I’ve never considered myself a coffee snob but I have always enjoyed it. In fact sometimes I’ve enjoyed it a little too much.
At one point a few years ago I realised that if I was drinking 2 or 3 (or 4) Flat Whites a day (which wasn’t unusual) I was drinking almost a litre of milk.
I decided to start drinking my coffee black and, whilst it took a little bit of getting used to initially, I’ve found I really like it. We are pretty lucky to have a pretty great third-wave coffee scene in Wollongong which has certainly made it easier.
Initially when I made the change I found that all black coffee tasted strong and generically ‘coffee-ee’. But with a bit of time (and as I started to drink more filter coffee than just long blacks) I came to be able to distinguish the different flavours and nuances.
Now I’ve gone full coffee-nerd and even have opinions about my preferred regions, varietals and process (Panama Geishas and Natural Process if you’re wondering).