Does your H-B reputation make friends drop by?

[WilsonHines]

This questions comes from a three fold reason:

1. When I was an elementary school student I remember we had a lady that lived next door to us (we live in the country) and she was in her 90's. Her son (in his 70's) moved in with her to help her get around. She still didn't have indoor plumbing or sinks of any kind. This (btw) is circa 1982 to 85, so it isn't that long ago. Her son would come over every morning, right before the bus picked up my sister and I, and drink a cup of Maxwell House and talk for a few minutes. Both the gentleman and his mother are passed away now, but I remember that very well. Even though it wasn't as simple of a time as my parents grew up in, it still was a more simple time than right now.

2. My sister found out I had purchased an espresso machine - a commercial machine at that - and immediately started chiding me on our Saturday luncheons at the pizza place that I was going to start using one of my windows on the back of the house for a drive through and I was going to need to buy a couple more tables and our kitchen island was going to turn into a spro bar!

3. Our friends at church are already saying they are going to start just showing up for coffee! A bit of joking is in there, but I bet they will start calling or wanting me to call for them to join me on a morning.

Thinking about all of this sort of got me to pondering about how many of you at H-B have "regular" customers at the house?

Even if not, what is your thoughts? Would you like it? I know someone who views, but doesn't post, on this forum and he would padlock his door - just his personality.

[Paul]

We have a 3gr leva carimali in the kitchen and use about a kg of coffee a week, mostly drinking with friends. All just part of the fun I think. Often our friends reciprocate with pastries etc. Fair deal.

[Jasonian]

Not really.

People ask me to make them drinks in their own shops sometimes, but I don't get hit up in the home for coffee very often.

Except from my SO (not single origin) and occasionally from a close friend. Not very often, and certainly not a regular thing (second mention).

[Ken Fox]

no.

I have friends who drop by for espresso, but they don't participate on online coffee forums.

ken

[cannonfodder]

I don't have friends

But seriously, no they do not stop by for coffee. Most are scattered around town so it is not a walk next door but a drive across town. There is only one HB'r close to me but we are both very busy and have only gotten together once. My mom likes mocha's so I make one for her when she stops by to see the grandkids. I have been slowly reducing the amount of chocolate and milk that I put in the drink. I am weaning her off mochas and into the real stuff.

[coffeefrog]

We have a 3gr leva carimali in the kitchen and use about a kg of coffee a week, mostly drinking with friends. All just part of the fun I think. Often our friends reciprocate with pastries etc. Fair deal.

Same here (just not so many levers to choose from); we get croissants and fresh bread on the weekends from a neighbor who likes the coffee. We stand around getting crumbs everywhere, eating butter, jam and pastry (in that order), talking and making cups of coffee... its one of the nicer events in the week.

[Ardvaark]

One of the things I love about living in the heart of DC is all the people around, and being as involved in the neighborhood as I am, I know a great many of them. I always leave open invitations with our friends and neighbors to stop by for coffee any time - especially since I work from home - but few ever do. I wish they would.

I'm not sure if they think I'm just being polite, or they don't like my coffee.

[hperry]

My daughter lives a couple of blocks away and stops every morning for a latte on the way to work. Her kids, on the way to school, occasionally have a hot chocolate.

The only other occasional customers are two salespeople friends from the hi-fi store that I frequent who are coffee enthusiasts. They have coffee when they are here (which happens reasonably frequently). We also do an every two week "buy" of Bali Hai from Vashon Coffee (1 pound each to them, 3 to me). It has become my favorite blend (all Indonesian beans) for lattes.

[zin1953]

Doesn't this first presume I have a H-B reputation? After all, I'm not sure how many of my friends actually read this site. (And if they did, who knows what a PITA they'd think I am!)

OTOH, if you mean do my friends drop by for coffee just because I have this big espresso machine on the counter in the kitchen . . . well, considering we live way the **** up in the hills above Berkeley, it's not a location conducive to merely "dropping" by -- you have to really WANT to come here, there's no "I was just in the neighborhood and . . . " So if they do drop by, it must be while I'm at work, and they must be really neat and tidy up before they go.

