The beginner’s guide to espresso drinks

I went from a non-coffee drinker to an espresso "snob" over 6yrs from having daily access to an amazing barista. She eventually taught me (on some very nice cafe-grade hardware) everything soup to nuts from how to dial in a grind, to pulling proper shots, to latte art, and of course proper cleanup and maintenance (shockingly missing from so much literature).

While I struggle and often refuse to drink Starbucks or pre-ground store bought coffee (so stale, ugh), I'd encourage people to experiment with different drinks. Espresso and coffee in general are a hugely diverse spectrum of flavor profiles, mouth feels, gadgetry (check out siphons or some of the data gathering tools for measuring espresso quality). Learning about all of this I was able to simultaneously satisfy both my inner geek, as well as my inner foodie.

And for those looking to automate their delivery of fresh beans with amazing ability to set preferences and get consumption data, check out Bottomless. Not affiliated in any way, just joined when they announced their hardware beta on a ShowHN years ago and have been an extremely happy customer since.

As a lover of the flat white, I'm amused to see this expert also confused as to the origins. It's quite the black hole..

https://sprudge.com/things-flat-white-people-like-an-explain...