My dad called my pour-over setup 'fancy' and it made me think

Blake Webb · 2026-04-15T05:30:06.736476+00:00

I was making coffee for my dad last weekend, and he watched me weigh the beans and time the pour, then just said, 'We just used a percolator and it was fine.' It wasn't a dig, but it hit me how much the ritual itself has become the point for me, not just the caffeine. Do you think we've lost something by making it so precise, or just found a new way to enjoy it?

ryan9523mo ago

I'm gonna push back a little here @the_faith @violafox. I get the appeal of the ritual but sometimes I think we're just convincing ourselves the process matters more than the result. Like with coffee, I've had pour over that was super precise and tasted fine, then I've had a cheap drip machine make a cup that blew my mind. Same with bread baking, I've seen people obsess over hydration percentages and proofing temps and end up with a brick, while my grandma just threw flour and water together and made the best loaves I've ever had. The craft stuff can be awesome but I think it's easy to confuse fussing with actually improving the thing.

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violafox5mo ago

It's the same with bread baking now (all the exact temps and hydration talk). We traded simple tools for a hobby, which isn't bad, just different. The ritual is the whole point.

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the_faith5mo ago

Yeah, totally. I see this with like, vinyl records coming back too, where the fussy process is the whole fun. Maybe we're just adding a bit of craft back into stuff that got too easy and boring.

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