If I Started Coffee in 2026… Here’s EXACTLY What I’d Do! — Transcript

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1. 0:00Today's video is brought to you by
2. 0:01Thirdwave Water. If I was starting my
3. 0:03coffee journey today, there are a lot of
4. 0:04things that I would do, but there are
5. 0:06also a lot of things that I definitely
6. 0:08wouldn't do. There's a ton that I
7. 0:10learned the hard way. I wasted a lot of
8. 0:13money, a lot of time, and a lot of good
9. 0:16coffee trying to figure out all this
10. 0:18stuff. If I was starting over today, I
11. 0:22wouldn't buy a Mr. Coffee blade grinder
12. 0:26or a Cuisinart espresso machine. And I
13. 0:30definitely wouldn't try and use those
14. 0:32two things together. I have a real soft
15. 0:34spot for the Chemex. It was one of my
16. 0:36first brewers, but I don't think I would
17. 0:37actually start out with that either. And
18. 0:39again, especially not using a Mr. Coffee
19. 0:42blade grinder. But here's what I want
20. 0:44you to stick around for. There are a
21. 0:46couple of things that I actually got
22. 0:49right. Things that are actually almost
23. 0:51always missed when people are starting
24. 0:53out with this stuff. And we're going to
25. 0:54get to those things in a minute. But
26. 0:56what would I do in broad strokes if I
27. 0:59was starting out today? One of the
28. 1:01things that I actually got right from
29. 1:03nearly the very beginning is something
30. 1:05that makes a bigger difference than
31. 1:07anything else we're going to talk about
32. 1:09in this video. And that is starting with
33. 1:11really, really great coffee. You know,
34. 1:14if you're getting coffee from the
35. 1:16grocery store, it's somewhat generic.
36. 1:18There's either no roast date on it or it
37. 1:20has been roasted months and months ago,
38. 1:22you got to do something different. I
39. 1:24would actually start by looking up
40. 1:25specialty coffee roasters either in your
41. 1:28local city or maybe even a safer bet is
42. 1:30looking them up in your nearest
43. 1:32metropolitan area. Go on their site,
44. 1:34look up their coffees, and try and find
45. 1:36a coffee that has like chocolate or
46. 1:39caramel notes. These are going to be
47. 1:41more approachable and familiar feeling
48. 1:43coffees within the spectrum of specialty
49. 1:46coffees and they're going to make a
50. 1:47great starting point. Getting coffee
51. 1:50like that will be a huge improvement
52. 1:53over what you can find in the grocery
53. 1:55store. It will feel familiar in terms of
54. 1:57what you're getting in the cup, but will
55. 1:58be several notches above. And there's
56. 2:00lots of room later on for more
57. 2:03adventurous coffees with kind of crazy
58. 2:05tasting notes and that kind of thing.
59. 2:06Trust me on this. This is the one thing
60. 2:08that you should not second guess when it
61. 2:10comes to spending a little bit more on
62. 2:11this stuff. Now, the second thing that I
63. 2:14would suggest is to get a coffee scale.
64. 2:16You know, if you're using that
65. 2:17tablespoon measuring spoon to measure
66. 2:19out your coffee, you're eyeballing your
67. 2:20water, leave all that stuff behind, get
68. 2:23a good scale. It's going to make your
69. 2:25coffee making way more consistent brew
70. 2:27to brew. And everything that comes after
71. 2:29that will get easier. You don't have to
72. 2:31spend a lot. You can even just go on
73. 2:33Amazon, search up coffee scale, pick one
74. 2:35up. Now, after you have good coffee and
75. 2:37a coffee scale, the thing that people
76. 2:39tend to focus on next after that is
77. 2:41their brewer. And that's actually not
78. 2:43what I would suggest looking at next.
