Are you buying the right Coffee Beans? (Beginner's Guide to Coffee) 

Notes, reflections, corrections & additional links: Hey everyone! This was by far one of the most fun and challenging videos I've made to date. I'm sure there are going to be a ton of questions and comments on this video because the world of coffee is constantly evolving and a lot of what coffee you enjoy does come down to personal preference. Also, let me just get ahead of this question: Q: Why did you use a blade grinder?! A: I only used the blade grinder for the green coffee taste test. Green coffee is extremely hard and dense unlike porous roasted coffee so I didn't want to ruin my burr grinder that was used for all of the other coffees in this video. Now while this is fairly comprehensive video, it is also really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning about coffee. My ultimate goal with this video is to help YOU explore coffee beans you'll love. I think the best way to do that is by explaining the fundamentals from a price and flavor perspective so you can make an informed decision when you are tasting and shopping for coffee. Remember, all of us have our unique human biases when it comes to coffee: 1. Some of us only drink espresso and espresso drinks 2. Some of us use milk and sugar 3. Some of us like coffee black 4. Some of us only drink iced coffee Because of this I decided to focus this video specifically on the beans, because without the beans we don't have coffee, so logically, it makes sense as the first place to start. That being said, I'd love to do a video specifically on the fundamentals of brewing where we dive into: - Water (Ph, mineral content) - Grind size - Bean Ratio - Extraction (refractive index) - Brewing methods (espresso vs filter) So if you want to see that video, we can make it happen (maybe with some other coffee channel's help 👀) Additional learning ➡ ethanchlebowski.notion.site/Coffee-Learning-Resources-e961e8519d04457ba709fc7eea95a1f7?pvs=4 (I'll try to keep this updated as people offer more resources) AeroPress (20% off) ➡ www.aeropress.com/ethan - Another big thank you to AeroPress, without their support I probably would have a made a rushed coffee video just to get one done. So if you want to get 20% off and help support the channel, give them a look!

My friends want you to do an "Is expensive beer actually worth it?" video where you get progressively more drunk as filming goes on lol.

Specialty Roaster here to say that you can in fact measure and precisely define roastdegree! A roast degree analyzer is a Small device that measures how much light gets reflected by the roasted coffee beans and gives you a value along the AGTRON scale. 25-45 translates to your typical dark roast, 50-65 would be medium and from 70 upwards you‘d call it a light roast. Of course no two coffees roast the same but when you end the roast at the same temperature at similar roasting times you can get in a fairly narrow AGTRON range. Apart from that, this Video really serves as a exceptionally well crafted entry Point for everyone dabbling into the vast world of coffee, so thanks! And also congrats on the AeroPress sponsorship! (P.S. If this video happens to get new people into coffee… please prioritize good quality coffee over unneccesarily expensive gear 🙏🏻 You‘d be suprised how far a ordinary frenchpress, a plastic V60 Dripper or the advertised AeroPress combined with a decent handgrinder can get you!)

My family have been growing coffee for more than a hundred years. Currently, we get about 30$ for about 100 lb of dry coffee berry, which after processing turns into 60 lb of green coffee, which gets exported for approx 100$ per 100lb, which eventually gets sold for anywhere between 300$ to 3600$ per 100lb. So, middle men plus processing takes the coffee from 20c/ lb that we get to average of 5$ / lb. Wish my family we in the business of processing/exporting as the hardest part and the riskier part is growing but the least paid is the farmer.

Stoked to see you covered coffee! Excited to watch!

Ethan you're absolutely killing it this last year with the videos. I love the single topic videos packed with information, comparisons and food porn. These videos have helped me change the way I look at certain foods.

This channel and video is a PRIME example of why learning via video is so valuable. Large volume of information is compactly, yet digestibly presented with high-quality production value! Perfection! Edit: spelling and grammar.

FRESHNESS!!! Ethan, can't believe you didn't talk about this. It's the one take away I make sure to tell the coffee curious who may not know. It will give them a huge jump in the quality of coffee they're drinking every day. It's a critical component of buying your coffee for home. Make a follow on video. Roasted coffee is best within 2 weeks!!!!

