You love your morning coffee, but just how much of a coffee lover are you? Welcome to the Throttle and Roast podcast. I'm your host, Niels Meersschaert. In this episode, we'll discuss some things that help you determine whether you're a coffee fan or an absolute enthusiast for all things coffee. We'll discuss beans, different drinks, brewing styles, and even some warning signs about caffeine addiction. Grab your coffee and a comfortable chair and we'll dive into this episode. Now, one of the best ways to know if you're actually a coffee lover is that you know, your beans. Now, of course, you may find your particular roast. You might think, oh, I like, you know, light roast or medium roast dark roast. That's fine. That's the roast. But it's the beans that start off which actually make a difference. And this is usually where you're going to have a few different varietals that'll come in. Now, if we look at the coffee industry globally, the vast majority of beans that you're going to try are either going to be Arabica or Robusta. Now there are some lesser lesser but rarer varieties like Liberica and Excelsea. But those are really very uncommon that you'll find. So you're mostly going to find the two that I mentioned are Arabica and Robusta. Now, Arabica, of course, was originally found in Ethiopia, and this was thought of as the birthplace of coffee. So this is why it's really the the essence that most of us think of coffee. They tend to have a softer, sweeter taste than other bean varieties, and it's the least acidic of the beans, often produced in areas with lots of rain like Brazil. And it's the most popular with about twice the amount produced as the next most popular. And of course, that next most popular is Robusta. And you probably can guess from the name that this is known for having very robust flavors. Now, some people may feel that that tastes a little bit burnt. It's sometimes blended with Arabica beans to create a unique flavor profile, but it does have about twice the caffeine level of Arabica beans and about half as many Robusta beans are produced as Arabica as the flavor profile tends not to be as appealing broadly as Arabica. So would love to hear from you. What's your favorite variety of coffee beans? Is it one of the two major ones, or do you like one of the other varieties that are out there? Text the show through the link in the show notes and we'll share your feedback in a future episode. Now, another great way to know that you are a true coffee lover is that you've tried and actually enjoy a variety of coffee drinks. So we're going to go through a few of those and we're going to start with maybe the ones that are more common that you'll find in a coffee shop. And these are going to be the espresso based drinks. So of course, espresso based drinks start off with espresso. And this is going to be a very highly concentrated drink that's going to be built through a high pressure situation, usually about nine bars. And it has a very intense flavor There's another few varieties that come in with espresso. One of those is an Americano. An Americano, of course, an espresso shot with hot water added to it to almost dilute it a little bit. It starts to feel the consistency of more like a drip coffee. But it still has that very high injection of the espresso. I actually really like Americanos. I think they're really a delicious beverage to have Now, another one that you can try as a macchiato, though, if you've gone to Starbucks, you've probably heard the you know, caramel macchiato is a very common one. The real thing with the macchiato is fundamentally it is espresso with a shot of foamed milk. That's really the definition of it. Really nice flavor to it. You're adding in milk. And as I said, this is where you start to get more of the milk drinks are very common within espresso. Another one that you can try. And this one's probably a little bit more common for a lot of people to try is a cappuccino. And this is actually equal parts of espresso steamed milk and foam. So we talked about steamed milk and foam. And there is a little bit of a difference in there. Obviously, the amount of air that's going to be in the milk is going to create more foam as opposed to just being steamed. But this is really where you start to get that that bit of a different flavor, that texture that you get with the foam on that typically put onto the top of the cappuccino does create something where just you pass through the other parts of the beverage, through that foam. And it just gives a different experience and texture that you might enjoy. Now, a latte is very similar to a cappuccino, but it's oftentimes served in a glass. This isn't exclusively the case, Lots of people really enjoy a latte. I find it tends to have a lot more milk than a cappuccino and maybe less of the foam. Another one that's very popular, certainly within the Starbucks realm, where they really tend to like a lot of sweets, would be a mocha. And this is essentially where you add some chocolate with your espresso and steamed milk. So it can add a little bit of a nuance to there. Oftentimes, people will describe some coffees as naturally having chocolate notes, and this just further accentuates that and directly puts chocolate into it. Now, another one that is very common certainly in France. It's not as likely that you're going to find it very commonly within a lot of coffee shops within the United States, although it is gaining a little bit in popularity. And this is Cafe au lait. It literally means coffee