Hi, this sounds like a dumb question, but how should I “get into” coffee? Most of the time, I just use a Keurig and whatever pods I find at Costco. I know there’s an entire world out there of people who know exactly what they’re doing, but it’s all quite confusing.
If I’m typically only ever making coffee for myself, what should my brewing method be? Nespresso? Pour-over? French press?
And should I be looking to try everything black, or are lattes and whatnot a good way to learn what my tastes are?
In my opinion the cheapest, simplest way to experience a significant jump in quality from what you’re currently doing is to buy an Aeropress.
You can get one new for only $30-40, and after trying a few times you’ll likely be blown away by how much better the coffee it produces is than what you’ve grown accustomed to with the Keurig.
An electric kettle is another good purchase to go along with your Aeropress, and it generally comes in handy for plenty of other uses too.
If you start getting into making better coffee at home with the Aeropress, then the next step on your journey would be to invest in a grinder and make the switch to whole beans. That’s really the last thing you’ll need if you’re trying to max out coffee quality at home.
As for drinking it black, that’s totally up to you. Personally I like a little cream and sugar in my coffee, and I’m probably seen as a coffee snob by my friends. Don’t let anyone tell you that black is the preferred way to drink coffee. It’s all preference, and I like the heavier body that cream/milk gives the brew.
If you end up taking any of this advice, then here’s my go-to recipe for the best Aeropress coffee:
- Set the Aeropress up inverted (you can Google this)
- Between coarse and fine grind (two scoops)
- Heat water to 195°F
- Pour water in until it just covers the grounds to let it bloom, then wait 30 seconds
- Fill the Aeropress up to the top with more water
- Stir for ten seconds
- Let brew for one more minute
- Press slowly into mug
- Add cream/sugar to taste
I hope that helps. Just be warned… Once you go down this path, you’ll likely no longer be able to tolerate K-Cup coffee.
This would also be my advice. Aeropress has been my daily driver for many years. Such a simple satisfying process (especially ejecting the coffee puck), forgiving in nature and a really smooth cup of coffee. It’s also extremely sturdy: I still use an old version with the blue markings.
My recipe is slightly different. I stopped doing the inverted method, as it felt clunky and caused a mess once. Didn’t notice a change in flavor.
My recipe for light roasts:
- Boil water to 100c.
- Grind 15g of coffee quite fine (I have the Wilfa Svart and I usually go a few notches finer than its Aeropress setting). Feel free to start with preground coffee, but get it at a place where they grind it for you when you buy it (they’ll ask which brew method you use, so they can adjust the coarseness). Make a cup the same day you bought it so you get the full flavor. Notice how the flavors deteriorate over time. This is when you probably want to get a grinder. When I was on a budget, I used a manual Hario.
- Set Aeropress on a cup, add coffee and 200ml of water right when it’s done boiling.
- Stir a bit to let any clumps fall apart and let it brew for 2 and half minutes.
- Slightly swirl the cup with the Aeropress on top of it, like you’d do with a wine glass. This settles the bed of coffee evenly according to James Hoffman.
- Press, remove coffee puck, rinse the Aeropress parts and enjoy your coffee.
Light roasts are great with boiling water. Darker roasts are better with ~90c water. I rarely drink dark roasts, although recently I had a light to medium roast with an interesting flavor profile.
15g to 200ml seems to be my sweet spot for most coffees. I do experiment with the grind settings and brew time when I get new coffee, but my starting point is the recipe above.
Flair machines also have a low price point, and put out a good tasting espresso. It’s also upgradable, so you can start with something cheap and add workflow improvements over time. They also don’t need maintenance like electrics machine do. Overall very similar to an Aeropress.
I highly recommend the Flair Neo. I’ve been making coffee-shop-quality espresso drinks with it every day for years.
I know there’s an entire world out there of people who know exactly what they’re doing, but it’s all quite confusing.
