Are you a beginner when it comes to drinking coffee?

Still drinking instant coffee? We remember those days, but it is time to up your coffee game!

Once you discover great coffee (a coffee subscription is a great way to do this), it will be the highlight of every morning. You won’t just drink it to wake yourself up, it will also cheer you up. If you have been drinking instant coffee or cheaper supermarket coffee, it is generally dark roasted and often bitter. The milk (or non dairy options) and sugar helps to hide the taste of the actual coffee! Starting off, we recommend you keep drinking coffee in the same way, as black coffee can be an acquired taste. However, dip your toe into speciality coffee by grabbing a RiSE coffee box or a bag of beans from a speciality roaster. Next, try and experiment with new brewing methods such as cafetière or moka pots. We can introduce chemex and filter coffee later.

Skip To:

▻ Should I order beans or ground?

▻ Using non dairy

▻ Health benefits

▻ Why you need a coffee grinder

▻ Why you need coffee scales

Where to start as a Beginner to coffee

Espresso based coffees, accompanied by milk, are usually a good place to start if you’re looking to develop your palate and start getting to know speciality coffee. Cappuccinos, lattes, and flat whites are a good place to begin. Perhaps try a nice coffee out at a local independent coffee shop (and be sure to ask them where there beans are from!) if you don’t have the means to brew at home.

The Beans:

Arabica beans are known for its better quality and tasting smoother and sweeter. We would stay clear of Robusta beans, which are often bitter and overbearing. We’d also recommend to avoid ‘dark roasted coffee’ which will also taste a bit burnt and bitter, so look for a bag of beans that says “medium roasted” and you’ll immediately notice a difference in taste.

If you are unsure of what type of beans or flavour profiles you enjoy, RiSE coffee box helps you discover a variety of speciality coffee. Alice and Ben taste test coffee from 100’s of roasters to choose only the best coffees out there. We sample beans from different regions and origins, altitudes, and processing methods (washed or natural). As you start to drink more coffee and your taste buds get accustomed to the taste you will start to notice a difference these things can make! Alice isn’t a fan of natural coffees as these tend to be a bit more earthy, whereas Ben loves them!

The Equipment:

To get started with the basics we recommend getting yourself a cafetière and a V60 (filter, chemex). We would recommend looking at Bodum’s range of coffee equipment, they have some great bits. We do also recommend buying beans over ground coffee, as beans preserve freshness, so get yourself a good electric burr grinder - something like this Wilfa is good! If you want to know more about choosing beans over ground - check out this guide.

How to Brew:

We have put together some easy how to guides on brewing coffee with a cafetière (French Press), Moka pot, and V60. Once you start to get to grips with the brewing methods you can start to check out our other guides, such as how to froth your milk like a barista or latte art techniques!

If you are new to coffee, our versatile selections will get you started on your journey. Our RiSE coffee boxes are perfectly balanced so you have coffee to enjoy as your everyday staple as well as something slightly unusual to get your taste buds twinging.

Read about our story