My Grind is Too Coarse

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "My Grind is Too Coarse"

Date: October 27, 2025
Host: Armstrong & Getty (Joe, Joe Keddie) with Katie

Main Theme

This episode focuses on the joys—and pitfalls—of pursuing “hipster” hobbies, from home espresso-making to blacksmithing and baking bread. The hosts explore what draws people to these old-timey, hands-on crafts, share personal stories, and grapple with the difference between genuine satisfaction and performative trendiness.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Trials and Triumphs of Home Espresso

[00:35] Joe kicks off with a classic home barista problem:

• He’s struggling with his new espresso machine, wrestling with grind size, extraction time, and variables in pursuit of the perfect cup.
• Joe describes a fleeting victory (“the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had” [02:02]), immediately followed by repeated failures. He highlights the tedium—and reward—of perfecting a craft.

[02:13] Quote:

“How coarse is your grind? … I might have said skateboarding… but it’s coffee.”
—Joe Keddie

2. The Hipster Stereotype—Mockery and Relatability

Joe reads the hilarious “Most Hipster Man in the World” bit [01:20], poking fun at over-the-top artisanal obsessions.

• They laugh at beard oil, typewriters for babies, and bar fights over Fleet Foxes lyrics.
• Joe admits he’s mocked these “hipster” pursuits, but questions where mockery ends and genuine appreciation begins ([08:23]).

[02:19] Quote:

“He is the most hipster man in the world.”
—Joe Keddie

3. Old Hobbies in Modern Times

Joe’s friend, a blacksmith and IT guy, inspires a discussion about the fulfillment found in tangible crafts:

• Blacksmithing, sewing, and baking as meaningful, grounding activities.
• Joe’s son, Henry, loves watching blacksmiths at fairs; they recently spent time witnessing the craft in person ([03:58]).
• Satisfaction seems rooted in making or mastering something yourself—contrasted to their “modern crap” jobs ([06:37]).

[04:45] Quote:

“It is kind of funny how many of the hipster conceits… are old timey, like… you look like you just came off the Prairie in 1840.”
—Joe Keddie

4. The Psychology of Doing vs. Showing

The hosts differentiate between performative hipsterism and genuine learning:

• Katie brings up her dad’s passion for baking sourdough—“Larry’s loaves” ([07:46]–[08:17]).
• Joe reflects on the “caveman” satisfaction from being self-sufficient: “There’s something that goes on there, that doesn’t happen with a lot of the modern crap we do.” ([06:54])
• They continue to lampoon the “showboaty conceit” side but respect the real effort and reward in difficult hobbies ([09:08]).

[08:23] Quote:

“There’s way worse things I could be doing with my time than trying to figure out how to perfect my espresso beans. Or him with his blacksmithing… he finds it so much more rewarding… there’s something that goes on there.”
—Joe

5. Finding Purpose and Community Hobbies

Keddie discusses how retirement satisfaction often comes from cultivating meaningful, hands-on interests ([06:58]). Examples include:

• Master gardening (raising orchids)
• Breadmaking
• Building things with your hands

[07:46] Quote (Katie):

“One of [my dad’s] favorite things to do on the planet right now is he makes killer sourdough bread… we call them Larry’s loaves.”

6. The YouTube and Podcast Economy

The conversation shifts to the way people now monetize their hobbies through platforms like YouTube:

• There are “coffee channels” with millions of followers—something unimaginable a decade ago ([11:15]).
• The democratization of expertise (“If you’re good at something and you got a bit of a personality… you can turn it into a life” [11:58]).
• They joke about the overabundance and casual nature of podcasts today ([12:25]-[12:57]).

