Phone calls and airing the laundry
I'm done and headed back to Cambridge so let's recap. Long phone calls touching base with Kaminsky whose out to pull shots at a coffee 'jam' in San Fran. My boy will be representing Ecco which is a huge honor as Andrew's a fan favorite of our group. Kaminsky better polish his latte art as I hear Baca is serious 'bout the pour. I wonder where Ritual gets it's bake goods but boy they sure go through a lot of coffee! There's rumor of an 'alchemy roast' at the jam and that someday Kaminsky will update... someday... but we may be all old and gray talking bout the good ole days by then.

Meanwhile, back in the lab...

Ben is furiously modding variable speed drum rotation controls on the roaster, from 30rpm to 80rpm settings. That means we can change drum speeds during any portion of the roast. What does that really mean? Let me ask you this first, have you even heard of that on a US roaster? In some ways it means we may be able to overcome a good amount of the design flaws in this roaster.

Much ado about iced coffee for Ben: full immersion, aged, drip, toddy, you name it, he's been getting sick on these super caffeinated versions. It may be the first time someone ever thought of PIDing a crock pot for a coffee related usage. Promises abound of something tasty but I keep thinking, what about the espresso? Soon or maybe soon as I can get the machine up and running. Oh yes, many other things we cannot get into until we actually get into it more as is often the case these days. All hush hush and such.

To the bakery...

Judson is tweaking vacuum pots proclaiming the berries and fruit in another alchemy roast. He must have a good source of water, which I did not have on this trip. Minerals can make your coffee taste disgustingly beefy or astringent and even vegetal. Remember, use filtered and softened water, not mineral water unless it's Cirqua. Ah yes, I need Judson to score me a lemon curd in honor of Petey to remind us why doing one espresso well is much more important than doing 5 poorly, but $1 off screams peak of quality elegance doesn't it?

Does anyone really use the Clover up to it's full potential? Never mind that side topic. The more I learn in coffee, the more it's always about the roast, isn't it though? Best green, storage, and brewing execution in the world mean nothing if the roast is not up to par or at least somewhat consistent. Waita sec though, consistent does not mean thoroughly boring. I seriously begin to wonder if quality begins to fly out the window as a company grows larger. I once watched first hand as good roasts became inconsistent or simply lost a direction while company growing pains emerged and excuses flourished. Authority was delegated and given to the largely ambivalent. I was not having fun. No, I don't need a middle man who knows little or nothing about coffee to answer all my questions about why the roasts were much darker/lighter than last week and no, it isn't our fault simply because we care enough to notice the difference. Does it really matter that much? Not really, but it's a shame when you think of all the innocent green coffee involved.

Ask Simon about consistency. By the way, he's got my 2 group LM right now probably locked in the bathroom. Don't ask. No, I don't work for him but he is doing me this favor. It's our next barismo project, the Linea that is. I needed a machine for a cart and didn't want to break the bank. A PID, bypass the auto controls, tweak it out with timers, programmable delayed preinfusion trips, and of course flow restrictors. Detailed photos and breakdown of the mod as it progresses. Should be a great little lab machine until I get a big one.

Thanks to those who called to check on the big goal's progress and see how things are going. A sincere thanks to Simon in Taiwan if not simply for the honest commentary but for finishing the cup. Thanks in advance to Eugene for sharing the Esmerelda sorted/roasted by Simon. Damn I am tired.

Labels: musings

  ¶ Jaime van Schyndel 10:35 PM