I don't like coffee. Can James Hoffmann change that? 

This was a much longer video than expected: please enjoy half an hour of people being interested in coffee (and 70 seconds of advertising which helped pay for it all)!

Thanks for having me on the channel, it was so much fun to have coffee and chat, and you being so open to trying, tasting and talking your way through the weird world of coffee makes this a really great video to watch. (I hope you’re still ordering decaf espressos on the regular!)

I’m 99% sure James is Toms alternative timeline where he liked coffee as a kid

Just spent 30 minutes watching two British men, who both look simultaneously 50 and 20, taste coffee together Life well spent

Never heard of James Hoffman, but I have to say I'm super, super impressed by this introductory format. Well thought out, informative, exciting, and never overwhelming. Forget coffee knowledge, James seems to be an excellent teacher.

This video singlehandedly threw me into the world of coffee. Since its release, I now own a V60, a Chemex, an expresso machine, grinders (both manual and electric), and have become obsessed with trying new kinds of locally roasted specialty coffee. What have you done to me?

James Hoffmann is, and I don't use this expression lightly, a class act. As a fan of both Tom and James' channels, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and as someone who has a high sensitivity to caffeine and doesn't drink coffee often, I loved every second of this.

Seeing Tom’s mind getting blown away every single sip he takes is so refreshing. James looks like he is genuinely excited about getting some who isn’t into coffee to drink coffee is so entertaining.

Tom is so lucky for this experience. Imagine being able to have a taste-session to find your favorite type of coffee and how it's made?! with James of all people! would love that some day

Tom went from second-guessing himself to be very excited about telling his thoughts. So wholesome!

This gem desperately needs a part 2 at some point. Maybe just an hour of two of you two talking over some coffee, that'd be lovely actually.

James' guidance and Tom's enthusiasm are absolutely brilliant in this. I really enjoy that James lets Tom find his way through this and experience it himself and also guiding it slightly to help him fully appreciate it.

imagine the disappointment when Tom discovers that most cafes around the world pale in comparison to a private tasting session with James Hoffmann

I love the way James did introduced Tom! Where I would've just given him the "best" coffees I had and force fed a friend, James cleverly created an experience and taught Tom to appreciate little things, take his time and savour all the tiny little nuances. So fun to watch and fascinating to see develop

I had a similar story with getting to like coffee when delivering pastries to a new wave café. The only issue is, I became a snob. It is a bit harder to say to friends and family “OK, thanks but I don’t like _this kind_ of coffee” than “Thanks I do not drink coffee”.

As a barista who thrives on teaching non coffee drinkers that coffee isn't just Folgers or Starbucks, I absolutely loved this video. Coffee is like wine, done right, it can be an experience.

I wish I could put into words the pure beauty and joy this video has. It is so wonderful to see someone genuinely come to try and learn, and watch anyone work who is a master at their trade by both skill and passion for it. A simple video on coffee is just a pure joy on so many levels for me. Thank you, you both made my evening a little brighter.

I love how- I mean, obviously- devoted James is. However, I think in watching him and his teaching to Tom without pressure- is an amazing tool. He has such a pure passion, and his ability to teach like this is purely amazing beyond words. Tom- as always- is eager to learn and to teach the same, but I like that neither of them assume it all here. James aims to hopefully discover something in Tom that Tom once thought could not be certain- and Tom listens very intensely. Both amazing examples of learners and teachers, and watching their interactions and genuine interest in their experience truly is special. Sometimes, people do rock! I've watched James for a while now, less so Tom, but I am continually enamored with the prospect that people still DO love these experiences so deeply. Plus, James's teaching method is calmly emphatic- and he knows the nuances he's teaching like he's sitting in your experiences or curiosity just the same. That's a teacher, and someone who isn't afraid to let themselves become a student all over again to experience the magic.

What a great teacher - introducing someone to their passion without being condescending, and evidently taking pride in sharing what they love. Every hobby needs people like this as ambassadors

I come as a follower of James and I have to say that this was an absolute joy to watch. You two bounce off of each other so much. Plus, getting to watch someone who did not like coffee or caffeine at the start of the video pick and puzzle his way through the flavours until he found things he genuinely liked was an absolute treat! I am FLOORED that you went from not liking coffee to quite enjoying espresso. That one, I find, tends to be a much more acquired taste, especially if you're just starting out.

