the first place, and it didn't take too much effort. Once I tried craft beer I knew from pretty much the first sip that I liked it more than Budweister (to pick on the one that all beer geeks pick on). Fortunately a) Craft beer isn't that much more expensive, and b) I don't drink that much alcohol anyway.

With coffee that moment only really came when I bought freshly roasted coffee, ground it myself and brewed it in a French press. I haven't had a lot of coffee that impressed me from actual coffee shops.

YMMV applies here as much as it does on shaving threads though, there are plenty of people who just can't tell the difference. And I'm sure whatever they're missing in coffee enjoyment they're making up for in some other way.

On a side note: Starbucks is kind of it's own thing in my head. I like their drinks, but appreciate them as "beverages containing coffee", rather than just "coffee".

-John

 

[takeshi]

Is a taste for gourmet coffee an acquired one?

Like other things, it can be. Some people just prefer what they prefer. Depends on the individual.

Is this normal?

Again, depends on the individual. Only you can say what's normal for you. Other people have varying preferences and tastes (and this applies to more than just coffee). Palates can be refined to a certain degree if the person is so inclined. To what extent also varies from person to person.

Some can't stand Starbucks. Some are perfectly happy with Starbucks. Some don't see what all the fuss is over Starbucks and are happy with their truck stop, office or other coffee that's been sitting on a burner for hours. That doesn't even cover the full spectrum. I'm in the "can't stand Starbucks" camp but my palate isn't so refined that I can really pick out a god shot of espresso from a very good shot of espresso. I probably could refine it further but with simple testing I've found my current limit and I'm fine with it being where it is. Any point in the spectrum is normal.

It's entirely possible that you could tell the differences but you haven't experienced good examples of each. "Locally roasted" could be good or bad -- all depending on whether or not it was prepared properly. Same applies for the steak analogy. The best cut of meat can easily be ruined and a poor basis for comparison if it isn't prepared properly.

 

[jzuzphreek]

Matt, it's been my experience that the more "additives" you put in any given cup of coffee, the more the tastes from each cup will run towards similarity. Ie, my wife uses a ton of non dairy creamer and splenda. She can't tell the difference between a kcup cup of coffee and my 1 week post roast, Counter Culture Farmhouse Single Origin, Chemex cup. However, I can drink the Chemex Counter Culture coffee black. Drinking any kcup black would literally have me gagging (and that's a correct use of the word literally there).

It's a rabbit hole, to be sure, but it doesn't have to be an expensive one. You'll want to find out if you like coffee with more body (French Press, Espresso) or more clarity (Chemex, Other filter pour over brews), then go from there. A good cheap setup would be an Aeropress ($25) and a small hand grinder (Hario, Kyocera, etc). Whatever you do, use the freshest, best roasted coffee you can afford. And just because it's local doesn't mean it's fresh OR good (although Counter Culture is only about 2 hours from you, in Durham).

 

[Luc]

What you use to make the coffe makes a difference but the beans too... In the end, some might see it as "just coffee" and others will see it as a very tasty beverage. I had coffes that tasted great and some that didn't. Those who tasted great tasted horrible in some coffee makers and those crappy ones where okay in the same coffee maker. A good coffee maker + good coffe does make a difference.

I found that a small moka pot (3-4 espress cups top, not a 12) makes better coffee than anything else. I currently have a Krups espresso machine. Like all the reviews I read, the milk frother bit broke after 10 uses but I don't use it normally, I like my espresso black. The space that I have between the bottom rack and the pouring bit is a bit too small IMO but other than that, it makes wonderful coffee with plenty of crema. Depending which coffee I put it, it tastes different.

 

[PozzSka]

How do you brew your coffee?

Good coffee and bad coffee can taste equally bad if brewed poorly.

 

[Mick]

Matt, it's been my experience that the more "additives" you put in any given cup of coffee, the more the tastes from each cup will run towards similarity.

I find this very true. I can make a pot of (any grocery store brand robusta) coffee and let it sit in the air pot all day AND overnight. Pour myself a cup of it the next morning while I wait for the espresso machine to warm, put it in the microwave to get the chill off of it, stick in a spoonful of sugar, and top it off with whole milk and it taste just fine. In fact it taste GREAT because I just work up and ANYTHING would taste great at that moment. I wonder sometimes why I bother when day old dirt grade beans that were roasted and ground as long as a year ago are just fine with milk and sugar.

THEN....

I make a fresh cup and take a sip of it black. Oh yea it all starts to come back to me then.......

How do you brew your coffee?

Good coffee and bad coffee can taste equally bad if brewed poorly.

I've made some very bad tasting coffee with exceptional beans when I was not paying attention.....

 

[Shaving_CHENG]

I know Starbucks has a love-it-or-hate-it reaction in most people, and there is certainly some truth about the beans being over roasted, but I like it (note: I worked for 4 years while in university at Starbucks, so I am biased to them as a good employer).

I think, Matt, the key is trying a good variety, from artisanal roasters to mass produced, and figuring out where your limit is. I'm happy brewing a french press every morning, and calling it good. Now if I could only apply the same restraint to your shaving products!

