I'm an old Grammy that didn't even start drinking coffee till I was in my 40's. And not seriously till I retired. I'm still learning what I like and enjoy learning all the coffee buzz words that help me describe what I'm tasting. Your videos are informative and entertaining too. I like your humor.
I'm a data scientist. James, you've done a fantastic job of presenting your results in a practical and insightful way. The edits were really slick and not distracting, and you managed to inject a good amount of your personal interpretation. Truly a fantastic use of this channel's knowledge and reach.
I totally agree. This is a gold standard example analysis and presentation of a complex and rich dataset. The level of detail, intelligence, insight and understanding described while keeping our attention and interest throughout the presentation should be shared with all who use, analyse and present data for a living. Well done @jameshoffmann and team!
I'm not actually too surprised that the people with proper coffee setups at home drink less coffee. The reason I got myself an espresso setup is actually to reduce how much coffee I drink, to appreciate it more, to enjoy the labours of my work.
Correct. Then there's the fact that I'd rather not drink coffee than low-quality coffee. So drinking coffee out is often out of the question. Nevertheless, I now spend significantly more money on 2 cups of coffee and 1 Espresso a day than I did in my dark ages :-D
Same I have a hand pump espresso machine. I only have a double shot a day. Everything is hand done from grinding to extraction to steaming the milk. I find the process to be very relaxing but since it's so hands on and takes time I only do it once a day.
Was about to say something so similar. The more specialty you get with brew method effects everything. A rather ubiquitous v60 recipe and setup is for 500ml of coffee. Perfect.
Same for me. When I used my old bean to cup machine I had around 4 cups a day. Now with my espresso setup it is more like 1-2 a day. I drink with much more attention on the coffee instead of jugging it down
An over-70 here. Yes, in ancient times, most of the "good" coffee we could buy was dark roast, either from a handful of specialty roasters (like Graffeo in San Francisco) or canned from Italy. "Ethically sourced" was never talked about. Peets and Starbucks were revolutionary concepts, and considered back then to be generous employers. Things have changed. Incidentally I have a 50 year old espresso machine that still pumps out a decent cup of coffee.
In really ancient times, America's original "premium" coffee brands were A&P and Folgers. One of the two invented vacuum cans; their coffees were truly a step up in consistency, 'freshness' and having less debris in the product. A how times change. (Coffeeland by Augustine Sedgewick is a fascinating and depressing read)
I'm 69. I didn't start drinking coffee until my mid 40s. That's because good coffee was almost unobtainable in the US before that. The first time I experienced good coffee was on a trip to Italy in 1980. Back in the US even in the most expensive restaurants the coffee was undrinkable. The only place I could find something that was acceptable was in a reputed mafia hangout in the North End of Boston. It wasn't until the end of the nineties that you could get a decent cup of coffee on a wide basis. As a result my coffee preferences were only formed in my middle age, not in my youth. My preference before that was not to drink coffee except on very rare occasions.
This is part of the reason why I really respect James. He broke down all data to be easily digestible, and he's thoroughly transparent about where he feels there could have been improvements for higher degrees of accuracy or attaining more information. Loads of integrity, very personable, very passionate. It's people like him that can singlehandedly increase the enthusiasm and interest in any craft or hobby. The world needs more people like this in every field. You're a shining gem in a world that can often be quite dark. I hope to shake your hand and say thank you someday. Cheers to you, James.
Agreed! The Data Nerd in my would to see how this compares to Europe, and other countries, too! (and if there's a Canadian or a North American version, I'd love to be in this myself too!)
Agreed, but I feel we would need to get the exact same stuff then the US had, to make it best comparison, so that already is not possible I think. @@SarahDawnsDesigns
Yup, I want to see the difference between different European states, are the brits weirder about their coffee tastes than the Belgians for example? (loved the coffee I had in Belgium)
There already are 900 comments so I'm not sure this will get seen BUT…there is one very very impactful detail about the tasting that we didn't talk about. Most of us drink our coffee above 175°F/80C. By the time I went through the four cups for the final time and adjusted my preferences the temps were close to room temperature. In addition all four of these coffees changed dramatically in character as they cooled. I'm certain the cool temps affected my final choices.
Geez, how do you people drink coffee (or anything) that hot?! Although, it kinda makes sense to me now why I have to let my coffee sit for 30-40 minutes, or else put a few ice cubes in it, whenever I order one from virtually anywhere.
@@doomtho42optimal drinking temp for most people is around 130~ F but brew temp for most coffee is between 190-200~ F. Even really cold running machines like a kurig brew at around 180~ so 175 isn’t necessarily the drinking temp, at best it’s a sipping temperature. The temperature levels drastically change flavor though so trying to maintain what I’ve found to be my preference for temperature (140~) also seems to correlate with what I think tastes best.
Data aside, I have to say this was so much fun. I had my whole family on a video chat trying coffees together. They cracked up at James' slurping, and all of them enjoyed talking about their preferences between each coffee. It was lovely to share the experience with them. Thanks James!
The age differences are the most interesting to me. I have a mom who's been a professional cook and LOVES intense and polarizing food flavors, but she's very traditional with coffee flavors. Part of me wonders if there's something psychological about coffee, where it's a kind of comfort drink. It's like the mom's cooking of food and drink. If you grew up on a certain kind, nothing else compares.
There's definitely some selection as kinda implied by James - when you are young and try coffee for the first few times you either decide you "like coffee" or "dislike coffee" and thus you aren't really a coffee drinker, and you probably never try it again. So when dark roasted coffees of not very interesting flavor were the only coffees available you would logically only get coffee drinkers who like that dark coffee.
I definitely think so. I'm only in my 20s, but I grew up (12-18ish) drinking instant only - that very traditional coffee taste. I now have a proper coffee set up and love trying out new things, but sometimes will still drink that old tin of instant in the back of my cupboard for nostalgia and comfort reasons. I imagine that as someone who is older and having drunk only instant for 30+ years, it would be difficult to gravitate away from that?
No he isn't. This is deeply unrepresentative, so not particularly useful unless you're marketing to the soft-touch "I want to be an expert and will throw money" millennial-white-American-man market.
Title, abstract, intro, detailed sections, conclusion, and future directions. Take a moment to appreciate how James is reinventing traditional research papers in a fun and lighthearted way via the video medium! For all I know, soon enough there will be peer review from other UA-camrs 😂
Peer review by UA-camrs exists as back and forth response videos in some fields. It's cool to see, though I mostly see it in midieval weapons channels.
We're coming into a new age ladies and gentlemen. I for one look forward to the more distributed, as opposed to heavily centralized, ways that almost everything could be done.
And perhaps most importantly, open access data! Removing paywalls and allowing anyone to apply their own statistical methods and interpretation is not something often seen in the current academic research world. It's more about the data and insights here than paper-pushing and fighting for authorship.
I'm in the >65 group, and have a strong preference for washed light roasts. I know exactly why, too. My parents, like most of their generation drank either semi-burnt percolator coffee or instant, and I hated both. I was sure coffee was not for me at all ... until I had a sample of a light roasted specialty coffee in an import store. It wasn't the best (this was the late 1970s), but I saw possibilities. Most of my life I drank generic "medium roast" pour over, ground in a blade grinder at home, with occasional good cups at third wave cafes. During the pandemic, I decided to improve my coffee game - burr grinder, weighing everything, and improving my pouring method. Now, I can indulge my preference for light, washed coffee. I actually make better than most cafe's batch brews.
I think a lot of coffee people have taste perception biases. They gaslight themselves into tasting blueberry and burgamot just because it’s on the bag even though they’re really tasting green pepper and oregano. Before I started roasting, I found a lot of naturals labeled ‘bright blueberry and orange sweetness’ actually just tasted of funk, and now that I do roast, I can identify the reality that the funkiness was not the coffee’s fault but really just that roasters were roasting these types of coffee poorly- typically too fast and uneven or underdeveloped altogether. I think people who don’t like naturals might just not like their local roaster 😂
I find that for expensive coffee like Geisha, natural is almost not worth it. They are all about subtle aroma, almost tea-like. Natural Geisha doesn’t quite hit the spot like washed, that I agree. However, for more common single origins, I would grab natural as much as possible. Less impressive terroirs can make their coffee so much more fun with a bit of fermentation magic. Every bag is an adventure. For espresso it might be a nightmare dialling in every few week, but for immersion it’s just much more fun to buy natural.
As a member of that older demographic, someone who was of the "darker and stronger the better" clan for many many years and just started getting into coffee a few years ago, I was an almost immediate adopter of light roasts. Perhaps not everyone is the same, but I sure came to appreciate the unique flavors of these lighter roasts and fermented coffees.
It’s very surprising that B is roasted medium, since it tasted super smoky to me. I thought I was drinking a diner’s meal in a cup, I legit put down “bacon” as one of my tasting notes
@@kjdude8765 I wonder if it was barrel-aged? That might explain the smokiness. Granted, I haven’t tried barrel-aged coffee before, so it’s just a guess
He said there isn't much agreement between the use of 'medium' and 'dark' right now, but I'm wondering if it legitimately differs in Europe compared to America. I can't think of any restaurant or regular retailer in North America who would call this medium.
The shift in preference at 9/10 makes sense, it's a lot like in beer. Brewers LOVE clean, simple, Pilsner-y/lager beers. It's often about how hard it is to do those styles well. I'd imagine some of that also has to do with light roasts. Expertise breeds appreciation of the width of opportunity.
Was about to come say the same. I went through the common journey with my beer preferences, with my appreciation of funky yeast-forward beers growing with experience. It wasn't until I started brewing that revisited cleaner styles with a new found interest and respect.
11:48 I also think that your self described level of expertise affects your idea of what you "should" like. As you learn more and get immersed in the culture of coffee or beer, you're influenced by the ideas that light roast and cool fermentations are "better" until you reach a certain zenith and can appreciate both the craftsmanship behind other styles, and your own preferences more
This resonates with me. I'm 65. I grew up with dark roast coffee. As I've got more and more into brewing and roasting coffee, I've come to appreciate light roasts more and more, and all the different flavours that it offers.
