31
New to coffee
(lemmy.world)
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?
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!