I like almost any kind of coffee drink as long as it's sweetened. I've gotten to the point that I'm able to drink it black now, at least (I used to hate it- I don't like bitter things), but definitely prefer at least some sugar and milk. My favorite drink is something they call a caramello at my local coffee shop- not sure if it's a standard as I haven't seen it elsewhere, but it's like a latte with caramel at the bottom. Really good iced.

I'm not really a coffee drinker but I love cold brew or vietnamese iced coffee. Just has to have a ton of milk and sugar!

I....don't. Tried espresso, iced coffee, instant coffee, black coffee, etc. I can't stand the taste of any kind of coffee anything. OTL

Sugar, no cream

Sugar, Cream

I'm a black coffee drinker - aeropress is my preference

I've recently been refining my tastes in coffee, and I'm wondering how you feel that aeropress is different from the other methods of brewing. I generally order pour-overs and drink black coffee, myself!

I find that filter coffees and filter roasted beans generally have more of a smooth taste and have a wider range of flavour profiles (such as floral notes or nutty ones) Aeropress usually has much more of a cleaner taste without being over-extracted and very roasty flavoured. I think V60/pourovers are also good but you generally need to use a lot more coffee (weight wise) to make a similar coffee. If i'm making it myself I prefer using aeropress because it is more economical. I'm also a bit new with the inverted method for aeropress, so I tend to stick to the safe side and do it filter down. Either way, the filter method lets you control the whole process a lot more (I tend to do 15g / 95 degrees celsius for a full aeropress). There is also a new 'machine' called the delta press which was done through kickstarter and has now been released. I quite like it, because it gets rid of the blooming part of the aeropress process, and makes a more consistent cup of coffee. In contrast, other black coffee is usually espresso roasted which I find too overpowering and very easy to be burnt. Usually user error though. I've had a few too many cafe-made coffees that are over extracted and left in the machine too long that I'm not super keen about brewing it myself.

Oh wow! I take it you're capable of noting floral, nutty, or other sorts of specific flavors out of your coffee then? I'm still at the point of just knowing whether I like something or not, but recently noting more sharp flavors or whether the beans have been too far roasted.

Googled a few things you mentioned, and it seems quite intense! I hadn't heard about coffee bloom before; I'm wondering, to what extent can one generally differentiate all of the different methods in the cup itself? As in, the difference between one bean to another compared to method of preparation.

I wouldn't say I'm an expert!! :P I can differentiate between floral/nutty/other flavours but not specific subcategories of each (e.g. peachy vs strawberry undertones etc within the floral category). You're at a good stage, if you know what you like then you can buy more beans/coffee that you do like. I'm from Australia and we have a pretty good coffee culture compared to some other countries, and it's a lot easier to find the more 'hipster' coffee joints that do full cupping sessions and stuff to help you figure out the different flavours and get you to a point where you can really /critique/ the coffee you're drinking

hahahaha a little bit intense to start with! once you experiment between different brewing styles it is a bit easier to figure out what you like. I'm not so experienced that I can drink coffee and tell you what type of filter they used or what temperature it was done at, because that's really dependent on the 'recipe' that is used. The types of variables that affect the coffee are things like the amount used, the time it is left to bloom, the time used to let the coffee drip/get pushed through the filter, the temperature of the water used (92 degrees celsius vs 96 degrees celsius can make a difference!), whether you are 'irritating' the coffee grounds too much as you're brewing it (can make it more acidic depending on the method); and then also how fast the coffee cools before/while you drink it. I prefer my coffee to be hot, on the 80+ degree side of things, so I make sure I put my coffee in a nescafe thermos type cup so that it's still hot by the time I want to drink it. Other people prefer it to be cooled down to more 65 degrees so you don't accidentally burn your mouth drinking it too early. As for methods, I think it's really down to whether you prefer filter or espresso. And then within that, it is how much effort you want to go to before getting your caffeine hit, and how easy you find each method. Some methods make the coffee taste more acidic and others help make it taste smoother as you're drinking it. It is really all down to how you make it or how well the barista makes it as to whether that difference is extremely noticeable - same as how you know if something is over-roasted or over-extracted.

(sorry this is such a late response!) That sounds absolutely awesome! I didn't realize coffee sorta-tastings were much a thing, but maybe that shows how much outside the culture I am, haha. I'm wondering, what sorts of words/phrases would you use while critiquing? (i.e. is there a standard of what's "good" coffee versus different flavors? Outside of blatant errors in old coffee, burnt beans, etc.)

Hahaha, is it really the morning coffee if you don't burn your tongue drinking it? ;) Man, it really is intimidating! I probably need to take more steps to figure out what I'm drinking, be more mindful of how it was prepared, and then ask more questions to the barista! Thank you for this rundown, by the way! :)

(all good!!) I think it is also a country thing perhaps - Australia seems to have more of a coffee culture than other countries I've been to, but especially Sydney / Melbourne in terms of filter coffee and coffee tastings Look up some coffee tasting wheels for words / adjectives to use when tasting coffee - example one here

weeeeell the flavour changes depending on the temperature so it caaaan be morning coffee without burning your tongue ;) it seems intimidating when you get a whole bunch of info like that, but really if you're new to coffee and are keen to find out more, most people are very accommodating and try to help the newbies out; i don't find many people to be particularly snobby. (the exception being if you think instant coffee is the best thing ever) sometimes baristas don't really know much about it, but if you have a coffee shop with baristas who are really into coffee then it's always good to have a chat with them!

happy to help :) i'm lucky that my partner is A+ with coffee, it exposes me to a lot of new coffee things and gives me someone to bounce off coffee tasting with haha

Happy birthday!! :)

Woah! That wheel! Super useful. I think I'm gonna save a copy to my phone and use that with my next cup. Thank you!

Ahh, you're completely right. One or two experiences with someone who wasn't eager to discuss shouldn't deter me from finding out more. And, that's wonderful that you have a partner to share this interest with! My ex-boyfriend was the one who had me start drinking coffee, but that was solely to stay up for exams, hahaha.

I like my coffee black! but sometimes I will use almond creamer if we have any on hand.

I do like to get hazlenut hot lattes with espresso when I go out, though. I need caffeine badly at all times ?

thanks :) once you move past the "i need coffee to stay awake" phase, that's when you can really start to enjoy it!! best of luck with your coffee-adventures <3 i would love updates if you have them

With creamer (nondairy preferred), minimum sugar. Cold or hot is fine.

I'm more of a hot tea drinker. Occasionally, I will drink a cup in the morning from the work pot. If I do that, I have to have either milk or some kind of vanilla creamer. I will say I LOVE Starbucks's iced vanilla latte :)

With honey or with milk (: But I’m more a tea person.

Black, usually with some ice/cool water. I don't like it hot haha.

You're totally right! I kinda got into this "I-don't-want-to-wait-for-my-coffee-machine"-phase for a little while there, and got into instant. I was away from home, and my place of stay had a Keurig, but I've read a bit about the environmental damage associated with the K-cups and the like. I was wondering, do you consider any methods or beans more environmentally-friendly than others, if that's something you've looked into?

As for the moment, I've been drinking Maui Coffee (gifted to me). Drinking it as we speak! Not sure it's for me, but at least it's something different, haha. I think I'm going to try buying a bag of Sightglass coffee for my next purchase - I'm thinking I'll stick away from any citrus or more pungent fruit flavors this time too.

Sorry that I don't have that many updates, haha. It's not been my most coffee-adventurous few weeks, so no barista convos either, yet.