Given the sample size, the difference between self rated experts at 8, 9 and 10 is very unlikely to be statistically significant. Obviously I don't have the numbers to do the maths, but given how few people rated themselves at 9 and 10, and how close their taste ratings are to the people who rated themselves an 8, I doubt it statistically significant.
I wish we could correlate the coffee preference with a preferred beverage like beer, wine, cocktails, soda, etc. I know as I have gone through my journey of discovery of these things, I have gone from enjoying a specific taste and more towards enjoying the complexity and the same has been true with my coffee experience
I may have gotten a different batch or my perception could just be off, but regarding the roast levels, coffee B tasted much more bitter and ashy than coffee C (this was the consensus in my household), so I am not surprised that self-reported medium roast drinkers preferred C and dark roast drinkers preferred B. This tasting was a blast though James, thanks for putting this together!
i'm glad i'm not the only one who called coffee B ashy. there was something really off about it to me. coffee C almost had the same ash flavor, but it was way better developed, more like smoked wood than a dead campfire
There seem to be quite a few people commenting on that specifically. This legimitely feels like there has been a mistake or that coffee B was very uncharacteristic of a "normal" medium roast. I hope there'll be a taste contest in Europe in the near future so that I'll also be able to participate
I felt the exact same. B was much more what I would expect in a dark roasted coffee and C was more of what I would expect in a medium. Most surprising part of the test for me.
I love your hypothesis about why different demographics prefer/lean towards different types of coffee. I am 36, but started drinking coffee before I was 10 (it's a family thing lol)... I love to try new types of coffees and different brewing methods, but there is just something so comforting about standard Folgers Classic Roast in a drip machine LOL But that's exactly what we drank as a family during family gatherings...
I would certainly echo this - I'm 35, but I started my coffee drinking young as well, though in France rather than the US. Although I love exploring surprising new coffee flavours with disparate brewing methods (my girlfriend is always wondering why the cupboard has 7 or 8 different coffee brewing methods in it - and why I want X new one), my daily driver is a relatively medium-dark speciality roast. And when I am visiting my parents in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the coffee I drink, the coffee that makes me feel 'home' is a classic dark french style roast from a cafetiere. As you say, it's just comforting.
This taste test reminded me that I like brew methods that produce less acidity in the coffee, Cometeer method had a lot more acidity than I was expecting overall. I usually go for medium roasts but the dark roast Cometeers were my favorite. So different brew methods produce different roast styles for me. Overall very fun experience.
I have to say C was definitely one of the best "dark roasts" I've had, as a preferrer of light roasts. I have always associated dark roasts with overwhelmingly ashy/earthy flavors, and I didn't get that from C. It made me want to expirement more with dark roasts!
In regards to the medium and dark roasts, I think one piece that is difficult to account for is clarity. These coffees were really clear and crisp in their flavors, which is a far cry from the 'standard' drip coffee that many of us grew up with. A crisp dark roast like coffee C felt much more palatable and quite different than a cup from a diner or other mass brewed coffee, even though they would both be considered dark roast
I rated myself in the 6/7 range on “expertise” and really enjoy fruit/fermenty coffee, and D was far and away my favorite. My roommate, same demographic and everything, is much more of a “big bag of Starbucks French roast into the French press” and he thought D tasted like “spoiled milk”. To each their own!
I don’t know about other people, but i would love to try this out since i couldn’t join the live stream! Maybe another release?? Would be interesting to see how the household falls compared to this data.
Really appreciate the hard work! The people doing the logistics and number crunching don't always get to hear the praise. So, from me to you - thank you. This was very insightful, and I love that this could even happen!
The preferences by expertise level part was super interesting to me as I'm at least equally if not more into craft beer than specialty coffee. There seems to be a huge correlation as people who were just getting into craft beer also tend to like very expressive modern beer styles (such as New England IPAs, Fruited Sours or Imperial Stouts) and most of the highly experienced beer drinkers tend to come around at some point to prefer well made examples of classic beer styles (such as German lager styles or British ale styles) again.
@@MKSJM1 nothing gets me more excited than this "analysis" of society. As someone who does not drink beer but knows that BW is a big part of american culture (like Coke and Pepsi) I find these datasets fascinating.
Re: dark/light preference, I think you're 100% spot on. I grew up with not just dark roasts, but burned percolated 'church coffee'. Or 'who cares' diner coffee burning for an hour on a BUNN hotplate. The first time I dipped my toes into that Light Roast pool, I was ordering from The Barn Berlin, and I found I wasn't finishing each bag of beans, I just couldn't get past that light roast taste. I've since watch enough James Hoffman to get used to that 60gr/L recipe, did my own experimentation, and have migrated over to the light roast no milk camp.
As a scientist, I love data and this video has me absolutely buzzing! I am interested if all the differences mentioned are statistically significant or if you are only trying to identify loose trends? Thank you for all the effort to make this possible, it is incredibly exciting for me as a research participant and coffee hobbyist!
I can only imagine that statistically, many of the larger differences must have been significant - working with 4000 cases, you'd have lots of statistical power. Whether or not the differences are meaningful at the population level, however, is a different question. E.g., based on that data, would a large (or small) roastery make significant enough more profit by segmenting their product more and/or spending more on targeted advertising to different target consumers?
@@CJski such an impeccably and masterfully delivered rebuke. Succinct and to the point. My imagination has taken note of your position on the matter, and it will therefore forthwith desist with it's fanciful musings about Ns, statistical power, and their implications regarding analysis of variance.
@@CJskisome of the differences are probably statistically significant. E.g. the gender split on tastes will surely be statistically significant given the 4000 people sample size. The story he went into about people rating themselves 9 or 10 being different from people rating themselves an 8, I doubt it, eye balling the graph and the number of people who rated themselves a 9 or 10, I think it's highly unlikely that it's statistically significant. Not to mention needing to do some correction for multiple hypothesis testing. But obviously none of us have the data to do the maths
The point about fermented coffee preference and coffee experience is something I have definitely experienced in my own coffee journey, so I had a similar reaction as you did looking at this data! I can remember times where I would say that washed coffees just always felt very similar and sometimes a bit boring compared to naturals, but as I continued to drink more and more coffee, I found that naturals were becoming more muddy to me, and felt myself feeling a growing appreciation for the sometimes stunning clarity of flavor ans structure in a well-made cup of pour over coming from a high quality washed coffee.
Same. I've enjoyed the rollercoaster of funky tasting coffees for a while, but I've recently settled back to a more conventional selection now. Less variation and happier guests.
I really appreciate you making the data available. Already thinking of some exploratory analyses I'd like to conduct on it. However, that'll have to wait until my PhD is submitted 😅 but I will share this dataset with my students. Will be a great educational resource
Maybe this is interesting for you: I roast coffee beans myself and I basically studied many videos (including yours) about how to properly brew coffee of different roasts. I always loved your dedication to the topic. Now the fun thing... I barely drink any coffee, sometimes I even get adverse reactions depending on the bean. I'm doing all of this because my wife loves coffee and I wanted to open up a new culinary world for her to enjoy, since she used to drink so much solvable coffee when she still was in university studying. I just simply think she deserves better than that and I want to put a little "craftmanship" into it to make it something a little more special than store bought.
i'm surprised the aeropress wasn't represented in the demo split, maybe those people chose french press. from what i've read and experienced, limiting it to one cup a day reduces all of the negative side effects of coffee, so i'm not surprised 2 and 1 were the most popular. besides, there's tea!
2 cups of coffee, 16 oz final yield, or 2 standard cylindrical mug's worth 22 oz. At a 14:1 ratio that's over 1.5 oz of coffee beans. That's a heavy user.
@@paulblichmann2791 i do 1-2, 12g-200g brews a day. cant even deal with the caffiene extracted from a 15 or 18 or 20g brew. 2 cups of that and I'll be like A-train on Compound V
I am heavily invested in espresso equipment with multiple machines and grinders and I drink 2 per day so I fit right in with what surprised you 5:50 I do, however, offer to make espresso for friends and neighbors etc. so I pull more than 2 per day. I just find 2 per day is what I can drink without getting negative effects (I'm 70 ish)
Congrats, this was very nicely put together. All the graphs were meaningful and instantly understandable along with the explanations. You really put the science into coffee. Thanks for the huge work that went into this test/presentation.
54 here and just discovered natural and honey processed coffees about 5 years ago. I've never liked dark coffee and love the brighter and funkier flavors of natural/honey processed.
I enjoyed A and D equally, but ultimately chose A as my "favorite" because it would be a better daily drinker. TLDR: makes sense it was more polarizing.
Absolutely love how you scienced the shit out of this, thank you so much James and everyone involved! Maybe you could increase the representativeness of the sample in a future study by distributing two sample kits and asking participants to invite one friend/relative etc. That is not into specialty coffee / does not know your channel to join the taste test.
I agree. For this audience, maybe the choices could have been: 4-12 ounces; 13- 20; 21-28; >28. Something like that. Maybe I'll do that whenever I do a coffee survey 🙂
I used to drink a pot a day(ish) when I was using a cheap coffee pot and ground coffees. When I switched to a moka pot, a grinder, and whole bean coffee, I dropped to exactly 2 cups a day:)
I hated how he said coffee B was the most popular one when it looked like it was 26% and C was 25% so it did not look like a significant difference to draw conlusions on
Hi James! Thank you so much for walking through this dataset. I loved learning about coffee consumption in this test and people's preferences. I was running the dataset to try to replicate some of these results and didn't get the same results for Coffee D by Age Group. I had way fewer < 18 and 18-24 year olds than you had shown. Let me know if there's a link to this calculation I can reference.
The distribution of coffee prep surprised me as well - Am I missing something, or was there no choice for Drip Brewer? Did the pour over number get inflated by drip brewers? I
I looked at the raw data and drip coffee was definitely a popular enough response had just under the amount of responders as French press and more than pods and cold brew and the rest. It's kind of odd to me that it was omitted completely from the video since it's such an American staple.
