“What coffee do you recommend?”
We hear this question all the time at the coffee stand.
And it may actually be the most difficult question to answer.
Because the coffee a shop wants to sell and the coffee that suits the person standing in front of us are not necessarily the same thing.
Of course, we know that selling a more expensive coffee would mean a bigger sale.
But if there is another coffee that feels more like what that person wants to drink right now, that is the coffee I would rather recommend.
So first, I ask a few questions.
“What kind of coffee do you usually drink?”
“Do you like bitterness?”
“What are you in the mood for today?”
There is no single recommendation.
At OUTSTANDING, we keep each coffee in a glass aroma jar so that people can experience its fragrance before choosing what to drink.
Before reading about the origin, variety, or processing method, open the lid and simply take in the aroma.
Which one is famous?
Which one is expensive?
Which one received the highest score?
Before thinking about any of that, look for the aroma that makes you instinctively want to smell it one more time.
You don’t need to know how to describe it.
“I like this one.”
That is enough to begin with.
Maybe you want something that lifts your mood.
Something for a slow day off.
Something to help you face tomorrow.
Or something to close out a day you worked hard to get through.
Even for the same person, the coffee they want can change from one day to the next.
Coffee is said to contain more than 800 aromatic compounds.
Some aromas emerge through roasting, while others transform along the way.
Some may bring back a memory from long ago.
Others may feel completely new.
Perhaps it reminds you of a tropical fruit whose name you don’t even know.
And even if you have never tasted that fruit before, the aroma might make you realize:
I like this.
Coffee can be a journey in search of a favorite you haven’t discovered yet.
That is why I don’t have one answer when someone asks:
“What do you recommend?”
How you feel that day.
What you usually enjoy.
And what kind of time you want to spend with that cup.
By hearing those things, I think we can finally begin to make a recommendation that actually means something.
I wonder what kind of cup we’ll meet tomorrow.
#3