Taste the difference
Why am I telling you to stop drinking awful coffee? Well, apart from the obvious reason of it being disgusting, knowing what good stuff tastes like opens up a whole new world of coffee possibilities.
I was once an instant coffee drinker. I thought it was simply a beverage to help you stay awake. Then I got onto the high street variety and thinking that this was the good stuff. How wrong I was.
A chance meeting with a former UK barista champion in Bath, UK, opened my eyes - and taste buds - up to coffee’s full potential. Did you know that freshly brewed coffee changes flavours as it gets cooler? Or that bags of ground coffee have lost around 90% of its flavour by the time it lands on a supermarket shelf? No, neither did I until that day.
You won’t need all that milk and sugar to mask the bitterness that can cause you to involuntarily contort your face. The freshly ground and brewed kind offers flavours all on its own.
Sure, it might sound pretentious to talk about the tasting notes of the Ethiopian guji bean (peach and hints of chocolate, fyi) but it’s well worth sampling. And this is just the tip of the iceberg - there’s a coffee bean type for everyone.
Another reason to avoid most of the chains is because you can make a better cup of coffee at home with very little effort. Brewing equipment is inexpensive and incredibly easy to use. Add a manual or automatic grinder into the mix, and you’ve got everything you need to become a home barista.
Just look how easy it is to use an Aeropress.