[13:25] Quote:

“It’s interesting how many people have carved out a niche for themselves. A big niche. You shouldn’t even really call it a niche. If you got 3 million people tuning in, that’s not a niche.”
—Joe

7. Satirical YouTube Channel Concepts

The group brainstorms intentionally bad, deadpan YouTube channels:

• Keddie: “Build beautiful birdhouses. Triple B channel… the joke would be, I suck at it” ([13:44]).
• Katie: “Well, I’d watch the hell out of that.” ([14:12])
• Keddie thinks of the same premise but with cakes ([14:35]).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Note | |---------------|-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:20 | Narrator (Comedy) | “He grows his own beard oil. His bicycle has no brakes because stopping is for sellouts…” (full “Hipster Man” riff, tongue-in-cheek satire) | | 04:45 | Joe Keddie | “It is kind of funny how many of the hipster conceits… are old timey, like… you look like you just came off the Prairie in 1840.” | | 06:54 | Joe | “There’s something that goes on there, that doesn’t happen with a lot of the modern crap we do.” | | 08:23 | Joe | “There’s way worse things I could be doing with my time than trying to figure out how to perfect my espresso beans…” | | 09:08 | Joe Keddie | “That’s investing yourself in learning something and overcoming the challenges. That I totally respect.” | | 11:58 | Joe | “If you’re good at something and you got a bit of a personality… you can turn it into a life.” | | 13:25 | Joe | “It’s interesting how many people have carved out a niche for themselves. A big niche. … that’s not a niche.” |

---

Engaging Discussion Highlights with Timestamps

• [00:35–03:13]: Espresso struggles, hipster comedy, and the pitfalls of obsession
• [03:25–05:11]: Blacksmithing as a modern hobby, “old timey” trends, and fulfillment
• [06:37–09:14]: The deeper satisfaction of hands-on crafts versus tech jobs and modern work
• [11:15–13:34]: Monetizing hobbies (YouTube, podcasts), and the ease of becoming a broadcaster
• [13:44–14:47]: Humorous brainstorms for intentionally terrible YouTube channels

---

Tone & Language

The tone remains self-aware, sardonic, and humorous—filled with affectionate ribbing of “hipsters” and themselves. The hosts blend genuine existential musings with playful mockery, keeping the energy informal and relatable.

---

Summary

This episode offers a thoughtful, amusing meditation on why people dive into time-consuming, hands-on hobbies. From espresso to blacksmithing and bread baking, Armstrong & Getty (with Katie) walk the line between ironic detachment and authentic appreciation. They ultimately find value, community, and even joy in pursuing “old timey” skills—regardless of whether they’re seen as hipster clichés. The proliferation of hobby-based YouTube channels and podcasts is held up as a sign both of changing times and the universal human need for purpose and self-expression.

Transcript

[iHeart Radio Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[iHeart Radio Advertiser]

Wishing the holidays could come early. If you own or manage your business, they can. With help from iHeartradio. People are already shopping for their loved ones and hunting for deals wherever they can find them. Including right here. They're listening to the radio. They're listening to podcasts. They could be listening to you. Don't wait for everyone else to kick off the holidays. Get your best season of the year up and running today. Call 844-844-IHeart or visit iheartadvert advertising.com.

[Joe]

Still too sour. Apparently my grind is too coarse. It's one more thing. Armstrong and Getty. One more thing. That's the sort of lingo we throw around those of us who make our espresso at home with our fancy machines.

[Joe Keddie]

Oh, no. And you're going to tell us about it.

[Joe]

Which. Which leads me to this. Just the whole concept of these sorts of things which I want to talk about a little bit. As my son went and watched a blacksmith friend of mine who does blacksmithing. He's a forger. So I'm a home espresso connoisseur. He's a forger, that sort of thing. But a little setup to that is this comedy thing I came across of called the most Hipster man in the World.

[Narrator of Hipster Man Comedy]

He listens to bands that broke up before they formed. He gentrified a taco stand by asking for aioli. He grows his own beard oil. His bicycle has no brakes because stopping is for sellouts. He smokes a pipe, but only indoors and only while listening to Mongolian throat singing. He gave his baby a typewriter as a toy. He makes his own soap but never uses it. He once ghosted someone for not knowing what a modular synth is. His apartment is furnished with upcycled milk crates from dairies that went bankrupt in the 80s. He once got into a bar fight over a Fleet Foxes lyric. He refuses to use Google Maps. He gets directions from indie baristas instead. He discovered kale before it was a superfood. Okay, that more or less he denies knowing it.

