Two thirds of Americans drink coffee every day. The other third is wondering, “How to start drinking coffee?”, which by the way is easy to answer. The tougher and more important question to ask is, “Why should I start drinking coffee?”
Short Answer – How to start drinking coffee?
Let’s begin with the short answer to the question, “How to start drinking coffee?” In a nut shell here’s the answer. Keep in mind, that by the end of this post, I’m going to give you exact instructions on how to consistently make the best cup of coffee that you’re likely to find anywhere.
- Start with good green beans
- Only buy fresh roasted beans
- Find a brewing method that you like
Short Answer – Why should I start drinking coffee?
In a nutshell, drinking coffee is good for you. Yes, I know you’ve been told that drinking coffee is a vice because it’s bad for you.
This in fact is not true. Hundreds of scientific studies have been conducted by the top medical researchers in the world, which hail the health benefits of coffee.
We’ll get into those specific benefits shortly.
Caffeine Debunked
Many people will tell you that they drink coffee because the caffeine will help them to wake up or stay awake. Although there are some people who are particularly sensitive to the stimulating effect of caffeine, I contend that these people are far and few between. At best, most people get a minimal buzz or stimulation from caffeine.
I’ll grant you that coffee does help you to wake up or stay awake, but it’s not the caffeine. As a coffee roaster that spends most of every day talking to coffee drinkers, I contend that coffee wakes you up because you like it. It tastes good. It’s warm. It’s comfort food. Drinking coffee is the equivalent of a personal “Time-Out”. It’s an opportunity to be selfish, tune the world out, and focus on you and that cup of coffee.
Health Benefits of Coffee
Coffee contains bioflavonoids, antioxidants, caffeine, and over a dozen other complex molecules. Below is the short list of the benefits of coffee.
- Improved energy levels
- Helps to burn fat
- Can improve physical endurance
- Contains essential nutrients
- Lowers risk of type 2 diabetes
- May lower risk of alzheimer’s, dementia, parkinson’s
- Protect your liver
- Can fight depression and make you happier
Truth be told, there are so many studies on coffee drinkers, that you could probably find that coffee can make pigs fly.
The #1 Benefit Of Drinking Coffee
I contend that the primary benefit is that a true coffee experience will make you relax. Stress is the number one killer in the United States. Let’s face it, we’re the most productive society in the world. We work harder and play harder than any society in the world. It’s no wonder that we also die younger because we as a nation burnt out.
Although coffee is technically considered a stimulant, its effect on most people is that they become more relaxed. The key difference between the hyped up coffee drinker and the relaxed is time and focus. Hyped up coffee drinkers drink on the go. Relaxed coffee drinkers, sit, close their eyes, clear their mind, and focus on the coffee experience, letting the worries and stress of life to wash over them like water on duck’s back.
Attitude and Quality
If a caffeine-high is all someone is looking for, then just keep slamming down cup after cup until the pot’s empty. So, let me ask, “How’s that working for you?”
People that drink bad coffee, seem to drink a lot of it. On the other hand, people who drink great coffee seem to drink a whole lot less of it, but enjoy it a whole lot more. Which brings us back around to our original question, “How to start drinking coffee?”
What Do You Like?
This is the most important question. If you know what you like, then finding the right coffee is just a matter of experimentation. On one end of the spectrum there are people who like a slap-in-the-face strong, bold, bitter, burnt, and caustic coffee. On the other end, are people like me. I like my coffee smooth as silk, i.e. not bitter, with distinguishable coffee notes of chocolate, nut, or citrus.
If you’re one of those slap-in-the-face kind of people, then any burnt and bitter industrial coffee company will work just fine; see Charbucks, Yuban, Hills Brothers, Kirkland, etc.
So, figure out what you’d like your coffee to taste like. From this point forward, I’m going to assume that you like what I like. Good old-fashioned smooth and flavorful coffee.
Costa Rican Beans
Each year, my wife and I do a blind taste testing of coffees from a dozen of the world’s best coffee producing regions. As we do our blind taste test, we’re looking for smooth coffee, i.e. zero bitterness. We’re also looking for more than one noticeable flavor. Several flavors make the coffee rich and deep, i.e., giving the coffee a complexity that you look forward to coming back to day after day.
Each year, we end up picking coffee from the same Amapola plantation in the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica. These beans produce a coffee that is the next best thing to heaven. God certainly knew what he was doing when he made this bean.
Fresh Roasted
Here’s a truth that you’ll seldom hear. The fresher the bean, the better the coffee. All coffee, even my coffee, will begin to go stale and thus bitter after 30 days and no amount of space-age packaging can change that fact. Yet a vast majority of roasted coffee in the United States sits in warehouses and store shelves for months if not years.
Not at Lake City Coffee. I roast to order. Which means that each Tuesday morning, I total my orders over the last week and if I have 100 pounds of orders, then I roast and ship exactly 100 pounds. What that means to you is that you’d be hard pressed to find fresher coffee anywhere.
Dark Roast vs. Medium Roast
The darker the roast the less caffeine and the lighter the roast the more caffeine. Most people get that backward. Additionally, the darker the roast, the more you’re tasting the roaster and the less you’re tasting the bean.
In my humble opinion, a medium roast is going to give you a more naturally sweet and smooth cup of coffee. But that’s just me. If you like dark roast, then go for it.
Fresh Ground
Always buy whole bean coffee. Never ever buy pre-ground coffee. The oils in the beans are what’s important. As soon as the bean is ground, those oils begin to evaporate.
So, get a good grinder (See Link Here) and grind your beans right before brewing.
Perfect Brewing
You may be surprised to learn that at least 50% of the flavor of a cup of coffee comes from the brewing technique. Below is a list of brewing techniques, listed in rank from, at the top, my personal favorite all the way down to the bottom where I wouldn’t feed that coffee to my worst enemy.
Keep in mind, my predilection for smooth coffee. Additionally, to-each-his-own, i.e. drink what you like. I’m not judging here.
- Cold Brew (Link To My How-To Video)
- AeroPress (Link To My How-To Video)
- Moka Pot Stove Top
- French Press
- Slow Pour Over
- Any Drip Machine
- Espresso
- Percolator
- Cowboy Coffee
Conclusion
To create a coffee experience worthy of lowering your blood pressure and improving your life style, you’ll want to experiment. Experiment with different beans, roasts, grinds, and brewing methods. You’ll find out in short order what you like.
Lastly, I sell what I like, so just go to my website and click on the “Shop” button. You’ll find my favorite beans, roasts, and equipment.
Bon Appetite,
Russell
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