79. 2:45This is kind of hard to wrap your head
80. 2:47around, but your coffee grinder actually
81. 2:50has way more of an impact on how your
82. 2:52coffee tastes than what you're using to
83. 2:54brew it. Here's how that works. You see,
84. 2:56it all comes down to, in broad strokes,
85. 2:58something called particle size
86. 3:00uniformity. How even are the particles
87. 3:03of ground coffee coming out of your
88. 3:04coffee grinder? Lower-end coffee
89. 3:06grinders, blade grinders, are especially
90. 3:09prone to this, but low-end burr grinders
91. 3:11can also do it, will produce a very
92. 3:13inconsistent grind size. So, you get a
93. 3:16lot of these really little tiny, almost
94. 3:18dust-sized particles in your grounds
95. 3:21along with these really big shards of
96. 3:23coffee beans. You can see this when you
97. 3:25look at the coffee grounds. And what
98. 3:27happens when you brew those coffee
99. 3:30grounds is the little tiny particles
100. 3:32extract very quickly because they're so
101. 3:35small. All the flavor comes out and then
102. 3:37they over-extract and stuff that
103. 3:39actually doesn't taste very good also
104. 3:41comes out. And that imparts a somewhat
105. 3:43bitter flavor into your coffee. But
106. 3:45those big shards on the other hand,
107. 3:48those huge particles in there, because
108. 3:50they're larger, they extract a lot more
109. 3:52slowly. So, in some cases, by the time
110. 3:55you're finished your brew, they're not
111. 3:56fully extracted and only the most sour
112. 3:59compounds have come out of them. Now, it
113. 4:01all does mix up in the cup and it kind
114. 4:04of balances, but it also doesn't always
115. 4:06taste great. Nicer coffee grinders grind
116. 4:09in a much more uniform way so that when
117. 4:12you're brewing, all the particles
118. 4:14extract at a similar rate making for a
119. 4:16much more balanced and even flavor. And
120. 4:20fortunately, there are a lot better
121. 4:22coffee grinders available for a lot less
122. 4:25than when I started. And if I was
123. 4:27starting out today, I would probably
124. 4:29start out with a grinder like the Easy
125. 4:31Presso Q Air or the Q. Basically the
126. 4:33same grinder, just the Q has a metal
127. 4:35body. These grinders really just offer a
128. 4:38lot, you know, good build, great results
129. 4:40in the cup, reasonable price. There just
130. 4:42isn't a lot to argue with here. Now, if
131. 4:44I wanted to get something that could do
132. 4:45both filter and espresso, I would
133. 4:47probably end up with a Kingrinder K6.
134. 4:49There's some things that I don't
135. 4:51actually love with them about their
136. 4:53build quality, how they're put together,
137. 4:55that kind of thing, but they are so
138. 4:57affordable and they can do both filter
139. 5:00and espresso with a good degree of
140. 5:01flexibility. Now, not everybody is going
141. 5:04to love the idea of hand grinding every
142. 5:07time you want to make a cup of coffee.
143. 5:08So, if you want an electric grinder, I'd
144. 5:10actually recommend you save up a couple
145. 5:12hundred bucks, give or take, before you
146. 5:14make a move. Seems like a lot, it'll
147. 5:16make a difference. At that point, the
148. 5:18tried and true options are the Baratza
149. 5:21Encore for filter coffee only or the
150. 5:23Encore ESP for filter and espresso. Kind
151. 5:26of like a mainline grinder suggestion.
152. 5:28They've been around a long time. Really
153. 5:29great after-sale support there, too. If
154. 5:32you want to get into a flat burr coffee
155. 5:34grinder, that's a different type of
156. 5:35coffee grinder, you could look at the
157. 5:37DF64. Now, that is a single-dosing
158. 5:40grinder, so you can't just dump a whole
159. 5:41bag of coffee in there and grind a
160. 5:43little bit every time. You need to weigh
161. 5:45it out every time. Not everybody's into
162. 5:46that. And if you're the kind of person
163. 5:48who, you know, you've done some deep
164. 5:50diving, maybe you're a little geeky, you
165. 5:52want to get into the 64 mm burr size and
166. 5:56you're willing to take a little bit of a
167. 5:57gamble, you could look at the Shardor
168. 5:59grinder as well. Now, it's really
169. 6:02affordable, especially for that burr
170. 6:04size. So, it's not going to have the
171. 6:06same polish of the other grinder options
172. 6:09and it hasn't been on the market as
173. 6:11long, either. But overall, I would say
174. 6:13kind of take a look between those
175. 6:15options and see what works best. But now
176. 6:17that we've got grinders kind of sorted
177. 6:20if I was starting over, let's talk about
178. 6:22brewers. This is kind of the fun part
179. 6:25that people love to talk about. Now, I
180. 6:26started with a Chemex and then I got a
181. 6:29V60. And I had a pretty rough experience
182. 6:32with both of those things actually when
183. 6:34I first started with them and I don't
184. 6:35actually think that I would suggest
185. 6:37either of them for a first brewer.
186. 6:39Instead, I would actually probably start
187. 6:42with either a Hario Switch or an
188. 6:45AeroPress. Now, for a long time, for
189. 6:48anybody starting out and asking me what
190. 6:51brewer they should get, I would have
191. 6:52just said the AeroPress. Full stop.