I think it is really easy to get overwhelmed because there are people who really geek out over coffee and that level of geeking out isn’t necessarily required to find something you enjoy more than what you do now. It is a bit like bread, you can use a bread machine with the recipe booklet that comes with it and get something so much tastier than store brand sandwich bread but all the folks talking about bakers percentages or high hydration sourdough techniques can make it seem like you need a degree to even think about not buying bread from the store.
If I’m typically only ever making coffee for myself, what should my brewing method be? Nespresso? Pour-over? French press?
I use a French press (which come in a variety of sizes) and I find it way less intimidating than some other options. If the idea of actually brewing the coffee is something you are worried about James Hoffmann, a name you’ll see mentioned plenty around these parts, has a playlist of his techniques for different brewing methods (link) and a beginner’s guide playlist (link). The first one will help you know if one seems less intimidating or works better with the equipment you have or can afford and the latter will introduce you to some basic concepts and things to consider.
And should I be looking to try everything black, or are lattes and whatnot a good way to learn what my tastes are?
If you are trying to approach it without any established preferences I’d say go for a variety. You might find the additive or no additive preference changes depending on the coffee (such as preferring light roasts black and dark roasts with milk) or the brewing method (finding straight espresso too strong but loving a nice cappuccino). You’ll never know until you try.
I would definitely recommend binging James Hoffmann’s YouTube channel or getting his book on home coffee as he does a very good job of breaking things down in a way that is detailed but approachable. It’s a great jumping on point.
Pick one or two inexpensive brewing methods to try first and try coffees from different roasters and different origins and processes and roast levels to figure out what you like.
You don’t have to drink coffee black if you don’t want to, but it’s a good idea to at least try coffees black first (let them cool down a bit too) before you add milk. Light and medium roast coffees that are good quality and brewed well can be sweet and fruity with little bitterness and should taste good on their own. You may still end up preferring to take it with milk, though, and that’s fine!
I usually recommend french press, it’s easy, forgiving and doesn’t require any filters or anything. Grinding-to-brew is probably the single biggest difference you can make, just getting some kind of burr grinder for yourself. Don’t need anything expensive for home use.
Electric kettle is super handy, a kitchen scale is nice for measuring, and that’s about it.
Then there’s the beans, but that’s a whole topic on its own, and isn’t really all that hard. But first things first.
This video really helped me understand how to approach modern coffee options.
In terms of gear, a pour-over is a good start. You can make coffee as good as anything available with that setup. I don’t have the time, so I use use a good, temperature-controlled automatic drip.
Dang, I was gonna post this vid.
You could also just hang out where finer coffees are made, i.e. coffee shops. You might not enjoy it black at first but you will find that if its made really well it doesn’t need anything added to taste sweet and balanced and delicious.
Hi there, my suggestion is buy a good handgrinder and a flat-bottom pour-over. Than brew a freshly ground coffee, and enjoy it…
Not a dumb question at all! If your coffee exposure is mostly pods, then pour over might taste “washed out”. It took me a while before truly getting into coffee. I drank Nescafé for years before discovering the stovetop Moka pot. Then I had a local roaster grind some cheap dark roast coffee for me and I had that for years before getting into specialty/single origin and pour over. Until then I could never drink coffee black. Always sweetened with oat milk. What got me into pour over was James Hoffman and a random Chemex knock-off we bought off a supermarket in Turkey that I still use today. Then I got a burr handhgrinder. That made a whole world of difference. Now my preferred methods are in that order V60, Aeropress, Turkish coffee, Chemex, Moka pot.
If I’m typically only ever making coffee for myself, what should my brewing method be? Nespresso? Pour-over? French press?
