Coffee

Coffee Snob

No, not really. I’ve lived off of vending machine coffee. There are break rooms and rest stops where I know what number pad combination makes me a coffee I’ll drink for the next hour. Gas stations can make a decent brew, necessary when driving across the country.

I might come across as a coffee snob because I care a lot about roasts and equipment. OK, I can accept that. However, just because I spend money on coffee doesn’t immediately make me a snob. I choose to spend more money than most people, which is fine.

This is a hobby for me.

Light Roast or Dark Roast

I prefer lighter roasts. Sweetness and complexity in a roast is what I look for. Anerobic, natural coffees which are fruity are really fun for me.

Too dark of a roast and I’ll get a headache. That doesn’t mean brewing techniques like espresso do give me headaches. I like having a great espresso or Mokapot brew. On top of the headaches, oils in dark roasts overpower equipment. If you don’t clean your equipment going from dark-to-light roast, you can tell in your next cup.

Coffee Equipment

Grinder
  • Fellow Ode Brew coffee grinder
Scale
  • Acaia Pearl Model S scale
Kettle
  • Fellow Stagg EKG with walnut handle, black
Pour-over
  • Kalita “Wave” #185 coffee dripper
  • Hario Coffee Server, 600ml
  • Origami Dripper, Matte Grey
French Press
  • Fellow “Clara” French Press. Walnut handle, to match my Fellow water kettle
Aeropress
  • My original was a classic “version 4” smokey Aeropress with blue lettering, however I’ve gifted it to my son. I now have a “version 8” with red lettering.
Moka Pot
  • Bialetti 3-cup original moka pot
Chemex
  • 6-cup Chemex

Coffee Roasters

Trying new roasters and roasting techniques is really fun. Below are a list of roasters I’ve tried over the last few years that I can attest to at least making “a decent bag of beans”. Some roasters have changed over time, which are marked accordingly. That doesn’t mean they don’t make good beans. It just means what they used to make was slightly better.

Approved Roasters (United States)

*Roasters with an asterisk * were found to have paid search engines to compete for page listing against other roasters, which is not cool

Brew Methods

If you need help or ideas with brewing methods, including ratios, check this out: Bedst Brew Guides

The 4:6 method is laid out here (thanks for the reminder Britt Gresham): The 4:6 method