That excitement you feel when you come across a new café. The eagerness with which you look for another single origin to try.
Rather than just sticking with the same coffee you love, you believe there’s always a new favourite yet to be found.
These are the signs of a coffee lover who simply can’t sit back without experiencing everything the coffee world has to offer.
And to make those coffee adventures more meaningful, create your own coffee journal - you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how engaging this activity is.
Why You Should Start Your Coffee Journal
Journalling is not just a creative endeavour. From jotting down recipes, measurements & new finds to improving your home barista skills, your coffee journal is an invaluable tool.
When you’re always switching up your cup of joe - be it the blend or the coffee drink (say, espresso or latte) - it can become a bit complicated to keep flavour notes and cup profiles in mind.
That’s where your coffee journal comes into the picture.
You can track how different regions, roasts, and brewing methods affect the taste. Over time, as you become more accustomed to noting down the nuances, you also develop the ability to detect tasting notes in a cup, thereby enhancing your palate.
It also becomes easy to recreate recipes that you like and ensure there’s consistency in each cup.
Coffee Journal Formats to Consider
Once you’ve decided to create your coffee journal, the next order of business is to choose what format you want to go for - a physical notebook, a digital file, or a dedicated planner with built-in prompts and sections to fill out.
Each approach has its own pros and cons. Consider your habits and preferences before choosing one.
For instance, would you want to carry a physical notebook when you’re out and about?
Do you want the flexibility to plan out the journal yourself without having pre-formatted pages?
Perhaps a digital note-taking app makes more sense for you since it allows you to sync content between devices, search for a specific entry, and easily combine text with media.
What to Include in Your Coffee Journal?
Some of you may want to ease into this habit and not make it super overwhelming right from the start. Others may be ready to embrace their coffee nerd persona and capture every possible detail about their coffee experiences.
Either way, the elements you’d want to note down are split across a few categories:
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Coffee Basics - The source of the beans, variety, processing method, roast level, etc.
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Coffee Spots - Names of coffee shops, restaurants, and roasteries that you’ve tried and ones you want to try.
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Type of Drink - Americano, shot of espresso, latte, cold brew, and so on.
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Brewing Info - The brewing gear used, ingredients, ratio of coffee to water, grind size and type of grinder, water temperature, brew time, etc.
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Flavour Profile - Aroma, mouthfeel, category of flavours, body, balance, acidity & sweetness.
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Methods - The exact steps you followed, any adjustments made during subsequent brew attempts, comparisons between brew gears and grind sizes used.
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Rating & Review System - The rating scale (stars vs numeric, 5-point system vs 10-point system) and type of reviews (long-form or brief, keyword-based, descriptive).
Don’t let this list intimidate you. You can pick and choose what elements are important for you to jot down.
How to Make Coffee Journalling a Long-Term Habit?
Let’s face it, most of us have that one habit we tried to maintain but gave up a month or two into it.
If you don’t want coffee journalling to suffer a similar plight, take small, sustainable steps to make it a long-term habit.
Initially, you can dedicate a certain time of the day to jot down your thoughts. Build a system around it so you can repeat the process easily.
Setting goals or gamifying your coffee journalling are also great ways to ensure you naturally gravitate towards this habit.
For instance, you could set a goal to try 3 single origins this month or use the same blend to create 5 different coffee beverages.
You’ll certainly notice how rewarding it is to maintain a coffee journal. Whether you’re keeping it simple and journalling only a couple of times a month, it is still a record of how your palate and preferences evolve over time.
This habit also encourages mindful coffee consumption, helping you savour each sip and appreciate the diversity that the industry presents.
Ultimately, the whole point is to get creative and have fun with coffee.