Man, you should definitely launch a new series where you try coffee from well-known roasteries from different countries all around the world, that would be awesome
@@ursidaegames7605 Then someone else should do it. Good business idea and sounds like fun. There were little whiskey kits and chocolate kits like this making the rounds for Christmas a few years back. I bet it would be a fun gimmick gift for some and genuine fun for gourmet lovers & coffee lovers.
@@verity3616 for many years I had a subscription with Craft Coffee and they would send three small bags from roasters around the US. I enjoyed it a lot and it helped me find some favorites. Now I have subscriptions with some of those who make coffee consistent to my preference e.g. Camber and Black Oak.
I'm certainly not a 10 on the coffee experience scale yet, but I can relate to the experience you describe, of going from normal coffee to funky and fermented coffees, before reverting back to something a bit more conventional (and less likely to upset the guests).
Have a lot of takeaways from the results, but the biggest one might be that opting for a Kenya as the light roasted washed option could have skewed the results a bit. Kenyan coffees can be just as divisive as natural coffees as some people are put-off by the high acidity and, often, savory aspects to those coffees. I do believe we would have seen significantly different results if you picked a lighter profiled Central or South American coffee (maybe even an Ethiopian) instead.
I loveee Kenyan coffee. Kenyan coffee and certain Indonesian ones are my favourite. I love it when you got a coffee that isn't afraid to bite you, and leaves a very long lasting aftertaste.
Did you break down coffee preferences by regions in the United States? Such as northeast vs mid Atlantic vs southeast Midwest deep south, southwest northwest? I think it would be interesting to see if for example colder regions prefer more chocolate roasted flavors or lighter fruity citrus flavors.
I love this video Not only the fact that an entertainer (if you'll excuse me calling you that) is making videos that have actual value to the community But the fact that you put the statistics front and center - let people know how exciting and useful even the more "dull" practices (statistical analysis in this case) can be!
I am really surprised that Moka pot brewing still hasn’t got a real place in the US - considering how popular it is in parts of Europe, but also e.g. in Cuba
The miracle of the Moka Pot is resource conservation- it produces excellent results from as little material, supplies, and btu as possible. Not a pressing concern here in the land of excess!
This data is SO fascinating. Thank you for collecting and sharing this out, James & Team. Thank you Cometeer for the work behind this. And a BIG hats off to everyone who participated. Super cool!!!
I’m in school for data analysis right now and I’m so glad to see you guys doing a good job with this. I’ve taken pretty extensive coursework on survey methodology and y’all seem to be sticking to general best practices on survey communication (not out kicking your coverage on CI’s for small samples, recognizing the non-randomness of your sample, avoiding sweeping generalizations). I’d be very interested in taking a look at your analysis methodology and your weighting/adjustments, but overall this is good work!
regarding coffee d, it is really interesting, and it also reflects my experience, the chain I used to work at has two single region beans from the same region, one washed and one natural, the washed bean is the one we recommend to new customers, and the natural one we only recommend if the customer has asked for something different.
Goodness yes! I started drinking coffee forty years ago with Peet’s French roast and Italian roast. That’s as dark as I’ve ever had. And it was my go to bean. But as I’ve aged I’ve started exploring lighter roasts. And enjoying them black. That dark and smoky coffee needed cream and sugar to balance the smoke 😊
It’s interesting, when I first got really into beer I started seeking out the funkiest and heaviest brews. Now I only want a session ale with a balanced fresh hop flavor. I got first into powerful wines, then funky natural wines, now I just want a balanced old world wine that’s good with dinner. That doesn’t mean I’ve mellowed, I think I’m more particular about quality than ever. But there’s a sweet spot of flavor and intensity that just feels right.
This is so interesting. Thank you James! I’m a senior grammy and have always loved coffee. As I’ve aged, my tolerance of caffeine has changed. I used to be able to take a cup to bed (thinking it would keep me awake long enough to read a bit) and fall asleep before I finished. The convenience of drip makers made work life simple. Now, I do prefer dark roasts for the lower acidity. My daily preparation preference is Moka pot (2nd choice French press) and I treat myself to a small batch subscription of world coffees, delivered monthly from Peet’s. I don’t so much notice a smoky flavor to dark roast as a deeper coffee flavor. I love your work here. Much appreciated!
Fascinating video, couple questions about methodology that might have affected the findings. Was Drip Brewer a response option in the survey? I suspect that's the reason pour over represents such a large share. Also curious about the order the questions were asked in, I think if and in the order presented in the video you might have primed respondents to choose D because it's the odd one out from A,B,C which were asked about earlier. If that was the first question asked then this is less of a concern.
I looked at the raw data and drip coffee was definitely a popular enough response had just under the amount of responders as French press and more than pods and cold brew and the rest. It's kind of odd to me that it was omitted completely from the video since it's such an American staple.
I started tasting (not drinking) coffee when I managed a coffee shop. I grew to love light roasts, especially Costa Rica and Kenya. The fermented La Minita Peaberry was an experience, but I think having limited quantities available seasonally was a good idea. It is kinda like a desert coffee. Tastes great, but don't have it every day for breakfast!
Interesting observation, and I have not looked at the .CSV file to figure if people can give multiple answers to questions, but the percentages at 5.15 add up to 107,72%. Edit: Having seen more of the statistics (eg. the next one), it seems people can definitely give multiple answers. It still seem odd that they weren't weighted in some way for the previous question.
Back in my 20s, two shops locked in my coffee palate, both in North Carolina: Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville and BeansTalk in Boone. They always had great beans and brewed a consistently, delightfully earthy cup. Malaprop's is still with us, BeansTalk sadly left us twenty years ago.
It would be interesting to do more of a lottery style audience selection next time, after collecting demographics. The demographics could be used in aggregate to select a more representative population.
James mentioned the gender skew, but I would say the most obvious skew here is the fact that the vast majority of respondents are serious coffee enthusiasts--5 percenters. As expected since they are reached by this channel and evidenced by the majority of them using pour over as their primary system.
Hello James, I'm almost 77, in Ca and have been drinking coffee since I was around 8, give or take. I remember about 1980 ish, I really started upping my game with cheap espresso makers and buying more expensive coffees, and short lived flavored coffees. Then about 16 years ago I started roasting my own, with a friend, and have only sampled coffees outside my own roasting about a few dozen times. I purchased a Rancillio Silvia, with PID, and a Baratza Vario, which really upped the game once again. Miss Silvia died not long ago and I have been eyeing an ECM Synchronika as my next machine. I usually don't drink more than 2 cups a day, but really value a great tasting cup. My usual cup is a Cappuccino. I would rate myself as a 9+, but maybe not a 10 because I don't know everything about coffee. As you may suspect, I enjoy cooking, as well, and wish that sometime in the past I could have attended some culinary classes. I really enjoy your videos & would love to have a conversation with you.
a test of most healthy coffee would be great, what kind of coffee beans, what kind of wash, roast, and brew and storing ,which is most healthy and what compounds released with what temperature, by the way great book loved it in my collection
From America: I use a BonaVita pour-over machine most of the time for morning coffee, and use the included carafe. One of the best things about the machine is that it brews at the correct temperature.....and.... my mom's old Chemex pot fits perfectly inside the machine. Two pour-overs in one. Enjoy your videos, thanks. Carter
I'm so impressed! You were *really* doing Science. The NIH, FDA, CDC, and most university science departments could learn a lot from your unbiased system of hypotheses and tests.
I'm an American and before watching your channel I didn't even know what a natural coffee was... about 3 years ago I saw a video of yours explaining naturals and sought out the funkiest think I could find at a local roaster. The first cup was a bit much for my nose and taste-buds... but by my 3rd or 4th cup from that bag, I was hooked. The fruity red wine and sour cherry flavors that bag had just completely sold me on that experience. Now I almost exclusively buy funky, fruity beans for my 1-2 cups of coffee per day.
This is like the craft beer world, taste changed, palate change. We train our palate to identify what gives us the most dopamine. When new experiences come out the body love or hate them and chases that rush. When the rush gets boring we go back to what still brings the most joy. Like James touched on familiarity plays a large role, why so many love childhood meals.
I'm someone who has invested a fair bit into my coffee equipment (No home espresso machine...yet) and am willing to spend more to get high-quality and specialty beans, but also don't actually drink coffee that often. But its something I do enjoy and when I do experiences it, I want it to be the best experience possible. The people I know that drink a lot of coffee however mostly drink it for the caffeine kick and mostly drink pre-ground mass-market coffee from a drip machine.
Interesting finings James. I also have this experience, that great coffee gear at home does not mean we're heavy drinkers. I'm from EU and I drink 1-2 coffee a day. Ideally at home.
As a mathematician I just want to thank you for all the lovely graphs! Really interesting comparisons. And thanks for how many times you said the word "fruity" to give Hames something to work with
I agree with James assessment of the preferences of older coffee drinkers. I'm an older (>65) coffee drinker. I've been drinking specialty coffee for two years now. But before that I didn't drink any coffee (with rare exception when I really needed the caffeine and coffee was the available option). I've hated coffee all my life. Dark Roast coffee, whether it is mass market or top of the line specialty dark roast is for my taste, not drinkable. I can drink some medium roast coffees, depending on quality and varietal, but my preference by far is light roast or even "extra" light roast (think Tim Wendelboe roasts). I can offer coffee I make from high quality roasters to my friends, but most either don't like it at all, or they think it is interesting but still would prefer a dark roast. In almost all cases they've been drinking dark roast all their life. Another question I have regarding the natural vs. washed result. How valid is that when only one sample of each type was tasted (i.e. in comparing coffee A to D). I like all processes, e.g. natural, washed, honey and other more exotic processes. What I "prefer" is great coffee over good coffee. I didn't participate in this taste test, but I wonder if coffee D might have been a "great" natural, and coffee A was just a decent washed coffee. I'm not going to pick a particular process over the other, it will depend on the actual coffees being compared.
Ok James. I am 54 and have explored coffee through my life and definitely do not want dark roast. I love how there is so much to explore now compared to 30 years ago.
I’ve got so many coffee brewers at home. I’ve got an espresso machine. I’ve got an Aillio Bullet for roasting. I’ve got pounds of roasted and green coffee at my house. I drink one cup a day, seldomly two. Also, I fell deeper in love with coffee because of naturals and now I can’t stand naturals. At some point they stopped tasting like berries to me and started tasting like olives or dirt. I fit your narrative.
