Many friends who are new to specialty coffee often feel lost: they don't know where to start learning, nor how to appreciate the layers of a cup of coffee and the differences between beans from various regions. This article compiles some practical experience to first help you shake off a few common misconceptions—such as coffee being inherently bitter, expensive, uniform in taste, and too troublesome to make yourself. In fact, coffee is originally a fruit, with its own sweetness, acidity, and fruity aroma, and its cost can be quite affordable. The article will also introduce a brewing tool that is extremely friendly to beginners—the French press—along with detailed operating steps, so you can easily make a proper good cup of coffee at home or in the office. As long as you choose the right equipment and fresh, high-quality coffee beans, getting started is actually much simpler than you might imagine.

In the process of promoting specialty coffee, friends often ask me where to start learning about coffee, how to taste and understand the true flavor of a cup of coffee and the differences between coffee from various origins. Now I'll summarize some of my experience to share with everyone.

First, we need to say goodbye to a few misconceptions—that coffee is bitter, that coffee is expensive, that coffee all tastes more or less the same, and that making coffee yourself is cumbersome and troublesome.

Coffee is actually a fruit. It is fragrant rather than bitter, or sweet and sour. Coffee is as cheap as cola. Making coffee is not cumbersome.

When coffee first entered China, most of it was of low quality and dark-roasted. Once roasted to a certain degree (dark roast), only bitterness remains. So at that time, the impression coffee left on people was—bitter coffee, and even pop songs sang about it that way. In reality, this rough roasting method cannot express coffee's original flavor.

Coffee is a fruit that grows on trees, looking very much like a cherry, with the sweetness, acidity, and fruity aroma of fruit. When you drink a cup of coffee with fine fruity acidity, it is something to be happy about. Don't assume a sour coffee is off-flavored; if you have such a psychological suggestion, it's easy to fall into a misconception. Of course, if it is acetic acid or a bad sour taste, that means the coffee is seriously stale. Just as the acidity of apples and oranges in our daily life is different, and the sourness of yogurt and spoiled food is also different, sourness comes in many varieties. Acidity like that of fruit or red wine is delicious. Of course, depending on the variety and roast, there are also coffees that are not sour yet full of rich aroma, but if it is only bitter, then it is absolutely not good coffee. Perhaps you have been shocked by someone who can down a very bitter coffee in one gulp, but this only shows he can endure bitterness—nothing more, because good coffee is not like that, nor is it drunk that way.

Actually, going out for a cup of coffee costs dozens of yuan, which is quite expensive (I rarely go to cafés). Two cups cost as much as two dishes and a soup, but I can tell you, coffee is the world's second-largest futures commodity (the first is oil), and the world's number one beverage besides fresh water, with sales far exceeding cola and tea. So many people drinking it shows this is a good and cheap beverage. Making it at home, 100-200 yuan can buy a jin of estate-grade coffee beans of higher quality than ordinary cafés (coffee is usually measured in pounds, i.e., 454 grams; here I say jin for easier understanding), averaging about 3 yuan per cup, similar to cola.

If you are preparing to make a cup of coffee yourself but don't know where to start, you can refer to my guidance and recommendations below.

A barista abroad is an occupation similar to a chef, with considerable technical requirements. Just as we can stir-fry a dish but cannot produce the flavor of a hotel chef. And the same ingredient, such as an egg, tastes completely different when stir-fried versus boiled. This is the same with coffee: different equipment and preparation methods will make the taste completely different.

As a beginner, technique is the biggest challenge. If you choose and operate improperly, you will likely make the world's most undrinkable bitter coffee water, which will make you misunderstand that coffee just tastes like this and is so unpleasant. So beginners should choose equipment with low technical difficulty that can also bring out the original flavor of the coffee beans. This makes it easier to objectively understand the bean's characteristics and avoid detours. Therefore, I first recommend the French press.

Before use, preheat the pot body and coffee cup first; there will be a surprising effect.

Add 12g of coarsely ground coffee powder. The commonly used ratio of coffee powder to water for a French press is 1:14–1:18, and you can adjust the strength according to your preference. It is recommended to start with a medium or slightly weaker ratio. If at first you cannot adapt to black coffee (coffee without sugar or milk), you can also add sugar and milk, using a little less each time than the last, and after a period you will be able to adapt to black coffee and taste coffee's original aroma.

Add 200ml of hot water. A water temperature of 85-92°C is recommended. Stir for about 30 seconds.

After stirring, put on the lid, but do not press down the filter yet. Let it sit for 20-30 seconds.

Press down the filter.

Pour out the coffee. Because there is a small amount of fine powder, you can let it sit for 20 seconds before drinking, or drink it immediately; the amount of fine powder is at an acceptable level.

The biggest advantage of the French press is that it is simple and convenient. At home, in the office, anytime and anywhere, you can make a proper cup of coffee. Its low reliance on technique makes it very good for training your concept of coffee's various aromas. The prerequisite is to use coffee beans of sufficiently good quality and freshness.

Finally, I suggest that when buying equipment and coffee beans, buy from merchants with good reputation and credibility, especially coffee beans. There are plenty of inferior and counterfeit ones everywhere, occupying the market only by low price. Buying poor-quality or fake beans loses the basic meaning of tasting a cup of coffee.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.