[Joe]

That makes the point that sort of proceed grows his own beard oil.

[Joe Keddie]

He is the most hipster man in the world.

[Joe]

But so I was thinking about this over the weekend. So I got my fancy espresso machine that I'm struggling to figure out how to use. God is long run. It'll be cheaper than the pods. The pods are actually kind of expensive. You know, if you use Keurig pods or Nespresso pods, you add it up. However much coffee you drink It's a fair amount of money. It'll be cheaper in the long run to do it this way. But I was struggling with this thing. I made my first cup of coffee at like midnight on Friday night. I made decaf to make sure I wouldn't be able to. It was so good. I thought, this is awesome. I'm glad I did this. This is the best cup of coffee I've ever had. Then the next morning when I tried to make caffeinated stuff, it's like, this is horrible. If this was the Circle K, I'd ask for my money back. So. And that's what I've been dealing with all week. And then you get into the. How coarse is your grind and is the drip. How many seconds does it take to make your espresso? Because between 12 and 15 seconds is ideal. More than that or less than that. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All that sort of.

[Joe Keddie]

If you'd said your how coarse is your grind? What am I talking about? I might have said skateboarding could have been.

[Joe]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joe Keddie]

But it's coffee talking coffee.

[Joe]

But there are the elitist and there are all these rabbit holes of all these different sorts of things and how long your beans. How long between roasting and when you use them. I mean, just all this different sort of stuff, right? And. But I was really digging it as something to do and just focus on or whatever and try to perfect. And then I got this friend who. He always wears a T shirt that says something about being a blacksmith. Blacksmiths do it with an apron or whatever. And. And I asked him about it one time. He said, yeah, that's my hobby. That's what I did. And I said, well, my son really loves that. Anytime we're at a fair or something where they got a blacksmith making stuff, he always wants to watch it. And I said, if you're ever doing that, I'd love it. He said, oh, I have kids come over all the time. I love sharing the craft, so. Oh, that's great. He texted me on Saturday morning. We went over to his house. He's got this big setup in his garage, and he's got the super hot whatever you call that piece of machinery, you stick the metal in to get it, 2000 degrees so you could actually mold it with a hammer and everything like that. And he started blacksmith and some stuff. And we were there for a couple hours. And Henry really, really enjoyed it. I enjoyed watching it. But it's a very hipster sort of thing in a. In a hipster sort of town. That he's making stuff as a. Forging his own steel or whatever there.

[Joe Keddie]

Yeah, it is kind of funny how many of the hipster conceits and, you know, teach their own. That sounds cool to me. It's very zen. I'm sure it's a hobby. But how many of the hipster conceits are old timey, like the whole steampunk thing. Yeah, you look like, you know, you just came off the Prairie in 1840.

[WashablesOfSas.com Advertiser]

Just.

[Joe Keddie]

It's old timey as hip.

[Joe]

Yeah. I was talking to him over the week. She's really into sewing her own clothes to the most she can. You know, you can't do everything because who's got the time? But as many things she can. She sews her own clothes. And I was just wondering about that because I've mocked this sort of hipster stuff. He grows his own beard oil. I've mocked this sort of hipster stuff so much. But as I was making this coffee, there's way worse things I could be doing with my time than trying to figure out how to perfect my espresso beans. Or him with his blacksmithing in his garage and everything like that. He's an IT and a college IT guy in a college town, right? Yeah. He actually is hoping to get good enough at the blacksmithing and be able to sell enough stuff that he can quit his it job. He just, he finds it so much more rewarding. And that's the sort of the thing that with the coffee, he finds it so much more rewarding. He said, spending a couple of hours doing that blacksmith stuff and making something with a hammer and bending it with his, you know, the physical part of it and everything like that. Then he gets from his IT job and I got. I was feeling rewarded by, you know, making my grind finer and getting the temperature a little hotter and tasting it. No too much. Just that sort of thing. I told the guy my example of when we first got on the second farm that we lived in, I was out in this back pasture and I'd set up the giant sprinkler system and I was watering that pasture. I. I had such a feeling of satisfaction from that that I rarely get in life. It's some sort of, you know, caveman style. You're able to support yourself, you're able to be self sufficient. I don't know exactly where it comes from. Right. The figuring out how to make your own coffee, figuring out how to blacksmith, figuring out how to water your field. I don't know. But there's something that goes on There, that doesn't happen with a lot of the modern crap we do.