I treat these deep dive videos like the superbowl 😂 I got RU-vid up on the living room TV, got my cup of coffee, and a spread of snacks. Please keep up these videos dude, hands down your channel is better than cable!

James Hoffman help me

Ethan, do you every worry about the "Pepsi Challenge" effect when sip testing for these videos? Pepsi wins the sip test over Coke, because people prefer the sweeter, more citrus-y cola in an isolated sip, but drinking a full glass is a very different experience where many people far prefer Coke. New Coke was designed to win the Pepsi challenge but it was so cloyingly sweet and citrus-y it was unpalatable to drink a whole can. When I see cupping sip tests I always think of the failure of new coke and wonder if you're really finding your preferred coffee, or if the process is artifically pushing you into the "Pepsi" of the coffee world.

I'm a bit spoiled. One of my really good friends is a café owner who imports, and custom blends different ones, and roasts in house. I'm usually the guinea pig for his different blends, and roasts he is testing, before he will sell it. I usually skip sponsor spots, but I will admit I absolutely love my aeropress, I've had it for about ten years now. I use it all the time, not shilling for them, I honestly just really like it, I even sent one to a friend in Washington state

Dude, yes! Medici! Thanks for representing us. Love seeing you at the shop!

I can see James Hoffmann watching this video and then going into full blown Heisenberg mode, showing up at Ethan's house and uttering "Stay out of my territory..." before backing away into the darkness of the night. Also, I know it's an ad, but I've been using an Aeropress since about 2010. I even just made a cup with mine while starting this video. I hate how fake sponsorships are but honestly, it's my favorite way to brew. The company was created by the guy who made the Aerobee flying disc. He sadly sold the Aeropress and it does seem like the current owner is more interested in maximizing profits, charging about twice these days as in 2010. It's still worth the price of admission, things work amazing and last ages. Also get a good hand grinder! I bought an 1zpresso JX grinder 3 years ago for about $110. The performance is incredible compared to anything electric in a similar price point. Quieter too and it's really not that hard to grind 15-20g of beans by hand. Nothing has really changed in terms of performance and it feels like it will last many more years.

I didn't hear one of the most important factors that can significantly impact the taste of coffee: Grinding! As an espresso and cappuccino enthusiast at home, I noticed a dramatic improvement in the taste of my shots after investing in a good grinder. It's not just about the grind size but also the consistency that a quality grinder provides. Therefore, a high-quality grinding machine is essential for achieving barista-level coffee. Maybe a French press might be more forgiving, I don't use it. Anyway, thank you for the great video.

I think you've done a really great job here walking the line between coffee nerds and coffee amateurs, this video serves as a very good 'introduction to coffee' primer for the unwashed (hweh) masses.

Wow, I love this!! The information is so helpful and enlightening. Thank you for taking the time to put together such incredible content!

Water, beans, grinding and brewing method are all quite important. I love my aeropress and pour overs.

Great video thanks, I appreciate the time you took to film this and include all the information 👍

Thank you so much for your hard work, researching and making this video. I really enjoy watching your "deep-dive" videos!

I find that light, medium, and dark is more a way of getting a taste profile. Not really how light, medium, or dark, it is. I use that as a starter, but I do not use that as the final reason why I buy it.

If you mentioned that shade grown coffee is superior to full sun I missed it. Coffee farms decimate bird habitat and are in full sun. Some farms do plant bananas to provide shade, but not many. Coffee planted in forests are shade grown and preserve bird habitat.

The conclusion going over what you went over in detail as a summary was really appreciated!!!

Man I barely even drink coffee but watching your deep dives is always fascinating. A lot of information with no bullshit well organized and delivered. Keep doing what you're doing, you're awesome

17:28 Is that a blade grinder? You're going to upset a lot of the coffee nerds online by doing that

I love this video. When I started my coffee journey about two years ago I went full into iced, brasilian, dark chocolate and nutty coffee. After a while I was in love with kenyan, sour and fruity as hell washed coffee and now I am looking for good balance between sours and bitters. 1st of July I am going to try my best in eliminations od Polish Aeropress Championship for the second time - wish me luck guys :D Cant wait for more coffee related videos!

