Someone asked me recently where to begin with specialty coffee. They drank coffee every day, owned nothing beyond a kettle, and had no idea what to do next. It is the most common question I get, and the answer is shorter than people expect.
The easiest way to start exploring coffee is to simplify it.
Take things away before you add them
First, lose the sugar. And then, if you can, lose the milk too. Not because black coffee is somehow superior, but because milk and sugar dress up the coffee. If you are trying to understand what you actually like, taste the coffee before you dress it up.
You will quickly start noticing things you may never have associated with coffee before: acidity, sweetness, bitterness, fruitiness, chocolate, nuttiness, body and even texture.
Skip the theory for now
I would also avoid getting too caught up initially in Arabica vs Robusta, Coorg vs Colombia, processing methods, varietals and the rest of it. There is plenty of time for that rabbit hole.
Start with how you like your coffee brewed, because different brewing methods show you very different sides of coffee.
A rough guide to the brewers
Espresso machine
Start with a medium roast Arabica or an espresso blend. Espresso is very concentrated, with intense aroma and flavour and plenty of body. Sweetness, acidity and bitterness are all compressed into a tiny drink. It is also probably the most difficult and expensive brewing method to get right at home.
V60
Try light to medium roast specialty Arabicas. This gives you a clean, delicate and transparent cup. It is fantastic for fruity, floral and complex coffees because individual flavours are easier to distinguish. Lighter coffees can sometimes feel almost tea-like.
AeroPress
You can brew almost anything with it, but I would start with a medium roast Arabica. It is extremely versatile and generally gives you a clean cup with more body than a V60. By changing the recipe you can make something light and fruity or strong and concentrated. A fantastic brewer to add once you know what you like.
Moka pot
Try medium to medium-dark roasts. Chocolatey and nutty coffees work particularly well. Expect something strong, concentrated and full-bodied. It is not espresso, despite often being described that way. If you enjoy intense coffee or Vietnamese-style coffee, this may be familiar territory.
French press
Try medium roast coffees with chocolate, nuts, caramel or deeper fruit flavours. You get a rich, round and heavy-bodied cup because the metal filter allows oils and fine particles through. You sacrifice some clarity compared with a V60, but gain a lot of texture.
South Indian filter
If there is already one sitting in your kitchen, use it. Try medium to medium-dark coffees, but do not restrict yourself to the traditional coffee-chicory blend. Buy a good 100% Arabica, brew a decoction and try it diluted with hot water instead of milk. You might be surprised by what this brewer can produce.
Buy a grinder before you buy anything else
I definitely would not buy all this equipment immediately. In fact I would not start with a brewer at all.
Buy a hand grinder, and stop buying pre-ground coffee. This is the first concrete step and it will do more for your coffee than any other single purchase.
Coffee is at its best in the first few minutes after grinding. Once it is ground, the surface area goes up enormously and the aromatics start leaving. By the time a pre-ground bag reaches your kitchen, most of what made that coffee interesting has already gone. You are then paying specialty prices for something that tastes flat, and blaming the coffee.
Grind fresh, just before you brew, and the difference is not subtle. It raises the bar on everything you drink by a mile, whatever brewer you own.
A simple hand grinder does the job. You do not need an expensive one to begin, and a hand grinder will out-perform most cheap electric blade grinders anyway.
Then pick one brewer
If you own nothing, buy a French press or a V60. Both are inexpensive and both teach you something.
The French press is the more forgiving of the two. There is very little technique involved, and it gives you a heavy, textured cup that makes chocolate and nut flavours obvious.
The V60 asks a little more of you, but it rewards it. Clean, clear, and much better at showing you fruit and floral notes.
Buy one, not both. Then buy two or three very different coffees and taste them black.
From there, explore systematically. Keep the brewer constant and change the coffee.
- Chocolate and nutty, then fruity, then floral
- Medium-dark roast, then medium, then light
- Washed, then natural, then experimental processes
Change one thing at a time
The important thing is not to change five things at once. Brew two contrasting coffees using the same brewer and the same recipe and taste them side by side. You will learn far more from that comparison than from drinking ten different coffees over ten different mornings.
There is no correct coffee
Do not worry too much about whether you are supposed to prefer Arabica, Robusta, Colombian, Coorg, light roast or dark roast. There isn’t a finishing line where you discover your correct coffee.
The fun is gradually developing the vocabulary to say: “ah, this is what I like”.