Comment on I want it to slap me across the face

• prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  In my opinion, the best coffee isn’t some hipster “cherry” tasting coffee, but made by a skillful barista in Italy, using classic coffee.

  The “cherry” tasting coffee is also just “classic coffee”. It’s just different beans that have a different flavor profile. It’s not like actual cherry flavoring.

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• wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Usually the “notes of” doesn’t mean added flavorings, it’s just a taste profile similar to describing wines or perfumes.

  Apparently a trained palette can distinguish different notes, but that requires trying each one in isolation which is difficult for the average person to do.

  For me I can only really identify bitterness, acidity, body, and strength. That’s all a casual drinker really needs in order to describe what they like.

  • The bitterness is self-explanatory, and depends on the beans, how they’re roasted, how they’re brewed, etc.
  • The acidity is the brightness that you can taste in something like a light roast. Try it side-by-side with a dark roast to taste the difference.
  • Body is the thickness of the mouthfeel. The best way to describe it is like drinking whole milk vs. skim milk. Light roasts usually have a lighter body, like water. Dark roasts have a heavier body, not quite like whole milk but maybe skim.
  • And strength is self-explanatory. Light roasts are technically stronger because some of the caffeine breaks down when heated (green coffee, sometimes called golden coffee, is the strongest because it isn’t roasted), but I find the difference is negligible. The main factors for determining strength seems to be how it’s ground and how it’s brewed.
    • The finer it’s ground, the more surface area so the stronger the infusion, that’s why espressos and turkish coffee are so strong (also because they might blend some robustica in with their arabica, which makes it more bitter but also has more caffeine)
    • Also higher grounds::water ratios means there’s more caffeine, but too high and it gets undrinkably bitter with an extremely thick body (sometimes called “motor oil” for this reason)

  That all being said, some roasters do add artificial flavor directly to their beans, but usually those are called “flavored,” not “notes of”/“hints of”.

  And yeah, skip me with those flavored syrups. If I want something fancy I’ll add real cocoa or some herbs or something, but that’s a rare inkling for me and those syrups are just kinda gross.

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• nyctre@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Have you ever had espresso in a third wave café ? because most of them have the same “feel”. The only difference is in the smell and the taste. The taste and the strength of the coffee are related but not mutually exclusive. You can make a coffee with 5g of coffee and you can make a coffee with 30g of coffee. Obviously the latter will hit like a sledgehammer no matter what kind of coffee you use. But both will taste more like coffee when there’s good beans with a proper roast instead of the “classic” burnt, bitter roast.

  Also, 99% of italian baristas just push a button to get coffee from a grinder then they slot it into the espresso machine and press another button to make the machine push water through the puck. There’s no skill involved. There’s a guy that works for the espresso machine maker that comes and calibrates the machine and the grinder and that’s the only guy with any skill in the process. And even that job isn’t that hard. Only third wave coffee shops still bother to calibrate their own machines(and even then, many don’t, from what I’ve seen) or use any other process that actually requires skill or a recipe.

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  • Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Yes I have been to these third wave “coffee shops” where all they do is make hipsters pay extra. Let’s do something wrong and praise the sour coffee for its “wine-like-flavours”.

    Your comment on italian baristas just shows how little you understand about espresso, go there, you’d be surprised that it isn’t 5 or 30 grams (those numbers also show you don’t make your own coffee, fr), but the hand of the barista that tweaks the espresso that makes the magic.

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    • nyctre@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      First of all, in most places espresso costs 1.5-2€ euros regardless of “wave”. You can pay 2€ for an illy espresso from a “real italian” place or you can pay 2€ for an espresso from a place that roasts its own coffee or at least sources it from a decent place. Maybe where you are it’s different and I’m sorry that the coffee scene is that shitty, but over here we don’t pay extra for good coffee.

      As for my experience …I’ve actually worked as a barista in France with Italian suppliers and have been to Italy plenty of times and talked to multiple baristas as it’s actually a passion of mine. So yeah, everything I’ve said is true. The 5-30 numbers were obviously just extremes to make a point. The fact that you couldn’t tell says more about you than anything else.

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      • Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        So you worked in france making 3/4s (french espresso), and went to italy and didn’t notice a difference in coffee served?

        I mean that just can’t be true.

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• TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Some coffee beans with no additives whatsoever can be described like this post did. I don’t like additives or other weird coffee things. Beans, and grinder, and a french press is all you need

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  • Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    That’s sure is a very good start!

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    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      You are… confusing. First you claim I like too much crap in my coffee, next you imply it’s not enough? I like my coffee plain and simple. The closest you can get to just the flavor of a well roasted bean is what I want. I’ve always had great results with freshly ground beans and a french press. Granted, some coffee shops make better coffee than I do at home, but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about why.

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      • Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Sorry if you took it as a criticism, I just wanted to share about coffee!

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• a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  They are discussing the flavors of the beans.

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