with milk. And originally it was an even mix of brewed coffee with milk. But, you know, the way it would be sort of more like a cortado, which we're going to talk about in a moment as far as the ratios. But it really was brewed coffee as opposed to the espresso coffees. So a cortado is equal parts milk and espresso. It's usually served in a glass. And you can then see this almost caramel color showing through it. This is actually one of my favorite coffee drinks that's out there. And the reason why is that that equal blending, it's not going to be as large as, let's say, a cappuccino or a latte would be where it's it tends to be more milk than espresso. This is equal parts. So you really get this beautiful, beautiful color into it. And that's shown through the glass. Really makes for a delicious flavor as well. If you're really feeling that you need a caffeine kick, you might want to consider looking at a red eye. And a red eye, of course, is normal brewed drip coffee with an espresso thrown into it. So when you need that extra boost of espresso in your morning brew, it's a great one. Now, of course, there's many other drinks that you can get into. You can get in flat whites and a couple of others. But I think these ones that I highlighted here are the ones that are the most common that you'll find in most any coffee shop. So would love to know, do you prefer espresso drinks or drip coffee? And if so, what is your favorite coffee beverage? Text the show through the link in the show notes and we'll share your feedback in another episode. Now, another thing that can help you understand if you're truly a coffee lover, is that you may have a preferred brewing style. Now, we talked about some of the types of drinks in the last section, but really this is about how the coffee is prepared. Now, most of those drinks that we talked about are going to be espresso drinks. So they're going to be coming through an espresso machine that steamed milk and the foam is usually going to be coming from that machine as well. But if you're dealing with drip coffees or coffees that you may prepare at home, some of these other brewing styles are going to be a lot more available to you and you're probably more likely to try them out. So the first one will start off with is a pour over. Now, this happens to be the style of coffee that I drink the most often. It's usually what I make at home, and this is a very simple mechanism of that. You're going to grind some coffee up, you're going to put it into a cone filter and you're going to just pour water over it to try to get that extraction coming through. It's really more about timing and then the amount of weight and the ratio between the coffee grinds and the water. But it can make for a very nice palate in terms of the flavor that comes through. Another very popular one for at home use would be a pressing method, and there's usually two very popular styles on these. One is, of course, the French press, which has been around for ever. If you've ever had one of those Bodum French presses, you've probably tried this out. And this is a very simple glass vessel, typically. And you're going to then have a filter which is put up onto the top. It usually has some rings along the side, certainly on the Bodum ones it does and your grinds will go down at the bottom and then you'll pour in your water, let it seep for a little bit, and then you'll effectively push this plunger down, which provides a filter over that. And then you can pour the coffee out. And now the coffee grinds, of course, are going to be restrained by that filter into there. This type of method usually requires a little bit of a coarser grain because that's really going to be an immersion. The coffee is sitting in there for a long period of time, even when you're serving it. So you don't want to have that rapid of an extraction as you would have with smaller grind size. And the other press method is the aeropress. Now, of course, the Aeropress is a very, very, very popular brewing method. You can get these for less than $50 very easily most anywhere. what an aeropress is is it's similar in concept to a French press insofar as that you're going to push a plunger down on top of the coffee beans. The distinction is that the filter is not part of the plunger. It's actually underneath it and then you're pushing through to force the coffee. into your vessel that's lying below it. this kind of makes it almost like an espresso in that there is a little bit of pressure because it is a pretty tight seal into it. But it's nowhere near the nine bars that you're going to get in an espresso. But it does create another unique flavor profile and brewing method that you might want to try. And again, as I said, these are less than $50, so it's probably a good one to try out. Now, another one that you can do and this is actually pretty popular at home as well, and it's becoming very, very popular in coffee shops is a cold brew. Now, most of the beverages that we've talked about thus far have been what's typically called a hot brew. In a hot brew is really fundamentally that you're going to use hot water in your coffee grinds to brew the coffee. And this heat helps to accelerate the chemical processes that actually extract the coffee flavor into the water. cold brew, on the other hand, is literally, as it sounds, it's using typically cold or at least room temperature, water, and then having an extraction that's not measured in minutes, but measured in many hours. The real benefit of a cold brew versus a hot