For reference, I'm 59. I like your thinking about what we started drinking affecting our lifelong coffee preferences. I always had strong coffees from the start. I grew up in New England where coffee seemed to be medium to dark roast, especially in my childhood home. Yet my extended Midwest family usually had more coffee flavored water vs a nice dark coffee ☕.
James Hoffman is a very interesting man so I am able to listen to him on subjects that I don't find interesting. My coffee habits would likely cause coffee gourmets to cringe and avert their eyes. I've tried different grinds, machines, brewing methods, water temperature, but I always come back to my standard method (Melitta cone filter/very finely ground dark roasts) despite the learned info James offers, but I could listen to him forever. This is a very intelligent good talker so he has my attention. What a mind! Right now I'm drinking a cup of day old, dark coffee and enjoying every drop. It's so thick that, if I used cream or sugar, the best stirrer would be a dipstick. Keep up the good work, James Hoffman.
I’m 65 - coffee consumer since 1975. My tastes have changed over the years several times. I prior to 1981 - I had no access to quality coffee - percolator and Folgers. The two most gruesome combinations in existence. I spent two years in Sicily and discovered espresso and dark roasts which predominate there. Fell in love. Returned to the states to no wide spread espresso. Stayed with dark roasts - Starbucks at least brought espresso availability nationwide. In about 2007 or so I encountered lighter toast espresso in Pacific NW - and it altered my tastes - about that time V60 pour overs allowed me to get rid of coffee pots forever. Some of us evolve over time - I find that evolution proportional mainly to the amount of travel and varied experience a person accumulates in their life. I love Europe and I love Asia - great -consistent coffee and food to be experienced there. The same boomers who drink either percolated or pods (horrid invention) have quite limited food palates as well. Excuse the generalization but limited by comments section.
James' theory about why dark roast for older folks: I'm almost 60, and "grew up" drinking newsroom coffee... keep the newsies going through late nights, and early mornings breaking news. BUT I'm gettining into whiskeys now (mostly bourbons), I see a lot of similarities between tasting it, and tasting coffee... And I have yet to find a medium roast I enjoy (yes I like dark). But the citrus notes and such in med coffees that I don't enjoy, I do enjoy in bourbons.
In many regions the type of coffee and how it is prepared are cultural. For Cajuns they use a dark roast and a La Grègue. This is an old style metal (not enameled) french drip maker. Pretty much you ether get an antique one or buy one from McWare since no one else makes them anymore. The coffee it produces is somewhere between a drip maker and french press.
I think your second explanation for the age vs. roast preference is spot on. I started drinking coffee decades ago (early 1970s), and have always preferred darker roasts. And regarding coffee consumption, mine went down once I retired because I don't often feel like making another pot of coffee just for myself -- when I was working (pre-COVID) there was always a fresh pot available.
3:22 I can understand how coffee “D” was most favored. I have two ways I drink coffee. Drinking vs Sipping. For my drinking coffee, I (American) Drink ice or cold coffee. For sipping I use Hot dark coffee. My dark coffee is treated like whiskey. I sip it slowly over time. If it stays hot that is
In reference to the point you made about expecting your viewers to be heavy coffee drinkers: I actually can't take caffeine at all due to a health condition that amplifies the effects of most chemicals in my body. I had a quarter cup of caf coffee after I developed this illness, drank it at 8am, and was up to 1am with heart palpitations the entire time. I rarely drink coffee at all, and when I do it's decaf (roast me all you want, but decaf sometimes is better than never drinking coffee ever). Anyway, I like your channel because you're methodical, passionate about coffee, and really good at what you do. Even though I rarely drink coffee these days, I used to drink it once a day, and I love learning about something that so many people love to drink.
Fascinating James! I’m lucky enough to travel to different continents including the UK, South Africa and Australia. I’m always in search of a light roast, a high aftertaste, a sweet and caramel flavour and importantly, never sweetened. Sweetened coffee alters everything and it distorts the true taste. I’m in my 60’s and I drink double shot coffees with milk in the morning and a black single cortado the remainder of the day. Coffee is the best part of my day!
I think you make a valid point - personally, as a 55+ year old "experienced" coffee person I totally got on the natural processed train early on in my coffee career, probably 25 years ago, but over time have fallen away from them in favor of more tea-like coffees - washed Ethiopians for example - and cleaner, sweeter coffees. I just can't even get into the anaerobic coffee trend that seems to be peaking now. Nor can I ever go to the fish lady dark side I once embraced before discovering specialty coffee in 1992.
I came to prefer dark roast after traveling in Italy. France and Spain. that was in '67. " 68. I am now on my 6th espresso machine. LUV your UA-cam. Lived in Seattle for 34 yrs.
I have been a coffee addict for over 36 years, my own mother guilty of this addiction. Still prefer light to medium roast, usually 3 cups a day, and weekends increase usage up to 5 cups.
I'm old. 72. I've drank "coffee" all my life. Started with Folgers/Maxwell House. Then lived in France. learning espresso. Came back to the USA, disgusted with dishwater coffee. When I retired in 2014, I vowed to learn to make a good cup of coffee cheaply at home. I LOVE good espresso, but am finding light-roasted immersion-pourover hybrids to be my go-to these days. And dark Saka Neapolitan espresso. Who knows where I'll be in two years.... Thanks for doing this.
When I started drinking, it was the 70s in Israel, and was either nescafe instant, or a pot with the dark roast grounds and water boiled over whatever heat source, and you had to let it settle before drinking it. That is far from my preferences today, I much prefer a light roast made in a French press. I have not tried something like your category D, so I don't know about that.
The split in the desire for fermented flavors is mirrored in America alcohol preferences; beer is consumed by men( as is Scotch and other strongly or bold flavored beverages) while many women gravitate toward wine and sweet to neutral drinks. A broad statement, but it bares out. Pay attention this Thanksgiving.
Very interesting. I'm a 50 year old guy and since I was a teenager I've always thought I preferred very dark roasts, until a couple years ago when I tried a light roast Ethiopian Yurgacheff and now that's all I drink.
James, I’m 57 and have only been drinking coffee for 6 months. I drink primarily cold brew that I do at home and I use Peet’s dark roast. I happen to love it with only a small amount of cream and no sugar. In fact I LOVE the dark roast and look forward to my mornings. That seems to conflict with your hypothesis for older people liking dark roasts because they “grew up” on it. However, as a new drinker I haven’t really tried much else yet.
I am use to using a moka pot for coffee and my wife is a pour over. We both have found moka does well with darker roast (taste like chocolate if done well) and the pour is better with lighter roast. It is pretty cool to see your data points correlates with our coffee habits.
I wouldn’t say I drink a ton of coffee but I did invest in a nice bean to cup Phillips machine. I enjoy it. Not the best machine I’m sure based on price and what’s out there, but does a well enough job.
I'm 40, and have been drinking coffee since I was around 4 or 5, when my father taught me how to make his coffee because he was undergoing treatment for cancer. We were an unusual household coffee wise, because my father got shipments of Colombian whole bean coffee, used a Japanese made burr grinder, and a Mr. Coffee filter drip machine. That's the coffee I learned on. Diners and gas stations made up a lot of my coffee drinking in between then and now, in my teenage and college years. I've been regularly making coffee at home for the last 8-ish years, and I still gravitate toward Colombian coffees, and especially natural processed caturras. A local grocery store chain has their own store branded coffees, roasted by at least two manufacturers. I buy the House Blend, and both are labeled medium roast. One is in a more traditional plastic/foil bag, and is very dark/oily; I don't know who roasts it. The other comes in a paper exterior packaging, with roasted on dates, and is much lighter in roast compared to the other; it's roasted by Counter Culture for the grocery store.
I have two different coffee beams depending on my mood each day, I have medium roast and dark roast always kept fresh in the freezer, and I manually grind with my 1zpresso K-Max every morning using my Aeropress. I only drink one or two coffee per day, and that's it.
I'm an old Grammy that didn't even start drinking coffee till I was in my 40's. And not seriously till I retired. I'm still learning what I like and enjoy learning all the coffee buzz words that help me describe what I'm tasting. Your videos are informative and entertaining too. I like your humor.
sweeet
:D
Love it! ❤
Welcome.
welcome!!! isn't it so fun???
I'm a data scientist. James, you've done a fantastic job of presenting your results in a practical and insightful way. The edits were really slick and not distracting, and you managed to inject a good amount of your personal interpretation. Truly a fantastic use of this channel's knowledge and reach.
I totally agree. This is a gold standard example analysis and presentation of a complex and rich dataset. The level of detail, intelligence, insight and understanding described while keeping our attention and interest throughout the presentation should be shared with all who use, analyse and present data for a living. Well done @jameshoffmann and team!
I'm not actually too surprised that the people with proper coffee setups at home drink less coffee. The reason I got myself an espresso setup is actually to reduce how much coffee I drink, to appreciate it more, to enjoy the labours of my work.
Correct. Then there's the fact that I'd rather not drink coffee than low-quality coffee. So drinking coffee out is often out of the question.
Nevertheless, I now spend significantly more money on 2 cups of coffee and 1 Espresso a day than I did in my dark ages :-D
Same I have a hand pump espresso machine. I only have a double shot a day. Everything is hand done from grinding to extraction to steaming the milk. I find the process to be very relaxing but since it's so hands on and takes time I only do it once a day.
Was about to say something so similar. The more specialty you get with brew method effects everything. A rather ubiquitous v60 recipe and setup is for 500ml of coffee. Perfect.
you invest in a proper setup because you do it *every day*, not because you do it THREE times a day, lmao
Same for me. When I used my old bean to cup machine I had around 4 cups a day. Now with my espresso setup it is more like 1-2 a day. I drink with much more attention on the coffee instead of jugging it down
An over-70 here. Yes, in ancient times, most of the "good" coffee we could buy was dark roast, either from a handful of specialty roasters (like Graffeo in San Francisco) or canned from Italy. "Ethically sourced" was never talked about. Peets and Starbucks were revolutionary concepts, and considered back then to be generous employers. Things have changed. Incidentally I have a 50 year old espresso machine that still pumps out a decent cup of coffee.