These videos are so thorough, dynamic, and insightful. Literally a documentary. I love the experiments so much. Seeing them mean more than just being presented numbers and data- though, when you do refer to studies it’s such a treat ❤

Thank you very much for making this video. As a great fan of coffee I'm amazed how complex the production of coffee beans are. Just bought a coffee grinder. From now on I'll focus more on the beans I'm going to buy. ❤

Seriously, the Aeropress is such a great brewer. One of the rare times where I am in full agreement with the promotion of the sponsor. It can even do espresso-style drinks - not real espresso, but I have gotten very concentrated coffee from it and with a fine mesh metal filter even get some decent body to it. Without the plunger and the right grind, it can be used as a very easy pour-over as well.

Ethan Chlebowski I can't tell you how much I love your approach to these foods. Very scientific and as unbiased as possible please don't ever stop.

Thank you so much for this video. Super helpful and well-presented. Your time and effort is most appreciated!

I totally love the amount of research you put into your videos! You provide the science behind your experiment and put it in terms just about anyone can understand.

Oh yes, the build up was incredible. And yes, the more expensive stuff is better, for sure, right off the bat. Let's get into this!!

I was absolutely clenching expecting a Trade ad, only to be pleasantly surprised that the Aeropress one

Love the video Ethan! A lot of really helpful insights. Especially liked the delving into different processing methods, that is a really useful piece of knowledge when trying to select for particular profiles, and before this I had only been familiarized with “ethiopian process” which is the equivalent of natural process I suppose. Would love a sub-topic video with more side by side taste tests of different processing methods, different varieties, and potentially digging more into brewing methods as well. But I really appreciate these investigative style videos that are more oriented toward how these industries function, explaining all the variables in the line of production, etc. I think it’s really helpful as a consumer.

Thank you for all the videos you make!! I’ve been a subscriber for some time now. I don’t get excited for most things, but when I see you have a new video I grab a great snack and enjoy. Length of the videos are great. Please keep it up!!

As a coffee nerd myself I appreciate this video

Also, I'll be the one to say smart move on using a blade grinder for the green beans. I wouldn't ruin a burr set on those, either.

Hi, i really needed this kind of video when i started to work at a speciality coffee shop, a big sum up of what is going on in coffee industry and i will be recommending this video to new baristas to watch. Thanks

Just found your channel. Love it. Answering lots of questions most of us have. Doing it in a serious and good way. Thank you 👍🏽

Guess you didn't get a lot of sleep making this video.

These are my easy recommendations for anyone who's starting in coffee: *FRESH MATTERS* Coffee gets stale fast. But it's easy to work around it: Find coffees that have a specific *Roast Date* (not referring to expiration date). The freshest (~1 week old), the better. I'd say up to a month is still ok. If there's no roast date, assume they are months old. They're gonna be the worst version of that coffee. *GRIND MATTERS MORE THAN YOU'D THINK* Coffee begins to stale much faster once it's ground, but then again it's easy to work around it: Don't buy pre-ground coffee. Buy whole bean bags and ask the barista to grind it up for you. They have great grinders that cost thousands of dollars. Ideally, you'd grind it up yourself before brewing, but unless you have a good adjustable burr grinder, a cheap blade grinder just won't do a good job and you'll end up with a mix of odd flavors. Having a freshly ground bag can last you a good week or two. *MORE DETAILS = BETTER QUALITY* Similar to wine, as said in the video, the more specific and detailed information the label gives you, generally means better quality. If you find a bag that specifies: Coffee type and variety, specific place of origin, process type, roast level, roast date, etc. It's probably going to be very good coffee. *YOU CAN MAKE GREAT COFFEE WITH A STANDARD COFFEE MACHINE* Just make sure to turn it off as soon as the brew finishes. The hot plate *will* horribly cook and burn the coffee.