It was nice to see the smile come to Tom's face when he tried the espresso. It's like he wants the adventure of discovering something he had previously thought he disliked. Well done Scottly Crüe.

At the cafe I work at, we call our Colombian roast the "traditional American cup of coffee," and the Sumatran is indeed a crowd favorite, so it's neat to see that reflected here. It did pain me though to see Colombia spelt as Columbia throughout the video

I'm not a coffee drinker, but watching Tom's enjoyment of the process makes me SO curious to try coffee this way as well!

I love the look of pure joy on James' face as Tom lights up with recognition of a certain note.

The absolute joy on James’ face when Tom starts describing the flavors is the energy we need in the world.

Its great to see Tom enjoys himself doing this experiment. But also truly amazing that you always get it right. This is realy amazing and truly inspirational. Just the same you did in the flight simulator. You “get it” and understand very fast.

This video got me into coffee 10 months ago. Now, for the past 9 months, I've been making a pourover almost every morning and loving having a new hobby. Thank you James and Tom ❤️

It's interesting hearing someone as verbose as Tom under the impression he's not describing the taste accurately, when he's actually nailing it. Another enjoyable video!

This video amazed me in a few ways. 1. James Hoffman is a master tasting teacher. He's VERY good at what he's doing here. I'm so impressed because I've seen a few of his other videos and wasn't impressed by him at all. I'll have to revisit. 2. Knowing Tom (in the weird parasocial way I think I do) and knowing coffee, this is actually incredibly entertaining. I'm hanging on your every word and cheering you on in your journey, Tom!!! 3. It's going to be really tragic when Tom realizes how bad most coffee out there is.

This is easily one of my favorite videos I've seen in the last year. Every time I rewatch it, it's a delight. Partially because both you and James are two of my favorite people on JPvid, and partially for the shared excitement you both have: you for learning a new thing, and James for sharing and teaching a new thing. It's wonderful.

This series should be called: “Tom Scott writes off his weekends as a business expense”

this is one of your best videos. seriously. james is incredible, i could have watched this video without breaking attention if it were 3 times as long. your personality really meshes well with his, it was obvious you were both having a great time. you've recently become one of my favorite creators and your interactions with other people are the biggest reason. your constant eagerness to learn is inspiring. keep learning and discovering new things, thank you for sharing your adventures with us.

he went from scared to hilariously excited and its so wholesome

This is one of those videos that I come back to. It’s so helpful in helping me understand my own coffee journey- hearing things broken down so directly

Wow, I had no idea I could get such intense joy from watching someone learn to enjoy a thing that has been so important and joyful for me for such a long time now. His response when he tasted that espresso was just pure gold.

This is so perfect in so many ways! Love the collab, chill atmosphere and especially both just having such a good time and showing so much joy

can we talk about James' presentation skills? He's an excellent teacher and explains things well

This has to be the greatest experience ever. I can't decide which I would enjoy more: learning coffee tasting from James or sharing some time with Tom. Amazing!

Tom and James are like if the same person took two different paths in life

Honestly, James just convinced me to go find a coffee I actually like on my own. I drink coffee, but I usually don't actually enjoy it and do it mostly for the caffeine or social purposes. I just always thought that all coffee is bitter tbh.

30 minutes of watching a passionate gentleman teaching another gentleman about his passion so passionately. I have achieved inner peace

Fun fact: "Floaties" which is at the top of the coffee that he scoops off, happens often with resin such is used in chromatography, which is why we use separatory funnels and time to separate the "floaties" out of the soaked resin. Not that interesting to someone who has never worked with it, but fun to someone who prepares them daily.

Imagine if at the end James was like "Tom you pretentious twat they're all Nescafe"

This is really interesting. I love coffee, but I am not an expert in coffee. Seeing how James brought you through the tasting process was such an eye opener because I never really understood how to tell coffee apart, until now, well at least superficially. I guess for most of us we don’t get the privilege of having different coffees to compare to, and also with the expert guidance of someone so passionate about coffee. I wish I could have someone like James walk me through the whole process and that would really be super enlightening.