In really ancient times, America's original "premium" coffee brands were A&P and Folgers. One of the two invented vacuum cans; their coffees were truly a step up in consistency, 'freshness' and having less debris in the product. A how times change. (Coffeeland by Augustine Sedgewick is a fascinating and depressing read)
I'm 69. I didn't start drinking coffee until my mid 40s. That's because good coffee was almost unobtainable in the US before that. The first time I experienced good coffee was on a trip to Italy in 1980. Back in the US even in the most expensive restaurants the coffee was undrinkable. The only place I could find something that was acceptable was in a reputed mafia hangout in the North End of Boston. It wasn't until the end of the nineties that you could get a decent cup of coffee on a wide basis. As a result my coffee preferences were only formed in my middle age, not in my youth. My preference before that was not to drink coffee except on very rare occasions.
@@jonathandagle6935 Thanks for the book recommendation!
This is part of the reason why I really respect James. He broke down all data to be easily digestible, and he's thoroughly transparent about where he feels there could have been improvements for higher degrees of accuracy or attaining more information.
Loads of integrity, very personable, very passionate. It's people like him that can singlehandedly increase the enthusiasm and interest in any craft or hobby. The world needs more people like this in every field. You're a shining gem in a world that can often be quite dark. I hope to shake your hand and say thank you someday. Cheers to you, James.
Can't disagree, quality and honesty does him well!
I barely drink coffee, but this channel is endlessly fascinating. Because discussing coffee is really discussing people.
hmmmmm
I would LOVE a Europe version! (Ofcourse to participate myself)
Agreed! The Data Nerd in my would to see how this compares to Europe, and other countries, too! (and if there's a Canadian or a North American version, I'd love to be in this myself too!)
Same here
Agreed, but I feel we would need to get the exact same stuff then the US had, to make it best comparison, so that already is not possible I think. @@SarahDawnsDesigns
@@Testperson001 True, they'd have to set it up so that people in different countries got exactly the same samples, which could be quite tricky.
Yup, I want to see the difference between different European states, are the brits weirder about their coffee tastes than the Belgians for example? (loved the coffee I had in Belgium)
There already are 900 comments so I'm not sure this will get seen BUT…there is one very very impactful detail about the tasting that we didn't talk about. Most of us drink our coffee above 175°F/80C. By the time I went through the four cups for the final time and adjusted my preferences the temps were close to room temperature. In addition all four of these coffees changed dramatically in character as they cooled. I'm certain the cool temps affected my final choices.
such an important point Daniel
I noticed this a lot too. Most of my ratings on the tasting sheet slid up or down in many different ways.
Can you tell me what coffee D was? There is a link to Cometeer, but it's not clear if the sample pack on the site contains the same coffees. Thanks!
Geez, how do you people drink coffee (or anything) that hot?! Although, it kinda makes sense to me now why I have to let my coffee sit for 30-40 minutes, or else put a few ice cubes in it, whenever I order one from virtually anywhere.
@@doomtho42optimal drinking temp for most people is around 130~ F but brew temp for most coffee is between 190-200~ F. Even really cold running machines like a kurig brew at around 180~ so 175 isn’t necessarily the drinking temp, at best it’s a sipping temperature. The temperature levels drastically change flavor though so trying to maintain what I’ve found to be my preference for temperature (140~) also seems to correlate with what I think tastes best.
As both a statistics and coffee nerd I am loving this data - also nice to see my results make me completely basic and like everyone else.
But most of us are completly basic and like everyone else - understanding that you are not special is the first step to self-discovery.
@@Aeronworbut you are more valuable than you could know. 😊
As a fellow stats nerd, also geeking out on the Stated vs Revealed preference data. Very important test to do.
@@DaveOBrien that’s the one I was most interested in too.. I pulled the data so I can mess around with analyzing it between my biostats projects!
Data aside, I have to say this was so much fun. I had my whole family on a video chat trying coffees together. They cracked up at James' slurping, and all of them enjoyed talking about their preferences between each coffee. It was lovely to share the experience with them. Thanks James!
The age differences are the most interesting to me. I have a mom who's been a professional cook and LOVES intense and polarizing food flavors, but she's very traditional with coffee flavors. Part of me wonders if there's something psychological about coffee, where it's a kind of comfort drink. It's like the mom's cooking of food and drink. If you grew up on a certain kind, nothing else compares.
There's definitely some selection as kinda implied by James - when you are young and try coffee for the first few times you either decide you "like coffee" or "dislike coffee" and thus you aren't really a coffee drinker, and you probably never try it again. So when dark roasted coffees of not very interesting flavor were the only coffees available you would logically only get coffee drinkers who like that dark coffee.
I definitely think so. I'm only in my 20s, but I grew up (12-18ish) drinking instant only - that very traditional coffee taste. I now have a proper coffee set up and love trying out new things, but sometimes will still drink that old tin of instant in the back of my cupboard for nostalgia and comfort reasons. I imagine that as someone who is older and having drunk only instant for 30+ years, it would be difficult to gravitate away from that?
I generally find your content entertaining, but you are also really making contributions to the coffee industry as a whole.
No he isn't. This is deeply unrepresentative, so not particularly useful unless you're marketing to the soft-touch "I want to be an expert and will throw money" millennial-white-American-man market.
I drink espresso like I drink spirits; in small amounts to appreciate the complexity of the taste experience.
Title, abstract, intro, detailed sections, conclusion, and future directions. Take a moment to appreciate how James is reinventing traditional research papers in a fun and lighthearted way via the video medium! For all I know, soon enough there will be peer review from other UA-camrs 😂
Peer review by UA-camrs exists as back and forth response videos in some fields. It's cool to see, though I mostly see it in midieval weapons channels.
Yeah, science!
We're coming into a new age ladies and gentlemen. I for one look forward to the more distributed, as opposed to heavily centralized, ways that almost everything could be done.
I fucking love science!
And perhaps most importantly, open access data! Removing paywalls and allowing anyone to apply their own statistical methods and interpretation is not something often seen in the current academic research world. It's more about the data and insights here than paper-pushing and fighting for authorship.
I'm in the >65 group, and have a strong preference for washed light roasts.
I know exactly why, too. My parents, like most of their generation drank either semi-burnt percolator coffee or instant, and I hated both. I was sure coffee was not for me at all ... until I had a sample of a light roasted specialty coffee in an import store. It wasn't the best (this was the late 1970s), but I saw possibilities.
Most of my life I drank generic "medium roast" pour over, ground in a blade grinder at home, with occasional good cups at third wave cafes. During the pandemic, I decided to improve my coffee game - burr grinder, weighing everything, and improving my pouring method. Now, I can indulge my preference for light, washed coffee. I actually make better than most cafe's batch brews.
When I was roasting coffee, the natural processed was always very polarizing. People either loved it or really didn't like it.
of course there are people with taste and others without :)
I think a lot of coffee people have taste perception biases. They gaslight themselves into tasting blueberry and burgamot just because it’s on the bag even though they’re really tasting green pepper and oregano. Before I started roasting, I found a lot of naturals labeled ‘bright blueberry and orange sweetness’ actually just tasted of funk, and now that I do roast, I can identify the reality that the funkiness was not the coffee’s fault but really just that roasters were roasting these types of coffee poorly- typically too fast and uneven or underdeveloped altogether. I think people who don’t like naturals might just not like their local roaster 😂
(:@@GuitaristOfEvil
"People ether loved it, or hated it, or thought it was ooookay." -Mitch Hedberg
I find that for expensive coffee like Geisha, natural is almost not worth it. They are all about subtle aroma, almost tea-like. Natural Geisha doesn’t quite hit the spot like washed, that I agree. However, for more common single origins, I would grab natural as much as possible. Less impressive terroirs can make their coffee so much more fun with a bit of fermentation magic. Every bag is an adventure. For espresso it might be a nightmare dialling in every few week, but for immersion it’s just much more fun to buy natural.
As a member of that older demographic, someone who was of the "darker and stronger the better" clan for many many years and just started getting into coffee a few years ago, I was an almost immediate adopter of light roasts. Perhaps not everyone is the same, but I sure came to appreciate the unique flavors of these lighter roasts and fermented coffees.
It’s very surprising that B is roasted medium, since it tasted super smoky to me. I thought I was drinking a diner’s meal in a cup, I legit put down “bacon” as one of my tasting notes
I agree, it was not a good representation of medium roast to me.
@@kjdude8765 I wonder if it was barrel-aged? That might explain the smokiness. Granted, I haven’t tried barrel-aged coffee before, so it’s just a guess
Same. I found some char and coal in there too
He said there isn't much agreement between the use of 'medium' and 'dark' right now, but I'm wondering if it legitimately differs in Europe compared to America. I can't think of any restaurant or regular retailer in North America who would call this medium.
@@verity3616did James say what coffee it was? To me, it had the taste of an espresso specific roast
The shift in preference at 9/10 makes sense, it's a lot like in beer. Brewers LOVE clean, simple, Pilsner-y/lager beers. It's often about how hard it is to do those styles well. I'd imagine some of that also has to do with light roasts. Expertise breeds appreciation of the width of opportunity.
Was about to come say the same. I went through the common journey with my beer preferences, with my appreciation of funky yeast-forward beers growing with experience. It wasn't until I started brewing that revisited cleaner styles with a new found interest and respect.
11:48 I also think that your self described level of expertise affects your idea of what you "should" like. As you learn more and get immersed in the culture of coffee or beer, you're influenced by the ideas that light roast and cool fermentations are "better" until you reach a certain zenith and can appreciate both the craftsmanship behind other styles, and your own preferences more
This resonates with me. I'm 65. I grew up with dark roast coffee. As I've got more and more into brewing and roasting coffee, I've come to appreciate light roasts more and more, and all the different flavours that it offers.
Given the sample size, the difference between self rated experts at 8, 9 and 10 is very unlikely to be statistically significant.