[Joe Keddie]

Right. You know, we could take a turn into AI and how removing people's sense of purpose is going to be terrible. But it occurs to me, I know, you know, I got a pretty good handful of friends and golf buddies who are still working, and a pretty good handful that are retired. And a lot of the retired guys who seem happy, they develop passions like that. Like, my buddy Rob is like a master gardener, including orchids. He raises orchids. Just these exquisite flowers that you got to know what you're doing and do it very, very carefully. So, yeah, you can identify what. What trips your trigger, but it's absolutely undeniable. What you said you get a feeling of satisfaction from that sort of thing. That's just joy. It's like deep in you. Katie, you look like you agree.

[Katie]

Oh, yeah, totally. And, I mean, my dad's come on this show a few times, and he's had an amazing background, you know, paramedic, embalmer, judge. One of his favorite things to do on the planet right now is he makes killer sourdough bread. And so every now, like, probably twice a week, I'll get a picture from my mom of him with his. We called them Larry's loaves with this little loaf of bread that he made, and that's, like, one of his favorite things on the planet to do.

[Joe]

That'd be very similar to the coffee thing I'm doing. I'd be trying different temperatures and recipes and.

[Katie]

Yeah.

[Joe Keddie]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, man, I'm jealous of that. Oh, a nice warm slice of sourdough with butter. Yeah, it's so good.

[Joe]

It's the satisfaction of you making it yourself. Yeah. So having mocked the hipster stuff for so many years, and I will continue to. I was trying to figure. Figure out where my mockery of this sort of thing ends. And my. I understand why people like it begins. Maybe it has a lot to do with how much you freaking talk about it to other people.

[Katie]

Maybe.

[Joe Keddie]

Yeah. Although, you know, there's like, I. I dress like, you know, again, just came off the prairie in 1860 because it's hip. Your buddy, the blacksmith, you would not hang with that if it was a conceit.

[Joe]

No. Because it's too much work.

[Joe Keddie]

So. So you've got, like, the showboaty conceit, hipster stuff, and then you've got, like. Like you're doing with the coffee or he's doing.

[Joe]

That's different.

[Joe Keddie]

That's investing yourself in learning something and overcoming the challenges. That I totally respect.

[WashablesOfSas.com Advertiser]

Tired of spills and stains on your sofa? WashablesOfAs.com has your back. Featuring the Annabe Collection, the only designer sofa that's machine washable inside and out. Where designer quality meets budget friendly prices. That's right, sofas start at just $699. Enjoy a no risk experience with pet friendly stain resistant and changeable slipcovers made with performance fabrics. Experience cloud like comfort with high resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing. The sturdy steel frame ensures longevity and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime. Check out washablesofas.com and get up to 60% off your annabe sofa backed by a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund. No return, shipping or restocking fees. Every penny back. Upgrade [e-mail] Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[iHeart Radio Announcer]

Run a business and not thinking about Radio? Think again. Cause more people are listening to the radio and iHeart today than they were 20 years ago. And only iHeart broadcast radio connects with more Americans than TV, digital, social, any other media, even twice as many teens than TikTok. And that reach means everything. Just think about the universal marketing formula. The number of consumers who hear your message times the response rate equals the results. Now let's get those results growing for your business. Radio's here now more than ever and iheart's leading the way. Think radio can help your business. Think iheart streaming, podcasting and radio. Where the reach is real. Let us show [e-mail] that's iheartadvertising.com or call 844-844-Iheart one more time. Just call 844-844, iheart and get radio working for you.