I love these deep dives! Thank you!

Thank you for the thorough analyses, answering the questions in the back of my mind at each culinary turn.

Expensive though it really depends who it is. when it comes to coffee usually if it means that the coffee growers, the actual farmers, not Nestle or some other food corporation is getting the money, then it's worth it.

What a great introductory video into coffee! Really well researched and discussed. It's obviously very difficult to go truly in-depth on coffee, since it's such a staggeringly deep rabbit hole but this is exactly what I was hoping it'd be; a great introduction that makes sense for any beginner! Thank you for the great information as always!

I feel like everyone here needs to meet James Hoffmann His channel is AMAZING and wildly nerdy in the best way possible.

Awesome video, love the presentation of information. Thanks for your work!

Never heard anyone mispronounce “Folgers” before. Well done, Ethan.

Classic fallacy is that something that is expensive due to rarity and/or demand is also equally better. With common sense it's immediately obvious that is not what guided the price. I always try to buy as light roasted coffee as possible these days, because that often means that 1. there's rich flavour profile that's worth presenting, which indicates good beans 2. the roaster isn't trying to hide the poor quality of beans by roasting them out of all flavour. Not that there aren't good darker roasts, but with them you're just rolling the dice unless you're familiar with the product without any hints. Also prefer, when possible, buying from specialty shops because you get to see the beans before buying the bag, you even get to sniff them if you want and they can recommend you this or that based on your liking, and they rarely overroast beans to hide flavours (instead of roasting them for specific flavours) unlike market brands. The best part about it is their advice though. You can ignore just about everything in choosing coffee and just ask what they recommend you based on what you want, as long as you understand how to brew lighter and darker roasts for their potential. And you can almost guarantee the beans are freshly roasted when you buy from a specialty shop, unlike those market bags that, if they even have roasted date, are at best a month old, often as old as 6 months (even the local roaster coffee bags in the markets can be 6 months old which is sort of infuriating both for the customer and the roaster). When the optimum is somewhere around 1 week to 8 weeks, the last optimal date depending on how much it was roasted. More on the region based coffee flavours: if you just have money and can find coffees of such kind, the more pinpoint accurate the source is on the bag, the better. It might not be your favourite, but you're much more likely to get more ethical coffee and more distinct taste. Because it's not hidden from the consumer, you could investigate the ethical side when you know exactly who the farmer was (so it's more likely to be from a farm that has things in order). Also it's not a mixed bag of different coffees grown for example in Kenya. Even if it's coffee farmed by some community, it's better than vague "Kenya" or "Africa" or something. My favourite coffee was definitely a bag from Ethiopia that had the farmer's name on the bag as source. It was very easy to name different flavour experiences from that cup of coffee, perhaps because all the beans were just about the same. What I've personally noticed in my local coffee shop is that there's definitely regions that have coffee to my taste in that coffee shop, like Ethiopian coffees they have, just in general Ethiopian. Don't know if it's tied to what they like to buy from which area, but they've had similar qualities in some regions I've liked, so I assume the actual farming height and place does play a big role as well (of course it does change the flavour, but so distinctly affect it based on region). Another thing the specialty coffee shops have going for them is that the coffee beans are often very similar in size. This means their roasting was rather homogenous and as a result, your grind setting can control the experience better. To make an exaggerated example: if you grind a very dark roasted bean with a very light roasted bean to very fine grain, your cup will have both the extremely unpleasant bitterness and richness of those two beans. Similarly to grinding them very coarse, you might get a decently balanced and at the same time very underextracted. Making it rather unpredictable and mixed review, not the true nature of that bean any way you grind it. More to Ethan's point about the varieties you get named in specialty coffees, I looked at bags that I saved to remind me in future purchases and you wouldn't get these in market brands ever (all seemed to be single origin): Pacamara, SL28, Ruiru, Batian, Kurume, Welicho, Castillo, Mixed Heirloom. Noteworthy is that all had the farmer's name on the bag, my favourites and least favourites so that's to taste, not to quality. My least favourite (learned from the video, from the variety tree infographic) one was Robusta variety, might be consequential or not. My favourites had either citrusy or red berry, and floral tastes and were from African origin. The least favourites were from South/Central America and had more of a nutty or chocolatey aroma, but not quite the way I enjoy them. As you may have