As someone who has spent a lot of my life working with coffee and has invested a lot of my time in learning about it, this video was such a treat to watch, and it taught me a great deal about how to walk someone through the process of understanding coffee. I love this. Thank you.

I'm a huge fan of Tom, him trying things again and realizing he likes them should be a lesson to us all

As someone who became increasingly interested in coffee over the last couple of years, this was simultaneously very interesting, formative, and entertaining! I absolutely loved every seconds of it, and even as someone who had been drinking coffee for a while already, this really makes me want to do some kind of taste test similar to this, to try to better define my taste preferences and further improve my palette! I shall try to do this the next time I visit a café, for sure!

Im not a coffee person, but i do think cafes should have a tasting experience like this in shop to help people find their coffee. Id probably try it if there was one i knew about.

I’ve always been enamored by Tom’s success and his hard work to create his channel, but the fact he did all of it without a crippling caffeine addiction is truly astonishing. Kinda makes me hate him, joking of course.

A tasting session like this would be so cool - I'd never be able to drink normal coffee again though 😂 I'd be insufferable!

Coffee grows with you. After 50 years you develop a preferred taste and no one would dare take it away. Moderation is also the key to enjoying coffee. Tom's initial reaction to espresso surprised me ! So many people have a terrible reaction to espresso. There again, to me, a good espresso every once in awhile is so yummy. "I love coffee now !" Tom, I'm afraid is now hooked ! Congratulations to James Hoffmann for converting Tom to the great taste of coffee ! Great video, as always.

It’s fun to see how excited Tom is about coffee by the end of this 😂

I like how he's explaining everything down to the chemical level, really helps to actually understand what's going on

I love how James just breaks down coffee on a level that is easy to understand the complexity of coffee. I used to be the type of person that would just drink whatever we had in the house that my family or Girlfriend would buy. I always found it too bitter so I'd add cream and sugar to get it to my liking. After watching james videos and trying different coffees I found that I like Community Coffee Golden caramel it's smooth no acidity, slightly bitter. I just add a small bit of Coffeemate liquid Italian Sweet Creme and it's been fantastic.

Now Im jealous of anyone that has enough clout to say “Hmm I think i’ll try X” and then get introduced to it by the premier subject matter expert while getting paid for it. Well done, Tom. Been a fan of both of yours for a long time.

Absolutely loved this. I live in France and i hate the coffee here. I have resigned myself to the fact that they kill coffee beans for fun and call it yummy. I wish James could come and taste the coffee here. I would so love to hear what he thinks about french coffee beans. There is something definitely wrong. I like the coffee in Italy just next door to where we live but all over this country, getting a delicious coffee is an accident! Please come to France James and taste our coffee and tell us what is going on!

James should do this with a favorite patron or random subscriber as a prize! How fun would that be to have James Hoffmann help you find your coffee preferences!

Never seen coffee be so deep before. Now I understand it. Fair play to you both.

This video is a master class in humility, open mindedness, and communication.

The funniest part was watching both gentlemen go from slightly relaxed and open at the beginning to caffeine infused excitable chipmunks at the end. Well done lads. Well done.

James: agrees with something Tom said about coffee Tom: This is great. I’m going to get a good grade in coffee, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve

This video is like a gateway drug into the world of coffee, funny how many of us went down the rabbit hole thanks to Tom

James you are an incredibly kind, likeable and friendly person. I'd love to have a cup one day with you. You strike me as a person that would be fun to fellowship with just 2 guys that love coffee. Thank you for your exceptional service to our coffee drinker community!

Going around testing different stuff you think you wouldn't like, or you don't know if you like, and then having someone experienced showing it to you would be such an interesting experience :)

The note about the role temperature plays in flavor is interesting because that’s something I’ve noticed when I make tea. Oftentimes I add creamer and sugar to taste when hot, and later it feels a bit too sweet. On the opposite end, soy sauce. If you have soy sauce, if you store it on a shelf or in a fridge, take some now and shove the container into the other location. You’ll find the refrigerated soy sauce is much less salty. So having it cold reduces the strength of the saltiness. Watching this video, I’m reminded of just how fascinating humans are. We spend so much time and effort, if we have the means and budget, time/money/otherwise to, to enhance the experience of every aspect of our lives, to different extents. Here it’s food.

