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Comment by canjobear | Hacker News Reader

I've studiously avoided gaining the ability to discriminate good from bad coffee. I don't see any upsides, and the coffee snobs are insufferable.

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I was the same for years until I had a pourover at a coffee shop in NYC that knocked my socks off. I still enjoy bad coffee but the pleasure I’ve gotten from making better coffee over the years has been worth it IMO.

Incidentally, it’s entirely possible to enjoy good coffee without becoming a total snob, just like it’s possible to use vim without being a dick about it :)

NY is interesting because, in a similar way that there was literally not one single edible vegetable in Manhattan before Whole Foods came to Chelsea, there wasn't a drop of decent coffee anywhere in a city of 8 million people before Zibetto opened about 15 years ago, and then Stumptown opened in the Ace Hotel, and after that it was like a revolution all over the city. But definitely late to the good coffee scene.

I love how your brought vim into this conversation. Smooth. Real smooth.

It’s an enjoyable part of the day and a fun skill to practice.

Snobbery exists, but I think most people are just excited about the subject and perhaps overly eager to share their learnings. To some it seems snobbish, but from the coffee lover’s point of view each thing they’ve learned has made a big difference in their experience and they’d like to share that with others.

Just like any skill, there will be gatekeepers and elitists who think they are better than others. They’re the vocal minority.

Your implication is that you don't want to enjoy anything because you might turn into a snob... Some sort of meta-snobbish anti-hedonistic hero?

Eh, I just see them as "different" coffee. I have a decent burr grinder, buy fresh roasted beans, and brew with a Moka pot. I also have a drip machine when I plan to drink a lot of coffee over a period of time, i.e. a lazy morning reading. I've got an aeropress when I'm feeling like something a little different (or when I'm making coffee at the office). And I keep good ol' freeze dried coffee in the cupboard when I'm feeling lazy or want a quick caffeine buzz.

They're all different and I love em all for different reasons.

Though I will say I absolutely refuse to drink Keurig coffee. It's an environmental disaster and it has the strength and flavour of coffee brewed with used beans...

I left a few comments below and consider myself a "snob" basically when it comes to coffee. I don't think that it does have to mean that you're exclusively only drinking expensive and well done coffee.

I still drink preground basic grocery store coffee every day and it's fine. Co. paring the two is like saying you want to taste fine and expensive wines and you'll never drink wine just to get drunk.

I'm actually not that often even in a mindset where I can make the most of my more expensive coffee and I drink the cheap stuff then.

I think fully actualized adults have the capability to be a coffee snob, without being insufferable clods.

I willingly share my coffee knowledge to anyone who asks and never denigrate someone for liking Folgers.

It’s fine. There are basically infinite niche interests you could dive into and become completely fascinated by. Coffee is one of them and I’m glad people enjoy it. Personally, I love different niches and don’t care about coffee. But it’s all the same thing.

Why is being a coffee snob worse than being any other type of snob?

It's not, it's just that I encounter the coffee snobs more than I'd like

I've spent a decent amount of time and effort getting better coffee, and I can still enjoy a cup of instant from time to time.

You do you, though.

As someone who drank Navy coffee for 6 years, who cares what it tastes like? The question is, does it wake you up?

Is that where if the pot gets cold they pour the coffee back into the tank and brew it over? Because I can tell you they do that in the US Coast Guard.

I don't remember that. I only remember a lot of black, bitter brew.

https://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Cofftea

If you're just into caffeine, there are pills to be had on the cheap. They are arguably more effective at waking you up, as well.

They don't hand them out when underway and don't enhance that morning cigarette. I guess you could stock up before leaving port or just drink the coffee.

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