this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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Coffee.
I blame James Hoffman entirely.
Within a year I went from:
Drinking instant coffee at home, but really enjoying "proper coffee"
To
Buying a cafetiere (~£15) + preground coffee
To
Buying a Nespresso (~£60 on offer) + pods
To
Buying a budget espresso machine (~£120) + preground coffee
To
Wasting my money on a cheap manual coffee grinder (~£50) + beans
To
Immediately replacing it with an entry level Sage grinder (~£170)
To
Buying an entry Level "proper" espresso machine (~£700)
It took me a good 2-3 weeks of practicing and dialling in before pulling a good shot of coffee that I'd actually want to drink, but by that point it was also about learning a new skill, learning how different aspects of the process affect the end result and learning how to make all sorts of different espresso-based drinks.
My girlfriend thought I was nuts at first, but a year or so later even she agrees it was worth the investment. I still for the life of me can't get the hang of latte art though.
The problem is now though that I'm a waaaay more critical of coffee from coffee shops, because I spent a long time making bad coffee whilst learning!
Similar but different : tea! You go from cheap bagged tea to going down the rabbit hole of loose leaf variations, temp control kettles, brewing vessels and brewing styles.
Have you reached the gaiwan stage already?
I have! …then full circle back to grandpa style. I still use a gaiwan from time to time on the weekend but I like bringing a container up with me at my desk without needing to refill constantly.
I agree but disagree on it being expensive.
I have a temp controlled kettle that only cost like $40, some really nice french presses from thrift stores, and a couple really nice pots ranging from iron to ceramic but they were a one time cost about 10 years ago.
You can cold brew tea in a big mason jar and strain with a dollar store strainer even.
The scale for weighing was expensive but is super useful in a kitchen anyways.
So the expensive part of Tea is mostly just the tea but that varies all over and is down to taste preferences and marketing. And per glass is pretty negligible in cost. As long as you aren't buying like the aged fermented monkey picked stuff.
Tea is a lot about patience and remembering organization of steps to get it perfect and that can be prohibitive but not cost if you don't want it to be.
You raise good points. The expensive part for me was the discovery aspect. Once you know what you like it’s not bad but the learning part…trying all the different greens and oolongs and pu’er and black teas - that was a little nuts at the beginning.
Now I have about 10 varieties that I like for different occasions and I stick to those and it’s not too bad.
Biggest splurge for me was an ember mug. Im a little embarrassed by how expensive it was, but honestly no regrets. Perfect temp tea for hours.
Nice! Never be ashamed of a purchase you actually use.
But yeah I still spend money trying a different tea flavor all the time but I know where and what my cheap Chinese greens are and have to make my own English breakfast tea but that's because I'm not importing stuff and it's easy enough for a flavor I can't get otherwise
Even low-grade Dragonwell is eyeopeningly expensive. And nothing tastes quite like it.
It tastes a ground up $20 bill soaked in hot water ;)