noticed, single origin with a specific farmer can still produce blends (Mixed Heirloom from Ethiopia and one bag had SL28, Ruiru and Batian from Kenya). The Mixed Heirloom was one of my favourites due to almost mandarin like aroma, fresh and fruity/citrusy. The Mixed Heirloom is due to Ethiopia having 6000-10000 coffee varieties (learned this just due to further researching inspired by the video) so almost all of their coffees are blends. Supposedly every village can have its own variety, and unidentified varieties are just marked Mixed Heirloom. Meaning to say blends aren't automatically bad. Truly fascinating that they have already updated the coffee tree infographics on Cafe Imports website since Ethan used it for the video. Ironically I do enjoy those "medium roasted" coffees with chocolate and vanilla, even caramelly hints and whatever. They also go better with milk/cream/sugar in my opinion. I'm just not very confident in buying them from markets. Especially since they're more likely to be stale from the unopened bag. Also here medium roast (or we have 1 to 5 in most bags, so 3) is roasted darker than you might expect elsewhere. In market coffees that's often the quality and range (and also age) where you don't get much more than the roast. Many who have only drunk market coffees could be surprised that coffee has wide range of flavours due to that stale market medium roast just tasting like sort of bitter dark roast coffee. For example I've never ever had fruity or berry or floral like flavours in market coffee, no matter which roast level. At best there's a very minor hint of chocolate or so. The lighter roasts would just be less bitter and more acidic coffee taste. And you need to brew it well to get that minor hint of chocolate out, which might not be a thing in your average household even. But don't despair if you can't reason or afford specialty coffee, I still buy market beans or ground coffee at times and I'm happy with the cups I get, it doesn't ruin the experience of "normal" coffee. In fact the big brands have infinitely superior grinding machines that get so much more homogenous grind than your own grinder, be it hand or automatic grinder, could ever get. And since ground coffee is consumed the most, you can sometimes find quite fresh bags, so win-win. Watching James Hoffmann and trying out more expensive (to give a rough estimate 4x the price since the market coffee is like 6 euros a bag and the specialty is 12, but market has 400…500 grams and specialty has 200 grams. Sounds rough but in the end your regular mug of market coffee costs 10…20 euro cents) specialty coffee shop coffee literally changed my life and I've drunk coffee for +20 years. Only after that I learned that coffee has that before mentioned wide variety of flavours. Even if I'm not a great brewer, I get so much more enjoyment out of my coffees these days, I truly enjoy both the brewing process and flavours I can find. I learned to adjust the brewing first with a familiar bag of coffee until I could tweak it based on the resulting taste and what I was looking for, and then started buying different coffees and using that acquired brewing skill to find what their true flavours were. And it's also a good lesson that the bags of coffee are individual. Even if you buy the same coffee, you might need to adjust the brewing, particularly when you buy a different coffee. So it's worthwhile to learn to adjust the brewing based on what you get in your cup and getting to know what tweaks affect what traits. The most important lesson in that was "even if you think you got a pretty decent cup, push the adjustment one step further. Or a whole range further." Like when I was brewing a bag of somewhat dark roast at 85°C because raising it to 87…89°C made it just more bitter and burnt tasting, I thought "what the heck, this isn't _really_ good" and pushed it to 95°C and found out that somewhere between 92…95°C was the goldilocks zone for that bag and me, richer flavour and less of that bitterness (bit surprisingly and contradictingly, usually the hotter the water, the more likely it starts to get bitter). Apparently the coffee wasn't that dark and higher extraction just helped give it so much more flavour that the bitterness with underextraction got overpowered by good flavours. Or something, you never really know for sure. What's truly fascinating is that there's a lot of coffee plant types, but we almost exclusively drink Arabica. Instant coffee and cheaper coffee might be Robusta, or some espresso I recall. Some brands make a blend of Arabica and Robusta for specific flavour profile. But as the climate changes, we're in risk of all the coffee farming areas moving into completely different areas, which is to begin with an economical disaster for the farmers, but also an issue for the current coffee varieties used for coffee. So people are "frantically" searching for different varieties that might be better fit for being farmed in different climates. I feel like Ethan addressed a lot of these points, but maybe this gives a tiny bit more detail to it for someone who is interested. Btw I really appreciate Ethan doing proper academic work by reporting all his source materials. It makes it so nice to further delve into information. And I approve AeroPress too. I use V60 pour over at the moment, but AeroPress makes brewing and adjusting your own process for whatever you have so much easier than anything else.