Obviously I don't have the numbers to do the maths, but given how few people rated themselves at 9 and 10, and how close their taste ratings are to the people who rated themselves an 8, I doubt it statistically significant.
I wish we could correlate the coffee preference with a preferred beverage like beer, wine, cocktails, soda, etc. I know as I have gone through my journey of discovery of these things, I have gone from enjoying a specific taste and more towards enjoying the complexity and the same has been true with my coffee experience
I may have gotten a different batch or my perception could just be off, but regarding the roast levels, coffee B tasted much more bitter and ashy than coffee C (this was the consensus in my household), so I am not surprised that self-reported medium roast drinkers preferred C and dark roast drinkers preferred B. This tasting was a blast though James, thanks for putting this together!
i'm glad i'm not the only one who called coffee B ashy. there was something really off about it to me. coffee C almost had the same ash flavor, but it was way better developed, more like smoked wood than a dead campfire
There seem to be quite a few people commenting on that specifically. This legimitely feels like there has been a mistake or that coffee B was very uncharacteristic of a "normal" medium roast.
I hope there'll be a taste contest in Europe in the near future so that I'll also be able to participate
Yeah, from the coffee I've bought I've felt rather solidly "medium" and yet I preferred C.
It was the same for me as well. I’ve always thought myself to prefer medium roasts but I really did not like B.
I felt the exact same. B was much more what I would expect in a dark roasted coffee and C was more of what I would expect in a medium. Most surprising part of the test for me.
I love your hypothesis about why different demographics prefer/lean towards different types of coffee. I am 36, but started drinking coffee before I was 10 (it's a family thing lol)... I love to try new types of coffees and different brewing methods, but there is just something so comforting about standard Folgers Classic Roast in a drip machine LOL But that's exactly what we drank as a family during family gatherings...
I would certainly echo this - I'm 35, but I started my coffee drinking young as well, though in France rather than the US. Although I love exploring surprising new coffee flavours with disparate brewing methods (my girlfriend is always wondering why the cupboard has 7 or 8 different coffee brewing methods in it - and why I want X new one), my daily driver is a relatively medium-dark speciality roast. And when I am visiting my parents in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the coffee I drink, the coffee that makes me feel 'home' is a classic dark french style roast from a cafetiere. As you say, it's just comforting.
This taste test reminded me that I like brew methods that produce less acidity in the coffee, Cometeer method had a lot more acidity than I was expecting overall. I usually go for medium roasts but the dark roast Cometeers were my favorite. So different brew methods produce different roast styles for me.
Overall very fun experience.
+
I have to say C was definitely one of the best "dark roasts" I've had, as a preferrer of light roasts. I have always associated dark roasts with overwhelmingly ashy/earthy flavors, and I didn't get that from C. It made me want to expirement more with dark roasts!
In regards to the medium and dark roasts, I think one piece that is difficult to account for is clarity. These coffees were really clear and crisp in their flavors, which is a far cry from the 'standard' drip coffee that many of us grew up with. A crisp dark roast like coffee C felt much more palatable and quite different than a cup from a diner or other mass brewed coffee, even though they would both be considered dark roast
I rated myself in the 6/7 range on “expertise” and really enjoy fruit/fermenty coffee, and D was far and away my favorite. My roommate, same demographic and everything, is much more of a “big bag of Starbucks French roast into the French press” and he thought D tasted like “spoiled milk”. To each their own!
Thank you for hosting, James! And thank you to all of the coffee lovers who participated in this taste test! ☕
I don’t know about other people, but i would love to try this out since i couldn’t join the live stream! Maybe another release?? Would be interesting to see how the household falls compared to this data.
Really appreciate the hard work! The people doing the logistics and number crunching don't always get to hear the praise.
So, from me to you - thank you. This was very insightful, and I love that this could even happen!
The preferences by expertise level part was super interesting to me as I'm at least equally if not more into craft beer than specialty coffee. There seems to be a huge correlation as people who were just getting into craft beer also tend to like very expressive modern beer styles (such as New England IPAs, Fruited Sours or Imperial Stouts) and most of the highly experienced beer drinkers tend to come around at some point to prefer well made examples of classic beer styles (such as German lager styles or British ale styles) again.
Literally came here to say the exact same thing. Would love to see if data supports this hunch of ours.
@@MKSJM1 nothing gets me more excited than this "analysis" of society. As someone who does not drink beer but knows that BW is a big part of american culture (like Coke and Pepsi) I find these datasets fascinating.
Re: dark/light preference, I think you're 100% spot on. I grew up with not just dark roasts, but burned percolated 'church coffee'. Or 'who cares' diner coffee burning for an hour on a BUNN hotplate. The first time I dipped my toes into that Light Roast pool, I was ordering from The Barn Berlin, and I found I wasn't finishing each bag of beans, I just couldn't get past that light roast taste. I've since watch enough James Hoffman to get used to that 60gr/L recipe, did my own experimentation, and have migrated over to the light roast no milk camp.
Felt, i literally described coffee C as the burnt post-church coffee you eat with a donut
As a scientist, I love data and this video has me absolutely buzzing! I am interested if all the differences mentioned are statistically significant or if you are only trying to identify loose trends? Thank you for all the effort to make this possible, it is incredibly exciting for me as a research participant and coffee hobbyist!
Definitely not statistically significant. The “analysis” was actually pretty disappointing
I can only imagine that statistically, many of the larger differences must have been significant - working with 4000 cases, you'd have lots of statistical power. Whether or not the differences are meaningful at the population level, however, is a different question. E.g., based on that data, would a large (or small) roastery make significant enough more profit by segmenting their product more and/or spending more on targeted advertising to different target consumers?
@@RobertThomson your imagination means nothing. The numbers are all that matter.
@@CJski such an impeccably and masterfully delivered rebuke. Succinct and to the point. My imagination has taken note of your position on the matter, and it will therefore forthwith desist with it's fanciful musings about Ns, statistical power, and their implications regarding analysis of variance.
@@CJskisome of the differences are probably statistically significant. E.g. the gender split on tastes will surely be statistically significant given the 4000 people sample size.
The story he went into about people rating themselves 9 or 10 being different from people rating themselves an 8, I doubt it, eye balling the graph and the number of people who rated themselves a 9 or 10, I think it's highly unlikely that it's statistically significant. Not to mention needing to do some correction for multiple hypothesis testing.
But obviously none of us have the data to do the maths
The point about fermented coffee preference and coffee experience is something I have definitely experienced in my own coffee journey, so I had a similar reaction as you did looking at this data! I can remember times where I would say that washed coffees just always felt very similar and sometimes a bit boring compared to naturals, but as I continued to drink more and more coffee, I found that naturals were becoming more muddy to me, and felt myself feeling a growing appreciation for the sometimes stunning clarity of flavor ans structure in a well-made cup of pour over coming from a high quality washed coffee.
Same. I've enjoyed the rollercoaster of funky tasting coffees for a while, but I've recently settled back to a more conventional selection now. Less variation and happier guests.
I really appreciate you making the data available. Already thinking of some exploratory analyses I'd like to conduct on it. However, that'll have to wait until my PhD is submitted 😅 but I will share this dataset with my students. Will be a great educational resource
Maybe this is interesting for you:
I roast coffee beans myself and I basically studied many videos (including yours) about how to properly brew coffee of different roasts. I always loved your dedication to the topic.
Now the fun thing... I barely drink any coffee, sometimes I even get adverse reactions depending on the bean. I'm doing all of this because my wife loves coffee and I wanted to open up a new culinary world for her to enjoy, since she used to drink so much solvable coffee when she still was in university studying. I just simply think she deserves better than that and I want to put a little "craftmanship" into it to make it something a little more special than store bought.
7:19 - I get the feeling that Hames is really going to love the like "Ok, people really like naturals".
i'm surprised the aeropress wasn't represented in the demo split, maybe those people chose french press. from what i've read and experienced, limiting it to one cup a day reduces all of the negative side effects of coffee, so i'm not surprised 2 and 1 were the most popular. besides, there's tea!
2 cups of coffee, 16 oz final yield, or 2 standard cylindrical mug's worth 22 oz. At a 14:1 ratio that's over 1.5 oz of coffee beans. That's a heavy user.
@@paulblichmann2791 i do 1-2, 12g-200g brews a day. cant even deal with the caffiene extracted from a 15 or 18 or 20g brew. 2 cups of that and I'll be like A-train on Compound V
I would say, there isn't a one size fits all. I'm caffeine sensitive, one cup a day fits me.
I am heavily invested in espresso equipment with multiple machines and grinders and I drink 2 per day so I fit right in with what surprised you 5:50 I do, however, offer to make espresso for friends and neighbors etc. so I pull more than 2 per day. I just find 2 per day is what I can drink without getting negative effects (I'm 70 ish)
Congrats, this was very nicely put together. All the graphs were meaningful and instantly understandable along with the explanations. You really put the science into coffee. Thanks for the huge work that went into this test/presentation.
54 here and just discovered natural and honey processed coffees about 5 years ago. I've never liked dark coffee and love the brighter and funkier flavors of natural/honey processed.
I enjoyed A and D equally, but ultimately chose A as my "favorite" because it would be a better daily drinker. TLDR: makes sense it was more polarizing.
I'm a biologist that works with large datasets for my job. This kind of stuff is super cool to see! I love a good survey :)
Who else is waiting for the Hames Joffmann cut of James going "that doesn't tell the whole story"? 🤣
I was going to make a joke that the Hames Joffmann version would just be "Interesting." 😂
I miss James Joffman 😢
Absolutely love how you scienced the shit out of this, thank you so much James and everyone involved! Maybe you could increase the representativeness of the sample in a future study by distributing two sample kits and asking participants to invite one friend/relative etc. That is not into specialty coffee / does not know your channel to join the taste test.
this is what i was thinking. "how do you get the non viewers in?" and that would be a simple and easy way.
I did hate the "cups of coffee per day" question when answering the survey, because mug/glass sizes vary so wildly. Gimme the fluid ounces, James!
Don't think it was amount of coffee but rather frequency.
I know this was aimed at the US, but it's a brave person who asks James for an imperial measurement!
