axpetts My family, and most of my friends in fact, tend to enjoy a more ‘traditional’ style of coffee. I have tried to serve more ‘interesting’ speciality coffees before but tend to get a response which suggests it tastes a bit weird, and not really like coffee. I get that - specialty coffees generally don’t taste like a ‘normal’ cup.
Only once have I heard something along these lines. It was my own fault after hearing someone say they had hit on their perfect parameters for their, Italian blend coffee, at home - I made them a light, filter brew & ended up drinking it myself. Served me right for trying to force a point.
We used to have a Harris & Hoole, that was pretty decent, close by. My girlfriend, also her dad who is local, used to say how much they liked the, “H&H coffee”. I’d ask, “what do they have on?”, as the origins changed regularly, as did guest coffees from Squaremile & the like. They would just say, “You know, their normal stuff…”, which was odd to me as I almost never had the same, single origin, light/med, med roast from them twice on the trot.
Generally, my family/friends/work colleagues can’t identify ‘specialty’ coffee, nor roast level. If they have a question, it usually relates to the brand. If they have an observation, it is most commonly low bitterness/less in need of sugar.