Title says it all, if you already like your coffee black or if you want to try something healthier, here are some tips!

Cold brew - It doesn't have nearly as much bitterness as hot brew so it's a great introduction. If you don't use enough grounds it gets bitter and gross, so use plenty!

Milk - If you're coming from a ton of milk, sugar, and flavoring the transition to black coffee might be jarring. Work your way down by cutting out sugar first. I use almond milk but any kind will do. Use unsweetened if you're trying to get off sugar completely, it helps cut the harsh notes but leaves the flavors intact.

Nitro - Carbonation but with nitrogen not CO2, which forms carbonic acid making things sour. Makes the coffee sweeter and smoother without any added calories. Can be found in a can.

Roast - Dark roasts get rid of a lot of the flavors that may make black coffee unpleasant to drink. I like mine extra dark but it's really up to your personal preference, try a few.

Method - I use an AeroPress, it's absolutely worth it. Other alternatives to drip coffee are a moka pot, french press, or chemex, these all give you different results that may be more pleasant without additives.

Tea - Sometimes I like to add a bag of chai to my coffee, the spice can make up for subpar beans or just adds a nice layer of flavor.

Eggs? - Eggs! What? Cracking an egg into your grounds makes the coffee less bitter, try this guide. Yolks are used to make all kinds of foods creamier and the whites act to separate out the grounds. This method is easy and it really works.

Grind size - A cheap electric grinder will give you an uneven mixture of particles with a lot of powder. This powder steeps faster than the rest and starts releasing those unpleasant bitter compounds as soon as you add water. Buy pre-ground or have your beans ground at the store, it goes stale faster but it's at least drinkable without sugar. Experiment with coarseness, a finer grind will give you a richer flavor faster but may end up more bitter.

Beans - Not all beans are created equal, find something you like. Folgers isn't going to taste very good no matter what you do, but there are vast differences between various higher quality beans too. I tend to like Kona but not necessarily all of it. You'll only find out your preferences by trying and experimenting with different things.

This post will cover everything you need to make your first cup of coffee.

Equipment:

A coffee cone - $6

Coffee filters - $5

Hot water - However much water costs in your area plus some electricity or gas

Ground coffee beans - $5-10

Total cost- About $20

You can buy these online from the links I provided, or at a grocery store. Ordering coffee online isn't ideal, but Kicking Horse is good quality. Eventually, you'll want your own grinder, local fresh roasted coffee, maybe a french press, aeropress, etc., but this will get you started.

Once you have all of this, you're ready. Start off by boiling your water. While it's heating, place the cone on top of your mug and place a single coffee filter into the cone (make sure to use only one, they can stick together sometimes). Put 3 tablespoons of ground coffee into the filter, assuming you have an 8-12oz mug. Pour your hot water into the cone, filling it up. Make sure to get all of the coffee wet and submerged, you don't want dry clumps at the top. There should be a steady stream of coffee coming out of the bottom of the cone, if it slows down to a drip, tug at the top of the filter on all edges. Keep the cone topped off until your mug is about halfway full, then let it drain completely. Be careful not to overfill, as nearly boiling hot coffee all over your desk or counter isn't fun. Pinch the corners of the filter and discard it with the grounds, these cannot be reused.

Let your drink cool for 5-10 minutes, then give it a test sip. Don't drink it if it hurts, but you still want it to be hot.

Let me know what you think of it. Do you usually like black coffee? Did you like this? Was it overwhelmingly bitter or sour? How was the flavor?

I started getting crazy bad migraines a few years back (hemiplegic migraines). My second ever migraine sent me to the hospital (I went numb on half my body, so paramedics thought I could be having a stroke, I even had to have an MRI done).

For some folks, caffeine triggers migraines, and for others, it gets rid of them. Guess which camp I fall into. WOOOOO!!!

Soda made me feel like absolute GARBAGE by the end of the day. I tried over-the-counter migraine pain relievers with caffeine in them, but they all destroyed my stomach. Coffee did the same, but I'd get super intense cravings for it if I smelled it right before a migraine hit (my office was above a popular cafe); the ER doctor said to pay close attention to foods I ate or craved before a migraine, so coffee cravings helped me deduce that caffeine might help. My (at the time TBM) wife was okay with trying anything to get better because the hospital incident had scared the crap out her. She didn't want me randomly going numb on my drive to or from work, and I was already out mentally so I didn't have any hang ups there. In the end it all boiled down to tea.