192. 6:55Don't think about anything else. Just go
193. 6:56out and get yourself an AeroPress. Now,
194. 6:58as time has gone on, I've actually swung
195. 7:00more and more over to the Hario Switch,
196. 7:03which is basically a Hario V60 that has
197. 7:07this base where you can press this
198. 7:09switch and hold the coffee in there. And
199. 7:11then you flick it up and it all drains
200. 7:12out. That's called steep and release or
201. 7:15some people would call that immersion
202. 7:16brewing. And that is basically the same
203. 7:18principle that the AeroPress uses. It's
204. 7:21a really great approach to use when you
205. 7:24are just getting started with this stuff
206. 7:25because it's a lot less sensitive to
207. 7:27inconsistencies in the grind. You don't
208. 7:29need a special kettle. You can just use
209. 7:31the regular tea kettle, fill the thing
210. 7:32up, and it's not going to have any
211. 7:34impact on your brew. The nice thing
212. 7:36about the switch is when you're ready to
213. 7:38graduate and start doing more
214. 7:40traditional pour-over with a gooseneck
215. 7:43kettle, more controlled recipes, and
216. 7:45you're ready to go into that territory,
217. 7:48you can do it without getting anything
218. 7:50extra. You just leave the switch valve
219. 7:52open all the time and you can just use
220. 7:54it like a regular V60. The AeroPress
221. 7:56will do a fantastic immersion brew, but
222. 7:59then at a certain point, you're going to
223. 8:01want to jump into something else. And
224. 8:02the AeroPress can also be a little bit
225. 8:05confusing to wrap your head around when
226. 8:07you first get them. Once you do it a few
227. 8:09times, it's really not an issue, but I
228. 8:11will say, you know, put a coffee in a
229. 8:13cone-shaped thing and put water in and
230. 8:15then let it drain out is a little bit
231. 8:16more intuitive than what you need to do
232. 8:18with the AeroPress. I will say that if
233. 8:21portability is one of your main
234. 8:24considerations, then it is really hard
235. 8:26to beat an AeroPress. You know, a
236. 8:27grinder like this, you can even just
237. 8:28stick it right inside, throw the whole
238. 8:30thing in your backpack. You're not going
239. 8:32to want to do that with this. Now, if
240. 8:34you are starting out with a Hario
241. 8:36Switch, I would recommend the Cafec
242. 8:38filters. I find they make a big
243. 8:39difference. You can try them. They're
244. 8:41not terribly expensive. I use the Abaca,
245. 8:44so I would recommend at least giving
246. 8:46that a shot. And if you happen to not
247. 8:48love the plastic part of the switch
248. 8:50here, there is a little product called
249. 8:52the Good Switch that is basically a
250. 8:54metal version of this. Pretty cool. And
251. 8:56if I was just starting out and all I
252. 8:58wanted to do was filter coffee, I would
253. 9:00probably stop right there. Almost.
254. 9:03Today's video is supported by Thirdwave
255. 9:06Water. They sponsor the channel here.
256. 9:08When we first started really getting
257. 9:10into coffee, we're rural, so we were on
258. 9:12well water. And we would use that water
259. 9:15to brew coffee and we wouldn't really
260. 9:17think too much about it. You know, when
261. 9:18we would crank on the shower, it would
262. 9:20have that sulfury smell that would come
263. 9:22out when the water was really hot. But,
264. 9:24you know, you use your tap water to make
265. 9:26coffee. So, that's what we did. Then I
266. 9:28got some of this stuff and I opened a
267. 9:31packet and I put it in a gallon of
268. 9:33distilled water and I made coffee with
269. 9:35it and I couldn't believe the difference
270. 9:38in taste that it made when I was making
271. 9:40my coffee. And that was before we even
272. 9:43had stuff totally figured out with
273. 9:45coffee making. So, I would say, if
274. 9:47you're just getting started in coffee,
275. 9:48you're using your tap water, whether
276. 9:50you're rural or municipal, you got that
277. 9:53hard water building up on your taps or
278. 9:55it tastes a little chloriny or a little
279. 9:57sulphury or even if you think it tastes
280. 9:59okay, I would recommend giving this
281. 10:01stuff a shot. The team at Third Wave
282. 10:03Water is giving you 10% off a one-time
283. 10:06order when you use my code. You can get
284. 10:08all the info on that in the link below.
285. 10:11So, we have good coffee, we have our
286. 10:13water, and we have a good filter setup.
