Was your first experience with coffee a bad one? This is fairly common. Peoples’ tastes change throughout life, and not every cup of coffee is great.
We challenge you to give coffee another try.
Or if you want to explore coffee for the first time, you have come to the right place. Becoming a coffee drinker isn’t hard if you know where to start.
Coffee for beginners is almost always ruined by bad, stale coffee. There’s nothing worse when trying coffee for the first time than to have a sour or bitter taste lingering in your mouth.
Learn How To Drink Coffee
1. Develop Your Own Taste Profile Preferences
Have you ever heard the term “coffee snob”? While we aren’t fond of the condescending sound of the term, these individuals are coffee drinkers who have a refined taste for coffee. They know what tastes best to them, and they refuse to compromise with anything less.
Developing your preferred taste profile involves trying different roasts, beans, and brewing methods. For some, a cup of black, medium roast coffee suits them just fine, whereas another may prefer the jolt of espresso.
2. Follow these tips to learn how to drink coffee
- Start with a medium roast and work your way up to dark.
- When trying coffee for the first time, don’t load it up with tons of dairy, sugar, or flavorings.
- For your first experience trying coffee, we highly suggest you visit a coffee house. If you are new to coffee, don’t be intimidated with coffee house lingo.
- Be sure that the coffee is hot. Lukewarm or cold coffee quickly becomes stale and tastes bitter.
- The side effects of drinking coffee for the first time are similar to that of drinking a caffeinated soft drink.
3. Understand The Bean and Roast
Once coffee beans are harvested, they go on to be roasted. A coffee roaster chooses how they intend to roast and sell their coffee to consumers: a single origin or a blend.
Single Origin: only one type of bean is roasted.
Blends: multiple origins of beans are roasted separately, then blended together, to produce a complex balance of flavor.
The beans are roasted at different temperatures which gives them the varying flavors. Understanding the roast spectrum can help you understand why you might prefer one type of roast over another. After trying a medium or light roast, try some darker ones. There’s no “right” roast profile and your preference for one over the other can change over time.
Now that we have the basics out of the way, we jump into the real fun of learning to enjoy coffee!
4. Your First Cup!
This is perhaps the most enjoyable element of drinking coffee. Nuances are subtle flavors that peek through the different coffee beans and roasts. There are literally hundreds of flavors in coffee.
Although coffee aficionados proclaim how their palate discovers flavors that you just can’t quite find in your coffee, it’s ok. The best way for YOU to experience your first cup of great quality coffee is simple.
Don’t be modest about slurping your first sip. Slurping washes the coffee over your palate rather than the tip of your tongue. You want to “slurp-slosh-swirl” it around in your mouth. As you do so, close your eyes and focus on what flavors you taste. It may take you a few tries to get there!
Once you have mastered a medium roast, it’s time to graduate up to a darker roast.
Explore and try all of the different roasts within the roast spectrum. Once you do, you will know where your preference lies. Many claim that once they try the darker roasts, they never go back to a medium or light roast.
5. Preparing to Brew at Home
To enjoy coffee at its best in your home, it’s essential to purchase whole coffee beans or ground coffee that is fresh.
A suggestion on brewing if you are a rookie coffee drinker:
Don’t invest in expensive coffee makers until you have tried the various brews at coffee shops.
There are numerous methods of brewing coffee at home. Choose a method that you’re excited about and get to brewing!
The Last “Sip”…
You may discover that coffee becomes more of a hobby than a mere beverage. Once you find yourself critiquing the texture and flavors in your cup, you will crave a deeper understanding and experience of coffee.
Becoming a coffee drinker isn’t difficult and can be quite fun to learn! Who knew a drink could be an immersive experience?