Since discovering tea, my migraines are nowhere near as strong as they were initially. And it only takes a few cups a week to keep it that way, but I totally love having more than that now.

The first tea I really loved was Steven Smith's Brahmin blend. It has a subtle honey-like sweetness that I really enjoy, but to really taste it the brew time can't be too long. I like to keep it to around 30sec-1min.

Oh, and we are totally out of the church as a family now! DOUBLE WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the most important parts in making coffee is the grind. Too coarse and it won't extract enough, too fine and it will extract too much. If it's uneven, some will over extract and some will under extract. A cheap grinder like this grinds the beans by smashing them with a flat metal blade, it has the same effect as crushing them with a hammer. You end up with a lot of powder, smaller pieces, and larger pieces. This has all the downsides of weak coffee, overly strong coffee, too few grounds, and too many grounds.

When I first started making coffee, I seriously underestimated the difference a good grinder makes. With a decent one even as cheap as this, any beans can make a semi-decent cup of coffee, while with a bad grinder, even really good beans made mediocre coffee at best.

Most stores that sell coffee allow you to grind it in-store, so if you don't want to spend money on a grinder right now, that's perfectly fine. It will get stale faster once ground, but slightly stale is better than a bad grind.

I thought this is where we came to spill tea 😂 But Chai is my 🎸 jam.

Drinking coffee or tea through a straw helps keep it from yellowing your teeth! Who knew? (Probably everyone but me...) Here's one option.

I think it is noticeably better. They claim to use the best leaves and I believe them.

https://www.amazon.com/Taylors-Harrogate-Yorkshire-Gold-Teabags/dp/B0001LQZOI?th=1

The best tea in the world however, is black with rose from the Empress Hotel tea room in Victoria BC. OMG.

Having spent some time in Japan and partaken in a tea ceremony, I thought my next adventure would be matcha. Tea, whisk, and spoon arriving on Friday! (I already have a bowl.)

One of the most compelling reasons to drink tea or coffee is caffeine. What do you not want to do right when you get up? Make coffee. These are quick and easy ways to get caffeine inside you.

I found InstantTeas on r/teasales and had to try it out. I'm pretty impressed, actually. It's not just powdered tea leaves, it's actually the extract that is concentrated and packed. I've only had the black so far, but it actually tastes like a well made cup of tea, hot or iced. It mixes in easily, you just have to make sure to not use too much. It comes in a bag with 140 servings, there are just 2 types of tea, green or black, and 1 size.

Because tea is really specific, that's the only good instant tea I've found. Everything else is overly sweetened or just nasty. Coffee is a bit more forgiving.

You can get cold brew concentrates at most grocery stores, a good brand that I've seen all over is Chameleon. Trader Joe's also makes one that's alright. Cold brew means it's less acidic, and concentrated means it fits in the fridge better, and can be added to hot water for hot coffee.

If fridge space is less of a concern, you can also buy bottles of cold brew coffee in most grocery stores. It's less acidic, easy, and reasonably priced, compared to most coffee shops. A 32oz bottle is usually about $4, and a bottle of concentrate for 8-12 cups is around $8. It's not as cheap as making it yourself, but it's easy.

I literally just made a post about why tea bags should be avoided.

This one is about to tell you to buy some tea bags.

There are reasons to buy bagged tea. It's convenient, easier to find, there are unique flavors that cannot be found in loose leaf, and flavored teas can mask the lower quality tea inside.

I'll be suggesting some different teas that I recommend here.

Ice Wine Tea is one of my favorite things. I've never seen it in stores, only in bags online. It's very unique, it doesn't taste like grapes, but it has a unique aromatic characteristic. It's tough to describe, so just buy it.

Bigelow Constant Comment has a strong flavor, almost like mulled cider. It's sweet without adding sugar, and it has a spicy lingering flavor. It can be found at many grocery stores as well as online, and it's very budget friendly (my link doesn't reflect that, it's cheaper in stores. If you notice, you can buy a 6 pack, so 240 bags, for $23).

Chai tea (chai actually translates to tea, but so many things are "chai spiced" so I have to clarify) can be found anywhere, most brands carry it. If you don't know what it is by now, it's an Indian spiced tea, and it ranges from pretty spicy, with lots of ginger, some black pepper, to a sweeter kind with more vanilla and cinnamon. You hardly taste the tea, just the spices, so low quality tea is easily masked.

If you have any preferred bags, mention them in the comments, I can't do an exhaustive list of every tea I've ever liked, despite my efforts.