Easily my favorite channel! The way you science the shit out of a particular subject has inspired me to do these sorts of experiments at home!

Great video, I've been roasting for over ten years and still learned a few things and found new inspiration!

Great vid! I especially loved the concise but thoroughness of the process section. No one ever does this breakdown. That said, so much of the content here is almost entirely useless to vast majority of home brewers, as the differences discussed here all go right out the window for someone who can't get a quality extraction. - WATER - uniform grind - considered brewing methodology to match your specific coffee and brewer These are all necessary in order to get any coffee bean to taste like what it was roasted to taste like. Without them, you'll end up with mostly noise in the cup, and won't be any better off for it... Knowing Ethan's interest for depth, I expect he already knows this and is likely planning a companion brewing vid.

I love my Aeropress and my V60... it's wild that the ENTRY level brewers are also the end game brewers... lol it's such an unexpected thing for such a deep hobby (yes, coffee is a hobby... trust me readers)

Always appreciate the long form videos that are thorough and quite helpful! Would you consider this topic: water purification (In-line to plumbing vs systems like Berkey vs store bought?)

Thanks for making this video! Greatly enjoyed what you have learned through your coffee journey. Your apple analogy was spot on to help describe cherry variety. Hope to see your knowledge journey on each of these coffee topics in the future.

I love these deep dive videos, definitely some of my favorites. If I may give some constructive feedback though, the phrase "We'll get to that shortly" or "We'll get to that later" comes up VERY frequently in all of these deep dive videos. It can be a tad aimless and distracting. I understand the need to acknowledge that undressed concerns will be realized, but it would seem more professional and curated without the large quantity of "as we'll see later" comments unnecessarily padding the information in each section. We're already looking forward to getting to those parts, and know they're coming based on the organizational graphics you present. Please keep making these!

Gesha is definitely worth the price, however, not as a daily drinker, it's more of an occasional treat, I just vacuum bag doses of whole beans and keep them in the freezer for special occasions. This was a great general overview of actual coffee knowledge, not just what the commercial producers want you to know, but, like you said, despite the length, it's only really scratching the surface.

Great job Ethan! Thank you so much for the lesson ❤

Thanks for all the work you put into these! I am almost ready to harvest my poblano peppers that I grew this year specifically to try the poblano and oaxaca tacos you were raving about years ago.

Wait, so which was his favorite? Must have missed it

Fole-gurs? It's fole-jers. Come on Ethan, didn't you know the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup?

Ethan C., Thanks for a very informative video on coffee beans! I got a lot more than I expected out of this. (And by the way, I'm subscribed to your videos and I am enjoying them.) I use my expensive grinder and espresso machine to make my daily espresso. I have been studying what many experts say about coffee and beens (and espresso) for years. I did not expect much that was new from your video, and I wondered if, as a talented amateur venturing into this field, you might occasionally blunder. But you did your homework, everything you spoke about was informative, and you covered a lot of what many experts spend little time on. Thanks!! - toby