I’d avoid Nespresso and Nestlé in general for a myriad of reasons. Pour over is finicky but well worth it. French press is easy, takes little effort, and can make a delicious cup. I only made like two cups before breaking mine so I’m scouring the flea market and thrift stores for one at the moment but they go for as little as 5$ new. The aeropress is a no brainer. Follow a recipe that you like and you’re getting the same cup every time. Turkish coffee is very special for me. It’s quick if you have pre-ground coffee and an electric kettle. Can be delicious with a cheap blend and isn’t expensive to get into either, all you need is a cezve or something similar, and a stove, but it demands attention or it can make a mess.
And should I be looking to try everything black, or are lattes and whatnot a good way to learn what my tastes are?
A good latte is a good latte. But if you truly want to experience the complexity of tastes a coffee has to offer, then it’s a good idea to learn how to appreciate black coffee. I realized that I sound like a snob… 😅
Bottom line: get beans, better if roasted locally, grind them yourself, or make sure they’re freshly ground for the method you want to use, and make some great coffee!
The safest way is to try different coffees in some good coffee shops. We don’t know what coffee do you like. Do you need nutty or chocolaty tastes only? Or do you like fruity notes? What do you prefer? By tasting differently roasted coffee brewed using different methods, you can find out what do you need.
I’d say go to a local thrift store, if they got an automatic drip machine in working condition for a good price, pick that up.
If you’re just getting into something it’s always a good idea to start cheap and figure things out as you go
Basic basket coffee can be good, but it’s easy to make little mistakes that make the coffee taste pretty bad. If you go this route and don’t like the taste then try changing things up a bit. Reduce the amount of coffee, or use cold water, or try getting s different roast. And despite how popular dark roasts are, I highly recommend trying a light roast at least once. It’s a much more approachable coffee, and hey, it has more caffeine!
Pour over, aeropress, and French press are probably your go-to options. Pourover is probably the simplest, easiest, and cleanest… but any of the three is a great idea.
You’ll need a source of hot water. Can be electric kettle or stove top kettle.
Ideally you should buy whole beans and grind right before brewing. Blade grinder can work but burr grinder will be much better.
If possible, buy beans that were roasted no more than 2 weeks ago. Not all beans will have a “rosted on date” on the bag. Anything bought at a coffee shop/ Cafe or from a nicer grocery store (whole foods, etc) has a higher likelihood of having a roasted on date printed on the bag.
As black coffee vs with milk vs latte… thats up to you. Don’t be scared of black coffee based on old stale folders or something from a keurig machine though. Milk/cream/half-and-half in black coffee can bring out certain flavors in the cup. Latte is only made with espresso, and none of the methods I mention above make espresso (although aeropress can make something nearly as strong… but it won’t have all the characteristics of a true espresso).
The good thing is that for the price of a weeks worth of fancy drinks from Starbucks or dunkin you can get a decent bag of fresh roasted coffee beans and a pourover (maybe hario V60) / aeropress/ French press and start experimenting!
Think of roasted coffee like baked bread. You want to know when it was roasted and consume it before it turns rancid. So much consumed coffee is rancid.
I think the easiest point of entry into having a great cup of coffee is to go buy some good beans already ground and get a simple/cheap French press. You will immediately taste the difference from your Keurig swill. Hot water, good coffee and a slow extraction make magic!
Soon enough you will graduate to wanting a nice grinder to chop up your nice whole-beans so you can have a truly fresh cuppa.
Personally, I’ve run the gamut of expensive espresso machines to pour-over and everything in between. I start every day with a fresh grind of dark roast beans into a large French press caraffe that yields 2-3 cups of goodness and I don’t think more strenuous methods are worth the effort by comparison.
I’ve been using fresh press for years and I love it for it’s simplicity. Beans + water + time = coffee. Start simple and slowly with a coffee scoop and dial in something you like by eye then late you can go full nerd adjusting parameters one by one at your own tempo. Start with a kitchen scale, then buy a grinder then fiddle with temperature, grind size, technique etc etc. And you’ll quickly discover hown different parameters affect your coffee. I like French press because it’s so simple but yet so complex you can always find new ways.