[Joe]

One other aspect of all of this that I have found in a couple of different realms of life is how many people because of YouTube and that sort of thing can become, you know, support themselves on these kind of things. There I've, I've come across, I didn't even know they even existed. I know now like 10 people that have coffee related YouTube channels with like 2 or 3 million followers in some cases where it's all about their expertise in making a cup of espresso at home and they just, you know, they bought the camera gear and they got a bit of a personality and they spend some time working on it and it takes off and you can tell from Listening to them. They got sponsors and they. All this fancy equipment gets sent to them because they review it and stuff like that. That didn't. That was impossible not that many years ago. I mean, I think that's really cool. And there's that for skateboarding or guitars or making coffee or. I'm sure there are a gazillion well known bread people. Every aspect of it. If you're. If you're good at something and you got a bit of a personality, you buy a camera, you can. You can turn it into a life.

[Joe Keddie]

I wish I had expertise in anything.

[Joe]

I know, Me too.

[Joe Keddie]

Other than this. And, you know, it's funny. Oh, just as an aside, I was. I met a friend's son the other day and he said, joe here has a podcast because he's like in his 60s or late 50s. He doesn't realize to young people, everybody's got a fucking podcast. Sorry, Hanson. Yeah, please. No, no, that's just. That's like saying he has a blog. Nobody cares.

[Joe]

You should say to him, would you like a podcast? I can show you in about three minutes how you could have a podcast. Here's the app on your phone. Start talking into it. Look, you got a podcast.

[Joe Keddie]

Allegedly. Conceivably, you know, I. You, us could, you know, do like, YouTube videos for how to have a good podcast, but the video would be this long. Either got it or you don't. And if you got it, you got to do it a bunch to get better at it.

[Joe]

Yeah. It's interesting how many people have carved out a niche for themselves. A big niche. You shouldn't even really call it a niche. If you got 3 million people tune in to say, that's not a niche.

[Joe Keddie]

It'S a home run.

[Joe]

But there's lots of people in every aspect of life that you could possibly come up with. That's a really cool thing.

[Joe Keddie]

Here's. Here's one. I got to start a YouTube channel about building bird houses. Build beautiful bird houses. Triple B channel. And the joke would be, I suck at it. I give all the instructions, you know, speak beautifully about it, and then measure twice and cut once. And then I put it together and I just build the world's shittiest bird houses. Because trust me, I would. I am so bad at that.

[Katie]

Well, I'd watch the hell out of that.

[Joe]

Seriously. All the time.

[Joe Keddie]

Oh, yeah. I. I would never crack a smile.

[Joe]

That doesn't line up.

[Joe Keddie]

Never wink at the audience at all. And every time at the end, I'd be like, yeah, yeah, I. I'm not sure what happened.

[Joe]

Oh, boy, Joe.

[Joe Keddie]

I'm gonna do the same thing, but with cakes.

[Joe]

I don't know how to make a cake. It'll come out raw. I'll burn myself on the oven. The end of every birdhouse episode.

[Joe Keddie]

I. I don't know that. I don't know what happened.

[Joe]

See you next time. Well, I guess that's it. You next. Have on. Joe builds birdhouses.

[Joe Keddie]

Building beautiful birdhouses. Welcome back to Triple B. I'm Joe Keddie.

[iHeart Radio Advertiser]

Wishing the holidays could come early. If you own or manage your business, they can. With help from iHeartRadio, people are already shopping for their loved ones and hunting for deals wherever they can find them, including right here. They're listening to the radio. They're listening to podcasts. They could be listening to you. Don't wait for everyone else to kick off the holidays. Get your best season of the year up and running today. Call 844-844-IHEART or visit iheartadvertising.com.

[iHeart Radio Announcer]

This is an iheart podcast.