Surprising And Fascinating Results From The Taste Test

I'm an old Grammy that didn't even start drinking coffee till I was in my 40's. And not seriously till I retired. I'm still learning what I like and enjoy learning all the coffee buzz words that help me describe what I'm tasting. Your videos are informative and entertaining too. I like your humor.

I'm not actually too surprised that the people with proper coffee setups at home drink less coffee. The reason I got myself an espresso setup is actually to reduce how much coffee I drink, to appreciate it more, to enjoy the labours of my work.

I'm a data scientist. James, you've done a fantastic job of presenting your results in a practical and insightful way. The edits were really slick and not distracting, and you managed to inject a good amount of your personal interpretation. Truly a fantastic use of this channel's knowledge and reach.

An over-70 here. Yes, in ancient times, most of the "good" coffee we could buy was dark roast, either from a handful of specialty roasters (like Graffeo in San Francisco) or canned from Italy. "Ethically sourced" was never talked about. Peets and Starbucks were revolutionary concepts, and considered back then to be generous employers. Things have changed. Incidentally I have a 50 year old espresso machine that still pumps out a decent cup of coffee.

This is part of the reason why I really respect James. He broke down all data to be easily digestible, and he's thoroughly transparent about where he feels there could have been improvements for higher degrees of accuracy or attaining more information. Loads of integrity, very personable, very passionate. It's people like him that can singlehandedly increase the enthusiasm and interest in any craft or hobby. The world needs more people like this in every field. You're a shining gem in a world that can often be quite dark. I hope to shake your hand and say thank you someday. Cheers to you, James.

I would LOVE a Europe version! (Ofcourse to participate myself)

I barely drink coffee, but this channel is endlessly fascinating. Because discussing coffee is really discussing people.

There already are 900 comments so I'm not sure this will get seen BUT…there is one very very impactful detail about the tasting that we didn't talk about. Most of us drink our coffee above 175°F/80C. By the time I went through the four cups for the final time and adjusted my preferences the temps were close to room temperature. In addition all four of these coffees changed dramatically in character as they cooled. I'm certain the cool temps affected my final choices.

Title, abstract, intro, detailed sections, conclusion, and future directions. Take a moment to appreciate how James is reinventing traditional research papers in a fun and lighthearted way via the video medium! For all I know, soon enough there will be peer review from other YouTubers 😂

As both a statistics and coffee nerd I am loving this data - also nice to see my results make me completely basic and like everyone else.

Data aside, I have to say this was so much fun. I had my whole family on a video chat trying coffees together. They cracked up at James' slurping, and all of them enjoyed talking about their preferences between each coffee. It was lovely to share the experience with them. Thanks James!

I generally find your content entertaining, but you are also really making contributions to the coffee industry as a whole.

The age differences are the most interesting to me. I have a mom who's been a professional cook and LOVES intense and polarizing food flavors, but she's very traditional with coffee flavors. Part of me wonders if there's something psychological about coffee, where it's a kind of comfort drink. It's like the mom's cooking of food and drink. If you grew up on a certain kind, nothing else compares.

When I was roasting coffee, the natural processed was always very polarizing. People either loved it or really didn't like it.

I'm in the >65 group, and have a strong preference for washed light roasts. I know exactly why, too. My parents, like most of their generation drank either semi-burnt percolator coffee or instant, and I hated both. I was sure coffee was not for me at all ... until I had a sample of a light roasted specialty coffee in an import store. It wasn't the best (this was the late 1970s), but I saw possibilities. Most of my life I drank generic "medium roast" pour over, ground in a blade grinder at home, with occasional good cups at third wave cafes. During the pandemic, I decided to improve my coffee game — burr grinder, weighing everything, and improving my pouring method. Now, I can indulge my preference for light, washed coffee. I actually make better than most cafe's batch brews.

As a member of that older demographic, someone who was of the "darker and stronger the better" clan for many many years and just started getting into coffee a few years ago, I was an almost immediate adopter of light roasts. Perhaps not everyone is the same, but I sure came to appreciate the unique flavors of these lighter roasts and fermented coffees.

Can we all just stop and thank James for all the work that goes into videos like these? It’s amazing what we’re able to learn for free.

It’s very surprising that B is roasted medium, since it tasted super smoky to me. I thought I was drinking a diner’s meal in a cup, I legit put down “bacon” as one of my tasting notes

7:19 - I get the feeling that Hames is really going to love the like "Ok, people really like naturals".

I love your hypothesis about why different demographics prefer/lean towards different types of coffee. I am 36, but started drinking coffee before I was 10 (it's a family thing lol)... I love to try new types of coffees and different brewing methods, but there is just something so comforting about standard Folgers Classic Roast in a drip machine LOL But that's exactly what we drank as a family during family gatherings...