It really has gotten to the point that different coffee should be treated as different teas. Nobody expect that the different teas should taste the same. For some reason, the expectation is largely that coffee should be coffee.
And, it is mind bending for some folks to hear that I abhor the taste of arabica coffee. It is so so bad.
Claiming you dislike Arabica is a weird statement. There is a bigger diversity inside of Arabica varietals alone than in tea and wine.
So that part bends my mind.
What about arabica do you detest, specifically? What of origin, processing, roasting, and brewing differences?
Arabica produces such a varied spectrum of cups, it’s really quite head scratching to hear you write off the entire species, yet still hear you drink robusta.
Fair if you are proposing that I probably would not hate all of it? Do you pursue robusta at the same level?
For specifics, its been a while since I tried it. I can seek out some to try again, if you want. I don't think it is as extreme as the "tastes like soap" reaction that many have on cilantro, but I'm growing to think it has to be similar.
I'm one of the lucky people where any coffee is coffee for me. McDonald's, Starbucks, instant coffee, specialty coffee, cat pooped coffee? Yup, it tastes like coffee, I'm good to go.
I put cream and sometimes sugar in my coffee, so I'm surely obscuring most of the subtleties.
But to me, Starbucks still tastes terrible (burned), and Dunkin Donuts is nasty.
In recent years I've ordered my roasted coffee from coffeebeanery.com, and I've been pretty happy. I'm pretty sure all of the varieties I get are Arabica.
Indeed, robusta. It amuses me that I'm probably fine with folgers and/or whatever cheap coffee you can get when in a hotel. At home, I think death wish is the only easy way I know to buy robusta whole bean.
I have had specialty robusta (I have some green robusta in my house right now) but it has always been pretty tough to drink for me, but I don't like adding sugar or milk to my coffee most of the time.
I take my coffee neat, most of the time. Have had more lattes than otherwise lately. And, oddly, that is the only way I can take the taste of arabica coffee. :D
And, it is mind bending for some folks to hear that I abhor the taste of arabica coffee. It is so so bad.