brew is that by extending the brewing time and by using a colder water as opposed to the hot water, is that you tend to get less of the sharper flavors that you're going to get in a hot brew. So it tends to most people, will refer to a cold brew as being a very smooth flavor. And this is something that can be really, really enjoyable. We actually have an article on the tank at coffee website describing cold brew coffee maker that we use, which is an Oxo. And of course, the last one is kind of where most of the drinks that we talked about in the previous previous section is, which is espresso. And as I said, espresso fundamentally uses a machine that can generate nine bars of pressure. So it's a combination of the heat and the pressure forcing through the puck, which is very finely ground coffee It creates a very intense flavor. And this is why a lot of the drinks are usually offset with a bit of milk to maybe soften and give a little bit of a creamier texture. But espresso by itself can be a very wonderful, delicious drink as well. If you're doing it at home, you do need more specialized equipment for it. So they will be a little bit more costly than some of the other brewing methods. But would love to hear from you. What what's your favorite way for brewing coffee? And is it the same way that you like when you go to a coffee shop versus what you brew at home? Text the show through the link in the show notes now another way to know that you are a true coffee lover is that you have a few favorite coffee shops that you may go to regularly. And these may be independent coffee shops that are maybe within your area. And usually each of them will have their own signature drink. There's some drink that really is specialized for that particular place. Maybe it's even its own concoction rather than just being, oh, we're really good at a cold brew or really good at cortado. often most coffee shops will also use different roasters for their beans, and the roast does have an impact onto the flavor. So you might have a particular roaster that you prefer and you'll try that out from a particular coffee shop. Or maybe you'll do a few different ones that you like, but I'd love to know what you think. What is your favorite coffee shop? Is it one that we've featured on Tank of Coffee? Text the show through the link in the show notes and we'll share your feedback in a future episode. Now, you have to be careful because it's very possible. And if you love coffee as much as many of us do, you could develop a caffeine addiction. And there's a couple of signs that you may want to just keep an eye out for and see. Maybe you're having a little too much coffee each day and this could be affecting you. And starting to create that need for the coffee rather than an enjoyment of the coffee. So the first one is, have you ever gotten a headache if you miss out on your morning brew? This may be an indication that your body physiologically is now requiring you to have that caffeine each day and it's then causing a physical reaction or a response to that lack of caffeine in the morning. So be very careful if you're finding that you're having headaches. You could also be quite irritable before your first cup of coffee. And again, it's that same thing. It's almost like a withdrawal that is causing you to have a emotional reaction this time to that lack of caffeine. many people who use coffee because they feel that it helps them to actually be more focused may disagree with this, but you can actually become distracted easily if you don't have coffee. And this is a little bit of that same sort of aspect of that addiction is causing your mind to wander a little bit without that caffeine. And this leads into another sign that's a really big warning sign for it, is that if you need more coffee each day just to have the same level of fix. So you may want to be very careful about seeing if you're getting to that type of a level where you're beyond just enjoying coffee, but more getting into this addiction. So I'd love to know what you think. Do you think that you're more of a coffee lover or have you gotten so comfortable with drinking coffee in such volumes that you're really more addicted to caffeine? And if so, what do you do to address it? What what's your go to? Love to hear from you. Text the link in the show notes and we'll share your feedback in a future episode. So let's wrap up. We've we've talked about a few different aspects to sort of really figure out if you are a coffee lover or even possibly going beyond that. We talked about various beans. What might be your favorite type of bean? Is there a particular variety that you're really interested in? We talked about a number of the different types of coffee drinks that are available. Most of these being espresso based drinks, of course. or have you not sampled all of them? I'd actually encourage everyone to try out each one because there may be something that you've not tried before that might be one that you really enjoy. We also talked about few of the brewing styles in particular for drip coffee as opposed to espresso coffee. Even many of these you can do at home. And of course, we talked about when you've maybe gone beyond being a coffee lover to being a caffeine addict and some of the warning signs that you might want to look out for. So I hope this episode was helpful. And maybe you got a chance to figure out some new drinks that you want to try out or some new brewing styles. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you the next time.