I was suspecting this might be the case.
How would I know what type of coffee to get her to start? Should I just get a variety from the roaster and let her try some?
Yes some kind of sampler pack if they have it, like a bunch of different coffees in quantities of about 4 oz to 6 oz. There is a pretty huge range in flavor profiles so if you just get her a pound of Kenya AA as her gateway to speciality coffee she may hate it coming from Dunkinā Donuts.
Sit tight for a second though and I can probably find you a good sampler pack or gift set from a high-end roaster. Just need to close like 30 tabs of Swiss watch porn first.
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Ok Iām just gonna start posting links and you can decide:
If you want to go cheap on the grinder, this is the best deal I see right now:
The $100 ones like the OXO can probably be had for 20% off (BedBath&Beyond?). The advantage of the Baratza is that every part is replaceable and the burr is upgradeable. You have to decide if itās worth paying more than double for that at this point.
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I wonder if maybe sheāll just be happy with you buying her some nice coffee from a shop and having it ground there to sample at home and slowly advance your coffee game rather than dumping everything on her at once? A grinder, new machine, and new coffee all at once might be a little overwhelming.
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That is true. My thought process is Iām the one that makes the coffee in the morning because Iām up earlier as part of my morning routine.
Itās more my personality to go all in when I do something though so maybe Iām approaching this the wrong way.
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Yeah the only drawback is then itās only a ~$30 gift, so then he has to buy her other shit instead and then probably still buy her all the coffee shit later when she loves good coffee.
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Iām not going to buy a new coffee maker yet, or do I have to do that? Is that part of the process?
Or is grinding beans in our cheap coffee maker a good enough start?
Does she use cream or sugar? If yes, Vita blend from Espresso Vivace is the best bean Iāve ever had:
It tastes like a coffee/hot chocolate hybrid to me and turned a coworker of mine who used to drink freeze dried coffee into a total coffee snob. Turned his nose up at anything else I offered. I see they have other blends nowāused to be just Vita and Dolce blends. Iām going to have to try them all.
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Creme or milk, no sugar.
The Aeropress is pretty cheap and super portable and makes a way better cup than my drip machine does. I use the drip on work days so I can wake up to coffee, but use the Aeropress otherwise. I highly recommend it.
Vita would be perfect for her. Get her hooked on it and buy her an espresso machine for her birthday or valentineās day.
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Grinding early in the morning is gonna be kinda loud. I wonder if maybe your best bet is actually to get a better coffee maker and skip the grinder for now. Let the roasters grind for you on their $2,700 Ditting and invest in some Airscape canisters to preserve the freshness as much as possible.
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Yeah but he makes the coffee for her in the morning. Dunno if heās tryna add many more steps than just pressing a button.
Yep. My wife values quantity over quality and wonāt use the AP. She likes the coffee from the AP better, but wonāt use it because itās too much work and only makes one cup. I break it out to make single cups for guests and theyāre always impressed. I used the AP exclusively since 2017 and only recently started using the drip machine again. AP gives you a much richer cup and you can vary steeping time to get the perfect strength, but does have its drawbacks.
I found a local roaster less than 2 miles from me so that might be a better option.
I appreciate everyoneās help. This is one of my favorite things about our community.
If you ever decide to get a better drip machine, this list is a good starting point:
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https://www.oxo.com/8-cup-coffee-maker.html#
This is the one I got when my old machine broke. Chose it because a number of websites had rated it as the best standard home brewing machine (not sure on like, categories). Pretty happy with it so far - coffee is great and it has a very small profile on my counter, although itās sensitive to your water:coffee ratio and sometimes tastes too light for me- but Iām not sure you need to get one if youāre old one is working fine and sheās happy with it.
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Aero press or pour over make a very small amount of coffee. Get a French Press, grinder and some coffee imo.
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Actually this is good advice and Iām mad I didnāt think of it. French Press is my favorite way to make coffee and I think itās a good option for someone who may just be getting into it.
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