Great work @EthanChlebowski . As a grower, I think you had a key point with "geisha is whats popular now, who knows what people will like in five years". I'm currently planting out over 20 mind blowing and little known varieries from ethiopian landrace strains like WushWush and Papayo, Sudan Rume, naturally decaf "Laurina Bourbon", Abisinian Java, Yemenese Mocha, chiroso, Venezuelan Monte Claro and criollo, and even some rare and unique Libericas and Canephoras. Im still searching for a few. Namely C. Liberica Excelsa, C. Stenophyla, C. Eugenoides, and the Jember crosses between Liberica and arabica. But not Geisha. Geisha took so long to be "discovered" because nobody liked the flavor until a hype cycle started in Panama around some sort of floral acidity obsession. But real specialty coffee flavor is just getting started. I focus on naturals to exentuate the complex flavors nacent in each variety from our organic regenerative agroforestry project. Anarobic is interesting. Although "anarobic fermentation" is a redundancy. But my take is that coferment is essentially flavored coffee. Still, I may eventually experiment with resting or coprocessing coffee with porcelain and criolle cocoa beans or pulp. its a big world out there. Keep up the good work Ethan! Btw, most coffee your drinking is actually part Robusta, as most comercial crops are now hybrids from the Timor cross. (Usually derived from catimore or Sarchimore) Which are, in my humble opinion, utter crap. Beautiqueen, over productive plants with a profile of cardboard with sawdust and cocoa powder. Its something like 80% of "100% arabica" coffee in the US.

I have coffee broker friends that sold a lot of coffee to two "major" coffeehouses. The brokers told me that the coffeehouses paid-up for premium coffee but were notorious for rejecting shipments that didn't pass quality control.

I disagree with that you shouldn't go for light/medium/dark, at least in that regard if you prefer light, dark won't be your favourite and if you prefer dark, light won't be your favourite. at least that should've been mentioned, maybe i did not see it though.

thank you for all the great work and information!

That was awesome! Great video! Please make another one touching the points that were not spoken in this one like decaf or different ways to brew. Thank you!

Bro said Folgers with a hard G?

Fun coffee tip: adding the tiniest bit of cocoa powder (like 1/8 teaspoon) in with your coffee grinds has a massive impact on the taste. It doesn't taste like chocolate, but it removes a great deal of the bitterness. My own personal theory is that the cocoa particles bind the bitterness causing compounds and trap them in the filter paper, giving you the cleanest cup of coffee you've ever had in your life.

I appreciate the technicality of all your videos. I've been drinking coffee for 64 years (began when I was 12): I choose by just one parameter...how does it smell in the bag. I care about the smell probably more than the taste. My preferred method of preparation is "Cowboy Coffee." When my ulcers were a huge problem many years ago I learned that filtering the coffee inflamed my ulcers but soaking the grounds in my cup never bothered them. I've recently changed to using a small Espresso Machine and having a double-dose every morning. That's basically the same as Cowboy style.

Great job lots of awesome detail and information in this video as a coffee lover

I buy my coffee based off of smell. If you squeeze a bag at the grocery store and put your nose next to the hole in the bag that lets air out and not in (usually at the top), you can smell the beans and that will give you a really good idea of what it’s going to taste like once it’s brewed.

We dived so deep I can see the Titanic! Oh crap, what is that popping soun

Very informative and helpful vid, thanks man! ☕👊

Excellent work, very comprehensive. Thank you

As a former coffee geek, I think my biggest realization is that I don't want to drink coffee without milk. What this means is that black coffee just doesn't taste like coffee to me, and while I can appreciate the fine flavor notes of specialty light roasts when I drink them black, it's just not something I'm interested in. Importantly, specialty light roasts and even some 2nd tier light roasts (which are slightly darker and closer to specialty medium roasts) straight up don't taste good with milk. The high acidity and fruity flavor makes a light roast with milk just taste like soured milk. This lead me to my final conclusion that what I look for in coffee is coffees that 1) are less than $16 per 12oz and 2) have flavor notes of milk or dark chocolate, nuts, and dried fruits. This lead me to buying coffees that hang around that medium to medium dark specialty range. What was a huge realization was that while roast was an okay predictor of flavor notes, the flavor notes themselves were a much more accurate way of predicting roast level. Essentially, if you go after the broad flavor notes, you'll consistently find coffees you like. I no longer drink coffee because my I inherited British teeth from my mom and so have no enamel, and coffee is so acidic that it instantly hurts all my teeth after one sip. Now I'm more into tea, which only stains your teeth and has much more complex flavors, plus it's easier to brew.

