People Roasting A Coffee Enthusiast Need To Learn How To Let People Have Fun

A man named Tanner Colson made the mistake when uploading a video to TikTok: thinking that people online wouldn’t take his video and use it to make fun of him and other people like him.

What is he, you might ask?

A coffee enthusiast.

If you didn’t run for the hills screaming, it may be because you’d like to have your turn making fun of the man using thousands of dollars of equipment just to make coffee. Before you do, however, think about this for a second. People have this perception that coffee enthusiasts, or people who care a little more about their coffee than the next guy, are snobby, pretentious people. Some of them may be, but none of them deserve to be made fun of for what is, at the end of the day, a hobby.

We all need to allow each other the space to have fun.

The only thing that was hurt during the making of Colson’s video was likely his wallet (though, according to comments on the video, he received the equipment for free), yet people still found a way to insult the man as if he was the one spitting in their Starbucks latte. He doesn’t deserve the hate that he’s been getting just because he’s a coffee enthusiast.

Colson found something fun that he enjoys doing with his time. Even if it ends up costing him thousands of dollars, he isn't being snobby or obnoxious about it, he's just posting about the thing he enjoys. No one should be made fun of for that.

The minute-long video dubbed “Espresso as an art form” saw Colson playing with industrial-looking machinery and toying with doodads that would result in a measly shot of espresso. His video reached over 10 million views and was quickly spread to the far reaches of the internet where he was made fun of — specifically, on the social media platform now known as X (formerly Twitter).

“Breaking Bad had an entire character arc dedicated to a guy who was this annoying about making coffee and it ended with him getting shot in the [expletive] face,” one person posted. “Men will spend $10,000 on a coffee setup instead of going to therapy,” someone else claimed. A third person joked that you need an “Aerospace engineering doctorate degree” in order to be qualified to make this.

While everyone seems to think this is all fun and games, it feels mean-spirited and shame-y. Why should Colson be shamed for wanting to make coffee in this way? Do people feel validated in making fun of Colson because of their preconceived notions that he’s probably obnoxious about his coffee? If he’s just some guy who has fun making it, then what?

Tanner Colson uploaded a video prior to this one explaining his coffee-making hobby.

As if he had precognitive powers, Colson had previously uploaded a video explaining the stereotype surrounding coffee enthusiasts — that they’re all obnoxious, pretentious people who need to have their coffee made in this very specific, very expensive way. If you don’t make it like them, then you’re beneath them. But that isn’t the case at all.

“From the outside perspective it can look sort of insane, but here’s the thing: most of these pretentiousness accusations are coming from the mindset that coffee is just a commodity,” he explains. “It’s a means to an end — the end being to wake up in the morning. But for a lot of people, coffee is a hobby.”

In the same way that sports or video games can be very expensive hobbies, Colson argues that having a coffee hobby is similar. It’s about doing something that he enjoys and never about the results that come from it — in this case, the coffee.

People Roasting A Coffee Enthusiast Need To Learn How To Let People Have Fun

The only thing these people should be roasting are coffee beans.

We all need to allow each other the space to have fun.

Tanner Colson uploaded a video prior to this one explaining his coffee-making hobby.

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