As the intrepid reporters for Team HB, TomC and I will be covering the event. Use this space to tell us what you want to know more about/get pix of/report on.

Marshall's post brought me to the link for the "Skybridge Cafe" that highlights the GS3 with "customizations"?

In addition to picking up a delicious coffee prepared by one of the roasting companies on bar, guests can receive one-on-one guidance to prepare their own espresso beverages on a fleet of customized La Marzocco GS/3 espresso machines.

Please get some pics of those!

Hard-view:

Love to see:
* a price on the new, larger Gene Cafe.
* 110V going to be available?
* really capable of 2 lb roast?
* how they have made 'continuous roasting' possible on the larger model

Soft-view:

* Would enjoy both of your impressions of what is changing, what is shifting, where specialty coffee is going -- direction, who is driving it, what we might anticipate.
* An update on farmers/industry's efforts at dealing with rust. Don't want to go the tea route that India and Ceylon/Sri Lanka did in the 1860s/1870s after rust decimated the coffee industry in South Asia.

Pics and videos of interesting equipment, especially any new items.

Definitely interested info on any new 1 kilo sample roasters coming onto the market. Would likewise love any info on new Probat/Jabez Burns-style two-barrel sample roasters. Cheers,

sweaner wrote:Pics and videos of interesting equipment, especially any new items.

Interesting will be entirely subjective, unless you give me details. I'll also be livetweeting.

Sherman is the tech savvy gent, with the live tweeting ( I don't even do Twitter), and I'll be packing along all my pro camera gear. My interests seem to align with much of what I just read above. I'll definitely be spending a great deal of attention on 1kilo and under, roasters.

There's also hint of a new company that's made the dream travel mug that doesn't splash, but allows for all the aroma of the coffee to remain unblocked (that interests me and Marshall a great deal).

I'll share here an odd happenstance that turned into a very cool time slot with Slayer, of all companies. I, like everyone else who I know that have tried shots from a Slayer are basically in love with the machine. Slayer, on Facebook put out a post about 3 weeks ago saying "Hey, any roasters, hit us up if you want to have your espresso on bar at the SCAA". I replied, and they got in touch with me... I assumed they meant I come by, chat, have a shot of whatever stock coffee they're pulling, and give them maybe a pound, pound and a half for them to put on a single group or something, then move on.

Turns out, the scheduled (primetime) slot they gave me, Friday 3-5PM, isn't for me to just to chat with them and or interview them, they're actually putting me behind a Single Group Slayer, and are asking for a larger quantity of coffee than what I initially assumed. So I'll be pulling shots for a while I guess. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm a bit surprised how it all came about.

Other than that, I plan on filling several memory cards up with great shots, my cell has a voice recorder for brief interviews, so between an experienced, tech savvy veteran and a newbie like me with some good glass, I hope we deliver for you guys.

Keep the suggestions coming, because I'll just scroll thru them each day we're there, and review what's posted during my flight up there.

I'd like to see Tom snag an interview or two with photos.

I'd like to see everything. Wish I could be there. Next year I guess.

The Expo is a great opportunity to push beyond the usual points of HB focus and meet the farmers. They almost never have an opportunity to talk to consumers. Ask them about the issues they face, and share with them what is important to engaged consumers.