Enjoy.

 

[mretzloff]

Thank you all for the replies. As far as preparation goes, I grind my own beans right before I brew a cup. I use filtered water and an auto-drip. Maybe I should try a French press.

EDIT: The only thing I ever add to my coffee is a teaspoon of heavy cream or half-and-half.

 

[Cricket1]

Thank you all for the replies. As far as preparation goes, I grind my own beans right before I brew a cup. I use filtered water and an auto-drip. Maybe I should try a French press.

EDIT: The only thing I ever add to my coffee is a teaspoon of heavy cream or half-and-half.

Black, baby black! I've been drinking coffee for close to 30 years, the last 15 or so with what I consider good coffee. (I roast green beans, grind with a burr grinder and brew with either a Chemex or Zojirushi drip pot- very occasionally a vacuum pot)

Anyway about 10 years ago I thought, why am I covering up these flavors with stuff? Cream and sugar mostly. I went straight black and really enjoy the clarity of flavor it provides. It take about 2 weeks to get used to it without all the stuff in it. Now my wife on the other hand, yeah I tease her and ask if she would like some coffee for her sugar and creamer.

 

[Mick]

Thank you all for the replies. As far as preparation goes, I grind my own beans right before I brew a cup. I use filtered water and an auto-drip. Maybe I should try a French press.

Are you using store whole beans (whole bean coffee from a grocery store)?

Are you using a blade grinder? If you are using a blade mill keep your grind time to no more than a one second pulse. Hit it a couple of times quickly rather than one long spin. Heat will change the flavor of coffee so try to keep your grind time low on a blade grinder (several short bursts are better than one long one)

Find a local roasting house and get 1/2 lb of freshly roasted beans (medium roast). South or Central American beans are always a good easy choice (i.e. hard to pick a bad bean from those 2 regions). IF you want to go way out get a Kenya or Hawaiian but they will be more expensive.

Make a 1/2 pot of what you normally use and pour it off into a decanter, then make 1/2 pot with the freshly roasted beans.

Pour 2 cups of coffee. Start by tasting them straight (black). You should notice a bitter bite from your grocery beans that is not there in your fresh roasted ones as the grocery beans were probably roasted over 6 months ago.

Add your milk/cream and you should still have a difference in taste, not as great a difference as the milk/cream will mask bitter which is why it is used in coffee but the difference will be there and noticeable.

 

[StillShaving]

Thank you all for the replies. As far as preparation goes, I grind my own beans right before I brew a cup. I use filtered water and an auto-drip. Maybe I should try a French press.

EDIT: The only thing I ever add to my coffee is a teaspoon of heavy cream or half-and-half.

You have gotten lots of good advice and various opinions so far. I would just add that based on your response that you are doing it right by grinding your own beans. But you may be getting it wrong with your coffee selection and using the auto-drip machine. A French Press, Aeropress, or some pour-over method would be better ways of brewing, since that you have more control over the temperature. Many auto-drip machines don't get the water hot enough so the extraction is not very good and you miss out on some of the flavor notes. But equally important is not use water that is too hot, like water coming straight off a rolling boil.

As for the beans, I recommend that you visit a local roaster and ask them for some freshly roasted Arabica beans, something less than a week old. Maybe you can try a South American origin one week, and an African origin the next. The difference between that and store bought can of pre-ground is greater than the difference between Filet mignon and cube steak. Good coffee is a bit like fine wine, just as you may like one varietal of wine as compared to another, you may find that one coffee region and roast level is quite different to another.

But that doesn't mean that basic coffee is no good. I enjoy the full spectrum of coffee from tepid to good to great.

 

[StillShaving]

To try and answer your headline question: No I don't think gourmet (aka well done) coffee is an acquired taste. If you have a really good coffee you notice it immediately, the combination of flavors and caffeine make it a delight.

 

[Darkbulb]

I'm not qualified to answer - I still think Caffee Verona from Starbucks is great coffee

 

[mretzloff]

Gentlemen, thank you for the advice. I will make some changes and update you.

 

[novitiate]

It's another rabbit hole, Matt. I'd advise that you run for the hills while you still can.

This nearly caused a spit-take disaster, so true!

 

[jzuzphreek]

What is your grinder? How old are the beans you're using?

 

[novitiate]

Black, baby black!

~20 years back a close friend who always drank it black asked me how I could drink it with cream? He challenged me to go one week without cream and then switch back. He really got in my face about it and finally I agreed. Partially to shut him up but also curious as he is not a guy to *** around. When he tells you something it is usually well based in fact. So I took up the challenge and it was like withdrawal. Horrifying, baby crawling on the ceiling, withdrawal. The first couple days my wife recalls me swearing & groaning while I choked it down. Finally the week came to a close and I switched back to cream. Ah, that first sip.....tasted like hot water, some weak, barely recognizable hot liquid that vaguely smelled of coffee. Since my wife made it that morning I was convinced she'd made it wrong, she hadn't. And then I tried it without cream. That was the first day I switched to black permanently and have never gone back.