It’s like an epidemic. I’ve tried like 4-5 cafes now and it’s all like drinking battery acid. Do they just not care? Or do you think they believe it’s meant to be like this? If that’s the case I feel bad for them.
Hard disagree. What I can’t stand is burnt coffee, and lighter roasts provide more acidity and IMHO more complexity than just “burnt.”
I’m the reason all your coffee is acidic! Mwahahaha! It’s all me!
there’s a difference between “light roast acidity” and “horribly under extracted lemon juice acidity”
Acidity might have its place in an Americano or dairy drink, where it’s diluted down. But in an espresso shot, or worse yet, a ristretto? Hard pass. If I want to put something in my mouth that shrivels my intestines and makes my butthole pucker up, I might as well munch on a lemon. Fully on board with @CodingCarpenter@lemm.ee here.
I get more flavor from lighter roasts and higher acidity. It tastes like coffee. Darker roasts, all I taste is burnt, bitter coffee.
What do you think of Starbucks coffee?
Same, all of those third wave specialty hypetrain shops serve unpalatable crap. It’s acceptable in a dairy drink as they mellow down the flavors, but that’s not what I think “special” should imply.
You know where you get a decent espresso? Some Italian ice cream parlor. And they didn’t inflate the prices as much either, since it’s not their core product.
I’m a roaster. Part of it is that people put so much importance into making coffee with freshly roasted beans. when you roast beans they give off co2. Ideally you want to let the beans sit for a day or 2 to degas. It’s the same reason seltzer water has an acidic taste, it’s full of co2
That’s part of it. The other part, however, is more neglect than anything else. They dial in their grinder for the first batch, and that’s it. Never again. That’s fine for that batch and, sometimes the next, but it starts losing calibration after a while. Add that to the fact that each batch needs to be dialed in for pique flavor, and you get crappy, often times acidic or sour, pulls.
It also helps to dial in the espresso machine which a lot of places never do or they have a machine that is fully automatic
Agreed completely. And staff training. Baristas are skilled artists, and should be treated and trained [and paid] as such.
Edit in brackets
Find an Italian place. Or an old mom and pop shop. Or you can always lick some of the burnt tires that you find along the highway if you really miss the taste of that robusta shot. /s
To each their own. No need to crap on what other people like.
For almost ten years now I’ve been encountering lots of drip coffee with some kind of “rotten” flavor note to it.
It’s vaguely like hops in a way. A funky note, similar (experientially; I understand it doesn’t come from the same process or ingredients) to what a wheat beer has that other beers don’t.
Anyone else know what I’m referring to?
It’s the fermentation process. You’ll find it more in natural processed coffees or honey processed. Even more so with anaerobic fermentation or yeast based fermentation.
What you’re looking for is washed coffee, or commodity coffee with no mention of the processing. Or dark roasts, as the taste of heavily roasted coffee will negate a lot of the taste that is inherent to the bean and the processing. A bit like a well-done steak.