Tom Scott is living proof you don't need coffee to be productive

I couldn't put my finger on why I found this so fascinating, but then I realized that (as someone who's getting a degree in education), Hoffman's doing a great job scaffolding and constructing the experience almost like a good lesson. Bet he'd have been a terrific teacher in an alternate reality.

"That would have probably been more entertaining!" ...Nope. Guess again. There was literally nothing more entertaining than you sitting back with that bewildered, joyful chagrin as you said, "I like coffee now!" My whole face lit up and I started smiling and laughing like an idiot😂 Amazing video! I'm so glad you were able to find a coffee that you enjoyed and that you'll get the chance to join in on the experience that so many people enjoy every day. Happy coffee drinking, Tom!

This collab feels like, well, coffee and milk. Some kinda of harmony, an "OF COURSE" , natural mixture.

Two class acts. We need more people like this to enthuse us all with things we are not yet familiar with.

Damn, the "I like coffee now" got me. I'm so proud of James and happy for Tom. Now you know, that you not necessarily hate something, you just tasted a worst variant.

I love Tom's confused face. It's the face of a smart person learning.

This was fascinating to watch. I never got into espresso, and always had been drinking coffee with sugar if not milk as well. This video encourages me to explore and seek purer tastes.

You are a very good taster Tom. And helped by James's very clever way of guiding you through the tasting process.

Seeing Tom try something new and find genuine enjoyment in it is really nice. Sure it's fun to watch his videos where he tries something new and is like "aaaaa oh my god I hate this I'm going to die but I'm gonna persevere" is fun too in its own way, but this is just really nice

What an interesting and entertaining piece of work. Big thanks to both of you !

this is actually very sweet and can see toms nervousness turn into genuine interest

Every time Tom guesses a note in the taste or smell of the coffee and is told he’s right i feel like a proud parent in a weird way.

I so enjoyed this. I've only recently started to really enjoy coffee. Will check local shops to see if a cupping if offered. Looks like a good way to choose a coffee before purchase. I'm glad to see Tom liked the espresso. Am looking into a home espresso mahine now!

No one better to present coffee to a non-coffee drinker than James. What a legend!

Very wholesome; what a joy to watch ❤☕️

Legend sais that after a life of not drinking coffee, this half an hour of coffee tasting made him still not able to fall asleep

I'd love to go to a wine tasting with Tom sometime. The commentary and discussion would be great!

The moment Tom says "I like coffee now" makes me smile for some reason

Really nice video guys. So nice to see two really nice blokes explore something with open minds.

Now this is funny, I discovered Tom and James’ channels around the same time, and somehow these two together feels very familiar, should do a weekly/monthly get together!

You guys have the best dynamic I could watch you guys chat about stuff like this for hours

This is by far one of the sweetest JPvid vids I’ve ever watched ❣️

I'm glad James isn't a supervillain because that was a masterclass in planning and manipulating expectations. I saw that cheeky grin when it was all working out!

Its'crazy how pallete changes over time. I used to hate coriander and goat cheese, and now they are some of my favorite ingredients.

James is so humble. He clearly is a next level expert. It’s unbelievable

I feel like I'm watching someone discover the taste equivalent of learning the actual lyrics to a song they've always heard and sung wrong.

I'll take more 30 minute episodes of lovely fellows having a lovely little time, please

Tom Scott is amazing in that he can make almost anything interesting, and on the off chance that it still doesn't quite pique your interest it's still awesome to watch him having fun. Kudos.

He's just tasting coffee but it somehow feels like a gameshow. "Is it.. more bitter?" "It IS more bitter! Correct. Next round."

I think with coffee and beer, bitter drinks in general, it really comes down to finding the right flavour for you. Different brands and their products all taste considerably different from each other.

I think Tom being a linguist has helped him a lot here, more than I could convey

I can't like this whole experience enough! Tom, coming from a near non-coffee experience, showing the sheer elation of enjoying coffee made my day. James, you continue to confirm your coffee weirdo/expert moniker!

James is so knowledgeable and passionate, he could have been serving a selection of dishwaters and converted somebody!

James explaining his love for coffee through this is so wholesome!