So, as folks who know me may have suspected, I did end up getting some coffee stuff. And boy, am I terrible at making coffee. (I'm getting better.)
I never really liked coffee much in the past, but I've also only rarely had nice coffee, so I got curious and picked up a plastic pourover brewer known to be user-friendly (Hario Mugen) and a 1zpresso hand grinder. I got a few samples to try along with a bag of decaf so I don't kill myself from caffeine while experimenting.
Dealing with V60 pouring techniques and ratios and getting brewing temp up have proven to be quite a PITA, but after a few days I can semi-consistently produce beverage fit for human consumption.
It's interesting comparing fancy coffee tastes with fancy tea tastes. I am somewhat surprised at how challenging fruity (acidic) and floral flavors in coffee can be for me, since I generally really like those in tea. In coffee, sometimes they work for and other times it feels like I'm drinking flat soda. (Some of this is for sure user error, but I think not all? Not sure though.)