This doesn't mean they aren't happy to have an espresso once they get here, but they usually come over for something else (dinner, to pick up their kids, etc., etc.).

[starry]

The only reputation I have among my friends is that of a "coffee snob". Almost all of them are satisfied that with Starbxxxks and certainly don't understand straight, unadulterated espresso, and I don't understand lots of milk and flavorings. What's that about anyway? So. Long story short is that nobody drops by.....

[WilsonHines]

One of the things I love about living in the heart of DC is all the people around, and being as involved in the neighborhood as I am, I know a great many of them. I always leave open invitations with our friends and neighbors to stop by for coffee any time - especially since I work from home - but few ever do. I wish they would.

I'm not sure if they think I'm just being polite, or they don't like my coffee.

Ardvaark! My pastor has said from the pulpit that here in the South everybody parts company by saying one of a few "goodbye quotes" and one very popular quote is "Ya'll going to have to come on over for supper some time! We need to get together." You never really invite someone out to dinner or over to your house with those words. They are "superficial" words, at best. They are just saying "goodbye."

But, he says, on the other hand, if you really want to invite someone over to dinner you don't wait until everybody is breaking up, you just come on out with it and say "So, you and the wife over for dinner Saturday night? How's that work?"

I use this illustration to say maybe you need to be more poignant or to the point and they won't take it as a greeting or goodbye.

[starry]

My pastor has said from the pulpit that here in the South everybody parts company by saying one of a few "goodbye quotes" and one very popular quote is "Ya'll going to have to come on over for supper some time! We need to get together." You never really invite someone out to dinner or over to your house with those words. They are "superficial" words, at best. They are just saying "goodbye."

Words of wisdom! Thank him for solving this for me.

[Ardvaark]

I use this illustration to say maybe you need to be more poignant or to the point and they won't take it as a greeting or goodbye.

Heh. You may be right. The art of back-door communication escapes me, usually. At the risk of sounding cliché, I say what I mean and mean what I say.

Crap. That sounded cliché.

[WilsonHines]

In reference to having guest...my machine has been up for 9 days and as of Saturday I started having people calling and wanting to see the setup. Since Friday I have been through 12 lbs of espresso! That is a lot of espresso for a home setup, I think.

Yes, most all of them won't become regulars, but a couple have already told me they will be popping in regularly. Just this morning I made 11 capps and 4 espresso. Tonight I made 6 capps and 6 espresso. Yesterday was about the same and the day before was about the same. A lot of it was because it was a holiday and people had a little more time on their hands. But how cool!

[RogerB]

Words of wisdom! Thank him for solving this for me.

LOL. Reminds me of that "How ya doin'?" commercial from a while back.

Anyway, I think the original question was more along the lines of whether people regard you as a home barista, and stop by because of it. But that's just my interpretation. I don't know anybody else "face to face" who cares enough about coffee to hang out in a forum devoted to it.

Anyway, I've had a "rep" for a while, but in this transient society we live in, everybody seems to move away. I've had the pleasure of mentoring a couple of people into the fold, but that's about it, and they have since moved on to other jobs in other states.

Sometimes I'll make lattes or caps for a gaggle that happens to be at the house, and almost %100 of them say "best I ever had!" or "even better than starbucks!" (Which should qualify the opinions.) And that was on a lowly thermoblock machine.

Anyway, my Wife is coming around. She'll bring home some flavored stuff once in a while because it "sounds good" but then she'll drink it and say it tastes funky. I've weened her off of some of the sugar, and lately she's more into americanos than lattes. I doubt she'll ever drink a straight espresso, though. My son might develop an interest, but he's only 11, so I worry a bit about hooking him on my favorite drug just yet.

[Fullsack]

One friend told me, he will be slipping his order under the door for the following day.