*James Hoffman has joined the chat*

Ethan I don't think you understand how much I love your content. I'll keep saying this over and over, but keep it up dude. I've been following you since your early days. I don't even know how many subs you had. 10,000? Now look at you. Informative content. Fun to watch. I always learn something new. You're fucking awesome.

thanks a lot sir made this amazing video. The information so much usefull with your opinion too

The more expensive stuff is better - but not just because it's a higher quality product. Specialty roasters almost always pay way, way more than commodity roasters to the farmers.

James Hoffmann be like : 👁️🫦👁️

Loving all these deep dives.

Wonderful video. I wish your video was there when I started my coffee journey, beautifully done.

I somewhat disagree with the beans. Yes it's important ingredient, but water is the most used ingredient in coffee, if you use tap water that is really bad quality the coffee will be bad too. So in my opinion all 3 are important the brewing, the beans and the water. The water is like approximately 80% of the coffee caffeine and others parts are the rest.

Taste is purely subjective. The only value it has is what you put on it.

Good breakdown, I've been drinking/buying/selling coffee for 30+ years and learned from this. It's left me with some questions for my own tastes, so informative too.

ethan, this channel has easily become my absolute favorite channel to watch-the way you come off as so passionate about these topics and the care you put into these deep dives is so cool and insanely inspiring!! I have become so much more confident in the kitchen and in learning new things because of what I’ve learned from you, thank you so much!!

This video did not need to be 50 minutes long.

Horrible editing, never goes to the point, just around questions all the time. It's 50% Fillers. Could be losslessly compressed into a 25min video. And I might be wrong, but I didnt see a proper grinder being used :/ THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL

This is the best video you have ever done mate! Being a coffee person myself, I appreciate the amount of research you have put into this. Thanks for the effort.

Giving some interaction so others can be recommended this video. A very cool dive into what makes coffee different. I see people ask about other factors that affect flavor, but I think this has been a fantastic video on the coffee itself!

TLDR: Your grandparents' cheap coffee came through abusing poor people in developing nations. Your average expensive coffee today is working with those people to build communities, save forests, and send kids to school. And it tastes way better to boot. Spend the extra cash to get something good.

Not making espresso and focusing on one kind of filter (because they sponsor you) in a video about coffee is certainly a choice

Thanks!!! Between you and @LanceHedrick I have upped my game substantially. Lance taught me about time and weight being the primary variables in the espresso game... And you my good sir have just explained how to find and understand my coffee. Found a local roaster In Ridgewood NJ - REY SOL only one in the area that had the info you talked about Alt, Process, notes.... Well I can never go back to Starbucks now that I know what real coffee can taste like. Keep the knowledge flowing and Thanks AGAIN!!!

Thank you for this - it is a good starter for those that are wanting a clearer picture. Also, always remember that, like wine, every year yields a different flavor profile.

I love your videos in general, but I got particularly excited about this one. It did not disappoint! Keep up the good work :)

These deep dives are awesome. I’d love to see these on a monthly/10 per annum type schedule along with regular weekly (at least) shorter videos in the 5-20 min range. Consistent output would be habit forming and keep viewers engaged. I used to watch your content all the time and think of something you mentioned while at the market or when planning meals, but now I feel like I’ve only seen 3-4 videos of yours this year. I can’t spontaneously watch a 45 min deep dive so whenever I come across them I have to add to watch later and then remember to make time to watch it. I miss the bite-sized stuff.

Dude you're a beast. This was such an insanely informative video, what a masterpiece. I also learned a ton from your video on knife sharpening and ended up reading An Edge In The Kitchen just like you recommended. It was amazing, I learned a TON and now I'm sharpening all of my friends' knives and I just feel like an overall master of anything to do with the kitchen knife. Keep up the great work

I'm a coffee nerd but still learned some things. Nice job.