287. 10:17What do you do if you're just getting
288. 10:18started and you really want to get into
289. 10:21the world of espresso? There are a
290. 10:22couple paths that you can take here and
291. 10:25they depend on maybe let's say lifestyle
292. 10:28or how much of a hobby you want this
293. 10:30thing to become and how high of a
294. 10:32ceiling you're looking for when it comes
295. 10:33to the taste of your drinks. Now, if
296. 10:35you're out there and you just say,
297. 10:37"Justin, I just want the easiest,
298. 10:39simplest, I don't want to worry about it
299. 10:41espresso machine. Just tell me which one
300. 10:43to get. I want a one-and-done solution
301. 10:45that I can wake up and push a button and
302. 10:47get started." For the longest time, the
303. 10:49Breville Barista Express was a mainstay
304. 10:52and honestly, that still is a pretty
305. 10:53good option if you want to just dump
306. 10:55your beans in the top and have
307. 10:57everything taken care of in one unit.
308. 10:59Ninja has recently come out with an
309. 11:02espresso machine as well that offers a
310. 11:04lot of the features at a lower price
311. 11:06point. Now, if you look, you know,
312. 11:07people can have mixed experiences with
313. 11:10those Ninjas, but they are coming in
314. 11:11less expensive than the Breville as
315. 11:13well. Now, if you want to make a little
316. 11:15bit more of a hobby of this than that,
317. 11:18then there are a couple directions that
318. 11:19you can go. And again, I would encourage
319. 11:21you to consider the grinder a little bit
320. 11:23more heavily than the espresso machine.
321. 11:25If you're open to hand grinding, again,
322. 11:27the Kingrinder K6 is really offering you
323. 11:30something pretty good at a ridiculously
324. 11:32low price point at the expense of some
325. 11:35build quality. If you want to go into an
326. 11:37electric grinder, again, I would
327. 11:39encourage you to look at those same
328. 11:40options. The Baratza Encore ESP and then
329. 11:43if you want to move more into kind of
330. 11:45semi-enthusiast territory, I would look
331. 11:48at the DF64. Or if you want to get into
332. 11:5064 mm size and take a little bit more of
333. 11:53a gamble on build quality, the Shardor.
334. 11:55Now, when I started, I used a Cuisinart
335. 11:58electric espresso machine and it broke
336. 12:00very quickly in part due to the water
337. 12:02that I was using, very hard. I also used
338. 12:04it with a blade grinder which didn't
339. 12:06work. And when it broke, I actually got
340. 12:09a manual espresso machine which also
341. 12:12didn't work very well until I got a
342. 12:13proper grinder for it. All in all, I
343. 12:16would probably actually do that again.
344. 12:18The quality of espresso that you can get
345. 12:21out of a manual espresso maker is
346. 12:24mind-bogglingly high for the price that
347. 12:26they are. However, they are best only if
348. 12:29you don't want to do a lot of milk
349. 12:31drinks, I would say. Cuz if you want to
350. 12:33do milk drinks, you got to get a whole
351. 12:34separate thing to steam the milk. It
352. 12:36just makes the whole process a lot less
353. 12:37convenient. I'd also say only consider
354. 12:40that direction if you really care about
355. 12:42cup quality and you're okay to have a
356. 12:44little bit of a slower routine or
357. 12:47ritual. They are less convenient to use
358. 12:50than an electric machine. Now, that
359. 12:51being said, I'm a big fan. I've covered
360. 12:53a lot of manual espresso makers on this
361. 12:55channel. If you want to drop in right at
362. 12:57the lowest end, you can look at the
363. 12:58Flair Neo Flex. It's almost even worth
364. 13:01just getting just if you want to try it.
365. 13:03Now, if you want to make a little bit
366. 13:04more of a hobby of things, you're
367. 13:07looking for a little bit more automation
368. 13:09than a manual espresso maker, but you're
369. 13:11hoping to get a little bit more bang for
370. 13:13your buck than you get in one of those
371. 13:15all-in-one big box machines. I would
372. 13:17suggest choosing a grinder from the
373. 13:19lists that I've already shared and then
374. 13:20going with a Breville Bambino Plus. It's
375. 13:23going to give you that convenient
376. 13:24electric workflow. You can still steam
377. 13:26milk. You'll have the grinder separate
378. 13:28so that if you want to upgrade that
379. 13:30later on, you can start customizing your
380. 13:32experience as your tastes evolve. And if
381. 13:35I was starting out today, those are
382. 13:37probably the things that I would do
383. 13:40depending on which direction I wanted to
384. 13:42go in in terms of my coffee brewing. But
385. 13:44I also recognize that this is a very
386. 13:47highly personal decision and you may
387. 13:49feel differently than I do. So, I want
388. 13:52to hear from you. If you were just
389. 13:53starting your coffee journey today, how
390. 13:56would you start it? What equipment would
391. 13:58you choose? Or maybe what is the one tip
392. 14:01that you would give to somebody else who
393. 14:03is starting today? Let me know in the
394. 14:05comments. I hope your next cup of coffee
395. 14:07is fantastic. I will see you next time.