I fill up my insulated 34 oz mug every morning. That's just over a litre.
If you're being pedantic, you may as well ask for mg of caffeine
I agree. For this audience, maybe the choices could have been: 4-12 ounces; 13- 20; 21-28; >28. Something like that. Maybe I'll do that whenever I do a coffee survey 🙂
I used to drink a pot a day(ish) when I was using a cheap coffee pot and ground coffees. When I switched to a moka pot, a grinder, and whole bean coffee, I dropped to exactly 2 cups a day:)
As a data analyst coffee drinker. I really appreciate this video.
I hated how he said coffee B was the most popular one when it looked like it was 26% and C was 25% so it did not look like a significant difference to draw conlusions on
Hi James! Thank you so much for walking through this dataset. I loved learning about coffee consumption in this test and people's preferences. I was running the dataset to try to replicate some of these results and didn't get the same results for Coffee D by Age Group. I had way fewer < 18 and 18-24 year olds than you had shown. Let me know if there's a link to this calculation I can reference.
The distribution of coffee prep surprised me as well - Am I missing something, or was there no choice for Drip Brewer? Did the pour over number get inflated by drip brewers? I
I looked at the raw data and drip coffee was definitely a popular enough response had just under the amount of responders as French press and more than pods and cold brew and the rest. It's kind of odd to me that it was omitted completely from the video since it's such an American staple.
I feel like you should've included the Aeropress as a brew method. I'm sure a lot of people use that as their daily driver.
Man, you should definitely launch a new series where you try coffee from well-known roasteries from different countries all around the world, that would be awesome
I don't imagine he'd be willing to do that. He owns a coffee roasting company, so that would present a fairly significant conflict of interest.
@@ursidaegames7605 Then someone else should do it. Good business idea and sounds like fun. There were little whiskey kits and chocolate kits like this making the rounds for Christmas a few years back. I bet it would be a fun gimmick gift for some and genuine fun for gourmet lovers & coffee lovers.
@@verity3616 for many years I had a subscription with Craft Coffee and they would send three small bags from roasters around the US. I enjoyed it a lot and it helped me find some favorites. Now I have subscriptions with some of those who make coffee consistent to my preference e.g. Camber and Black Oak.
I'm certainly not a 10 on the coffee experience scale yet, but I can relate to the experience you describe, of going from normal coffee to funky and fermented coffees, before reverting back to something a bit more conventional (and less likely to upset the guests).
amazing video, great to see the data presented in such a clear way, pointing out potential confirmation bias at every point!
Have a lot of takeaways from the results, but the biggest one might be that opting for a Kenya as the light roasted washed option could have skewed the results a bit.
Kenyan coffees can be just as divisive as natural coffees as some people are put-off by the high acidity and, often, savory aspects to those coffees. I do believe we would have seen significantly different results if you picked a lighter profiled Central or South American coffee (maybe even an Ethiopian) instead.
I loveee Kenyan coffee. Kenyan coffee and certain Indonesian ones are my favourite. I love it when you got a coffee that isn't afraid to bite you, and leaves a very long lasting aftertaste.
Did you break down coffee preferences by regions in the United States? Such as northeast vs mid Atlantic vs southeast Midwest deep south, southwest northwest? I think it would be interesting to see if for example colder regions prefer more chocolate roasted flavors or lighter fruity citrus flavors.
I love this video
Not only the fact that an entertainer (if you'll excuse me calling you that) is making videos that have actual value to the community
But the fact that you put the statistics front and center - let people know how exciting and useful even the more "dull" practices (statistical analysis in this case) can be!
I am really surprised that Moka pot brewing still hasn’t got a real place in the US - considering how popular it is in parts of Europe, but also e.g. in Cuba
The miracle of the Moka Pot is resource conservation- it produces excellent results from as little material, supplies, and btu as possible. Not a pressing concern here in the land of excess!
This data is SO fascinating. Thank you for collecting and sharing this out, James & Team. Thank you Cometeer for the work behind this. And a BIG hats off to everyone who participated. Super cool!!!
I’m in school for data analysis right now and I’m so glad to see you guys doing a good job with this. I’ve taken pretty extensive coursework on survey methodology and y’all seem to be sticking to general best practices on survey communication (not out kicking your coverage on CI’s for small samples, recognizing the non-randomness of your sample, avoiding sweeping generalizations). I’d be very interested in taking a look at your analysis methodology and your weighting/adjustments, but overall this is good work!
regarding coffee d, it is really interesting, and it also reflects my experience, the chain I used to work at has two single region beans from the same region, one washed and one natural, the washed bean is the one we recommend to new customers, and the natural one we only recommend if the customer has asked for something different.
James is a legend. This is likely established already but I wanted to reemphasize it.
Goodness yes! I started drinking coffee forty years ago with Peet’s French roast and Italian roast. That’s as dark as I’ve ever had. And it was my go to bean. But as I’ve aged I’ve started exploring lighter roasts. And enjoying them black. That dark and smoky coffee needed cream and sugar to balance the smoke 😊
It’s interesting, when I first got really into beer I started seeking out the funkiest and heaviest brews. Now I only want a session ale with a balanced fresh hop flavor. I got first into powerful wines, then funky natural wines, now I just want a balanced old world wine that’s good with dinner. That doesn’t mean I’ve mellowed, I think I’m more particular about quality than ever. But there’s a sweet spot of flavor and intensity that just feels right.
This is so interesting. Thank you James! I’m a senior grammy and have always loved coffee. As I’ve aged, my tolerance of caffeine has changed. I used to be able to take a cup to bed (thinking it would keep me awake long enough to read a bit) and fall asleep before I finished. The convenience of drip makers made work life simple. Now, I do prefer dark roasts for the lower acidity. My daily preparation preference is Moka pot (2nd choice French press) and I treat myself to a small batch subscription of world coffees, delivered monthly from Peet’s. I don’t so much notice a smoky flavor to dark roast as a deeper coffee flavor. I love your work here. Much appreciated!
Fascinating video, couple questions about methodology that might have affected the findings.
Was Drip Brewer a response option in the survey? I suspect that's the reason pour over represents such a large share.
Also curious about the order the questions were asked in, I think if and in the order presented in the video you might have primed respondents to choose D because it's the odd one out from A,B,C which were asked about earlier.
If that was the first question asked then this is less of a concern.
I looked at the raw data and drip coffee was definitely a popular enough response had just under the amount of responders as French press and more than pods and cold brew and the rest. It's kind of odd to me that it was omitted completely from the video since it's such an American staple.
I started tasting (not drinking) coffee when I managed a coffee shop. I grew to love light roasts, especially Costa Rica and Kenya. The fermented La Minita Peaberry was an experience, but I think having limited quantities available seasonally was a good idea. It is kinda like a desert coffee. Tastes great, but don't have it every day for breakfast!
Interesting observation, and I have not looked at the .CSV file to figure if people can give multiple answers to questions, but the percentages at 5.15 add up to 107,72%.
Edit: Having seen more of the statistics (eg. the next one), it seems people can definitely give multiple answers. It still seem odd that they weren't weighted in some way for the previous question.
Back in my 20s, two shops locked in my coffee palate, both in North Carolina: Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville and BeansTalk in Boone. They always had great beans and brewed a consistently, delightfully earthy cup. Malaprop's is still with us, BeansTalk sadly left us twenty years ago.
It would be interesting to do more of a lottery style audience selection next time, after collecting demographics. The demographics could be used in aggregate to select a more representative population.
James mentioned the gender skew, but I would say the most obvious skew here is the fact that the vast majority of respondents are serious coffee enthusiasts--5 percenters. As expected since they are reached by this channel and evidenced by the majority of them using pour over as their primary system.
Hello James, I'm almost 77, in Ca and have been drinking coffee since I was around 8, give or take. I remember about 1980 ish, I really started upping my game with cheap espresso makers and buying more expensive coffees, and short lived flavored coffees. Then about 16 years ago I started roasting my own, with a friend, and have only sampled coffees outside my own roasting about a few dozen times. I purchased a Rancillio Silvia, with PID, and a Baratza Vario, which really upped the game once again. Miss Silvia died not long ago and I have been eyeing an ECM Synchronika as my next machine. I usually don't drink more than 2 cups a day, but really value a great tasting cup. My usual cup is a Cappuccino. I would rate myself as a 9+, but maybe not a 10 because I don't know everything about coffee. As you may suspect, I enjoy cooking, as well, and wish that sometime in the past I could have attended some culinary classes. I really enjoy your videos & would love to have a conversation with you.
Shout-out to the 3% nonbinary folks. There's dozens of us!
Lets go!!
a test of most healthy coffee would be great, what kind of coffee beans, what kind of wash, roast, and brew and storing ,which is most healthy and what compounds released with what temperature, by the way great book loved it in my collection
From America: I use a BonaVita pour-over machine most of the time for morning coffee, and use the included carafe. One of the best things about the machine is that it brews at the correct temperature.....and.... my mom's old Chemex pot fits perfectly inside the machine. Two pour-overs in one. Enjoy your videos, thanks. Carter
I'm so impressed! You were *really* doing Science. The NIH, FDA, CDC, and most university science departments could learn a lot from your unbiased system of hypotheses and tests.
I'm an American and before watching your channel I didn't even know what a natural coffee was... about 3 years ago I saw a video of yours explaining naturals and sought out the funkiest think I could find at a local roaster. The first cup was a bit much for my nose and taste-buds... but by my 3rd or 4th cup from that bag, I was hooked. The fruity red wine and sour cherry flavors that bag had just completely sold me on that experience. Now I almost exclusively buy funky, fruity beans for my 1-2 cups of coffee per day.
This is like the craft beer world, taste changed, palate change. We train our palate to identify what gives us the most dopamine. When new experiences come out the body love or hate them and chases that rush. When the rush gets boring we go back to what still brings the most joy. Like James touched on familiarity plays a large role, why so many love childhood meals.
