Juliana Moves

I recently read this personal essay about enjoying bad coffee and enjoyed it so much. My relationship with good/expensive coffee has evolved so much over the years and now I simply enjoy Trader Joe’s medium roast beans brewed in my old Mr. Coffee drip machine each morning. This was definitely not always the case, but (to keep things relatively reasonable) let’s look back to my coffee-drinking evolution since college…

2013

Owned a mini coffee machine since I was the only one in my apartment who drank coffee. Would treat myself to “fancy” Whole Foods brand coffee beans – NO MILK though. Appreciated a good PSL from Starbucks in the fall.

2014

Started working at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Came to appreciate iced coffee for the first time. Took myself on a cold brew crawl around Austin that summer. Stuck with my “fancy” Whole Foods beans.

2015

Enter Patrick. Not a coffee drinker (yet). Busy year for me at school. Drank a lot of 7/11 coffee – which is shockingly good. Definitely used the CoffeeMate creamers though. Learned to appreciate cafe de olla and instant coffee (with lots of sugar and milk) during the summer in Mexico.

2016

Patrick starts to drink 7/11 coffee. Becomes more and more curious about coffee and starts trying new beans and Austin coffee shops. Upgrade to a large drip machine. Buying bulk, but local, beans from HEB/Costco. I’m drinking a whole pot of coffee a day (seriously).

2017

Patrick has his first espresso beverage. Coffee accessories begin flooding the house: Aeropress, first espresso machine, French press, Chemex, you name it. Patrick and I visit local coffee shops more often and try lots of fancy (sour) coffee.

2018

Leaning into the espresso-world. Start bringing a homemade iced americano to work every day. Depended pretty hard on the coffee machine and creamers at work. Exploring Austin coffee.

2019

Balancing enjoying the espresso machine, fancy coffee gadgets, and my drip machine. Patrick is knee deep in the fancy coffee world at this point. Signed up for those coffee subscription programs and won’t let me use fancy coffee in my drip machine (lol). General caffeine tolerance begins to dwindle.

2020

Uh oh – COVID! Less going to fancy coffee shops, obviously. Making lots of little iced lattes at home to enjoy with chocolate or cookies. Big move to Virginia! Thrilled about Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. Begin relying on drip machine more and enjoying fancy, new, wedding gift espresso machine.

2021

Patrick comes to the dark side and begins enjoying drip machine coffee. Starts buying less fancy coffee because it is outrageously expensive. Still collects coffee gadgets and buys the occasional nice bag of beans when traveling or influenced. Confirmed that NOVA has a pretty crappy coffee scene. Can no longer drink coffee after 3 pm or will be up all night.

2022

Patrick and I discover how to make drip machine brewing better and it is shockingly life changing. Start using lower quality beans because the new brewing method works freakishly well. Switch from whole to 2% milk in coffee. Patrick sometimes used a coffee gadget for his afternoon coffee, but is otherwise fully reliant on the machine for his AM coffee.

I can still enjoy a fancy coffee from time to time, but I find that I enjoy my home brewed cup so much that I don’t feel the urge to seek out expensive coffee from cafes. I’ve also learned that I like Colombian coffee the best, especially when it has ~1 tablespoon of milk in it. NOT half and half, though. Bleh.

In the essay, the author goes on to explain some of the “best” coffee he’s ever had. As you can imagine, these cups of coffees are associated more closely with people and experiences, rather than the beans or brewing method. I couldn’t help but think of some of the “best” cups of coffee I’ve ever had too.

• Instant coffee on the floating island of Uros Khantati in Peru (especially good because it was freezing outside)
• Houston-blend HEB coffee (lightly flavored) made in our camping French Press during our 2016 Southwest road trip
• Bottomless coffee from Kerbey Lane Cafe, enjoyed at all hours of the day with friends
• Pumpkin-flavored coffee enjoyed during a shift at Coffee Bean on a weirdly cool Austin day
• The corner store coffee I picked up every morning on my walk to the university I taught English at in Mexico
• Hostel coffee with old beans donated from the roasters next door in Portland, OR
• 6 am coffee outside with Patrick alongside a busier-than-expected road

Cups of coffee that I have fond memories of or were extra satisfying for whatever reason. That’s the kind of coffee I am looking for these days!