I'm someone who has invested a fair bit into my coffee equipment (No home espresso machine...yet) and am willing to spend more to get high-quality and specialty beans, but also don't actually drink coffee that often. But its something I do enjoy and when I do experiences it, I want it to be the best experience possible. The people I know that drink a lot of coffee however mostly drink it for the caffeine kick and mostly drink pre-ground mass-market coffee from a drip machine.
Interesting finings James. I also have this experience, that great coffee gear at home does not mean we're heavy drinkers. I'm from EU and I drink 1-2 coffee a day. Ideally at home.
As a mathematician I just want to thank you for all the lovely graphs! Really interesting comparisons. And thanks for how many times you said the word "fruity" to give Hames something to work with
I agree with James assessment of the preferences of older coffee drinkers. I'm an older (>65) coffee drinker. I've been drinking specialty coffee for two years now. But before that I didn't drink any coffee (with rare exception when I really needed the caffeine and coffee was the available option). I've hated coffee all my life. Dark Roast coffee, whether it is mass market or top of the line specialty dark roast is for my taste, not drinkable. I can drink some medium roast coffees, depending on quality and varietal, but my preference by far is light roast or even "extra" light roast (think Tim Wendelboe roasts). I can offer coffee I make from high quality roasters to my friends, but most either don't like it at all, or they think it is interesting but still would prefer a dark roast. In almost all cases they've been drinking dark roast all their life.
Another question I have regarding the natural vs. washed result. How valid is that when only one sample of each type was tasted (i.e. in comparing coffee A to D). I like all processes, e.g. natural, washed, honey and other more exotic processes. What I "prefer" is great coffee over good coffee. I didn't participate in this taste test, but I wonder if coffee D might have been a "great" natural, and coffee A was just a decent washed coffee. I'm not going to pick a particular process over the other, it will depend on the actual coffees being compared.
Ok James. I am 54 and have explored coffee through my life and definitely do not want dark roast. I love how there is so much to explore now compared to 30 years ago.
I’ve got so many coffee brewers at home. I’ve got an espresso machine. I’ve got an Aillio Bullet for roasting. I’ve got pounds of roasted and green coffee at my house. I drink one cup a day, seldomly two.
Also, I fell deeper in love with coffee because of naturals and now I can’t stand naturals. At some point they stopped tasting like berries to me and started tasting like olives or dirt. I fit your narrative.
A bean to cup man, but so many types of beans and roasting, blends.
A journey and a passion.
For reference, I'm 59. I like your thinking about what we started drinking affecting our lifelong coffee preferences. I always had strong coffees from the start. I grew up in New England where coffee seemed to be medium to dark roast, especially in my childhood home. Yet my extended Midwest family usually had more coffee flavored water vs a nice dark coffee ☕.
James Hoffman is a very interesting man so I am able to listen to him on subjects that I don't find interesting.
My coffee habits would likely cause coffee gourmets to cringe and avert their eyes. I've tried different grinds, machines, brewing methods, water temperature, but I always come back to my standard method (Melitta cone filter/very finely ground dark roasts) despite the learned info James offers, but I could listen to him forever. This is a very intelligent good talker so he has my attention. What a mind!
Right now I'm drinking a cup of day old, dark coffee and enjoying every drop. It's so thick that, if I used cream or sugar, the best stirrer would be a dipstick. Keep up the good work, James Hoffman.
I’m 65 - coffee consumer since 1975. My tastes have changed over the years several times. I prior to 1981 - I had no access to quality coffee - percolator and Folgers. The two most gruesome combinations in existence. I spent two years in Sicily and discovered espresso and dark roasts which predominate there. Fell in love. Returned to the states to no wide spread espresso. Stayed with dark roasts - Starbucks at least brought espresso availability nationwide. In about 2007 or so I encountered lighter toast espresso in Pacific NW - and it altered my tastes - about that time V60 pour overs allowed me to get rid of coffee pots forever. Some of us evolve over time - I find that evolution proportional mainly to the amount of travel and varied experience a person accumulates in their life. I love Europe and I love Asia - great -consistent coffee and food to be experienced there. The same boomers who drink either percolated or pods (horrid invention) have quite limited food palates as well. Excuse the generalization but limited by comments section.
James' theory about why dark roast for older folks: I'm almost 60, and "grew up" drinking newsroom coffee... keep the newsies going through late nights, and early mornings breaking news. BUT I'm gettining into whiskeys now (mostly bourbons), I see a lot of similarities between tasting it, and tasting coffee... And I have yet to find a medium roast I enjoy (yes I like dark). But the citrus notes and such in med coffees that I don't enjoy, I do enjoy in bourbons.
In many regions the type of coffee and how it is prepared are cultural. For Cajuns they use a dark roast and a La Grègue. This is an old style metal (not enameled) french drip maker. Pretty much you ether get an antique one or buy one from McWare since no one else makes them anymore. The coffee it produces is somewhere between a drip maker and french press.
I think your second explanation for the age vs. roast preference is spot on. I started drinking coffee decades ago (early 1970s), and have always preferred darker roasts. And regarding coffee consumption, mine went down once I retired because I don't often feel like making another pot of coffee just for myself -- when I was working (pre-COVID) there was always a fresh pot available.
3:22 I can understand how coffee “D” was most favored. I have two ways I drink coffee. Drinking vs Sipping. For my drinking coffee, I (American) Drink ice or cold coffee. For sipping I use Hot dark coffee. My dark coffee is treated like whiskey. I sip it slowly over time. If it stays hot that is
In reference to the point you made about expecting your viewers to be heavy coffee drinkers: I actually can't take caffeine at all due to a health condition that amplifies the effects of most chemicals in my body. I had a quarter cup of caf coffee after I developed this illness, drank it at 8am, and was up to 1am with heart palpitations the entire time. I rarely drink coffee at all, and when I do it's decaf (roast me all you want, but decaf sometimes is better than never drinking coffee ever). Anyway, I like your channel because you're methodical, passionate about coffee, and really good at what you do. Even though I rarely drink coffee these days, I used to drink it once a day, and I love learning about something that so many people love to drink.
Fascinating James! I’m lucky enough to travel to different continents including the UK, South Africa and Australia. I’m always in search of a light roast, a high aftertaste, a sweet and caramel flavour and importantly, never sweetened. Sweetened coffee alters everything and it distorts the true taste. I’m in my 60’s and I drink double shot coffees with milk in the morning and a black single cortado the remainder of the day. Coffee is the best part of my day!
I think you make a valid point - personally, as a 55+ year old "experienced" coffee person I totally got on the natural processed train early on in my coffee career, probably 25 years ago, but over time have fallen away from them in favor of more tea-like coffees - washed Ethiopians for example - and cleaner, sweeter coffees. I just can't even get into the anaerobic coffee trend that seems to be peaking now. Nor can I ever go to the fish lady dark side I once embraced before discovering specialty coffee in 1992.
I came to prefer dark roast after traveling in Italy. France and Spain. that was in '67. " 68. I am now on my 6th espresso machine. LUV your UA-cam. Lived in Seattle for 34 yrs.
I have been a coffee addict for over 36 years, my own mother guilty of this addiction. Still prefer light to medium roast, usually 3 cups a day, and weekends increase usage up to 5 cups.
I'm old. 72. I've drank "coffee" all my life. Started with Folgers/Maxwell House. Then lived in France. learning espresso. Came back to the USA, disgusted with dishwater coffee. When I retired in 2014, I vowed to learn to make a good cup of coffee cheaply at home. I LOVE good espresso, but am finding light-roasted immersion-pourover hybrids to be my go-to these days. And dark Saka Neapolitan espresso. Who knows where I'll be in two years.... Thanks for doing this.
When I started drinking, it was the 70s in Israel, and was either nescafe instant, or a pot with the dark roast grounds and water boiled over whatever heat source, and you had to let it settle before drinking it. That is far from my preferences today, I much prefer a light roast made in a French press. I have not tried something like your category D, so I don't know about that.
The split in the desire for fermented flavors is mirrored in America alcohol preferences; beer is consumed by men( as is Scotch and other strongly or bold flavored beverages) while many women gravitate toward wine and sweet to neutral drinks.
A broad statement, but it bares out. Pay attention this Thanksgiving.
Very interesting. I'm a 50 year old guy and since I was a teenager I've always thought I preferred very dark roasts, until a couple years ago when I tried a light roast Ethiopian Yurgacheff and now that's all I drink.
James, I’m 57 and have only been drinking coffee for 6 months. I drink primarily cold brew that I do at home and I use Peet’s dark roast. I happen to love it with only a small amount of cream and no sugar. In fact I LOVE the dark roast and look forward to my mornings. That seems to conflict with your hypothesis for older people liking dark roasts because they “grew up” on it. However, as a new drinker I haven’t really tried much else yet.
I am use to using a moka pot for coffee and my wife is a pour over. We both have found moka does well with darker roast (taste like chocolate if done well) and the pour is better with lighter roast. It is pretty cool to see your data points correlates with our coffee habits.
I wouldn’t say I drink a ton of coffee but I did invest in a nice bean to cup Phillips machine. I enjoy it. Not the best machine I’m sure based on price and what’s out there, but does a well enough job.
I'm 40, and have been drinking coffee since I was around 4 or 5, when my father taught me how to make his coffee because he was undergoing treatment for cancer. We were an unusual household coffee wise, because my father got shipments of Colombian whole bean coffee, used a Japanese made burr grinder, and a Mr. Coffee filter drip machine. That's the coffee I learned on. Diners and gas stations made up a lot of my coffee drinking in between then and now, in my teenage and college years. I've been regularly making coffee at home for the last 8-ish years, and I still gravitate toward Colombian coffees, and especially natural processed caturras.
A local grocery store chain has their own store branded coffees, roasted by at least two manufacturers. I buy the House Blend, and both are labeled medium roast. One is in a more traditional plastic/foil bag, and is very dark/oily; I don't know who roasts it. The other comes in a paper exterior packaging, with roasted on dates, and is much lighter in roast compared to the other; it's roasted by Counter Culture for the grocery store.
I have two different coffee beams depending on my mood each day, I have medium roast and dark roast always kept fresh in the freezer, and I manually grind with my 1zpresso K-Max every morning using my Aeropress. I only drink one or two coffee per day, and that's it.