i've been playing with airflow a lot, and will cross-post some stuff from CG... in particular, i've been using the two lids on the i-roast as rudimentary airflow controllers. the results, in terms of roast profiles and tastes in the cup, are fairly dramatic. if, as various gurus have said, a crucial...

newspaper reporter. politics and investigative

indeed, the bush-dwelling family doesn't often have access to the fresh stuff. thanks for the suggestion, jim. but i shan't tell a soul

i'm not too worried about the spring rim, since the spring actually makes it quite difficult to remove the presso basket. i recommended removal so they could move quicker to keep machine parts warmer. in the video, you can hear a bit of air escaping the brew chamber when the lever is released at the...

so i bought an all-clad presso for the mother, who lives in the barren bush of chad, africa, where electricity and phone lines and internet are all still distant pipe dreams. did the "schulman mod", and sent it complete with a farcical "instructional video". score one for thoughtful, ocean-removed o...

on this one point, ken reads my mind. i love watching a good competition show. but the temptation to become groupies or wannabe insiders, i think, can be poisonous. i feel many HBs have devolved into clubby hangers-on, and it bothers me. it's one reason i tend to skulk around the fringes when i go t...

that's incredibly lucid, and essentially a more detailed skin on the bones of an idea that michael m has already erected "here". this would also be a way to sort of compensate for increasing disadvantages, economically speaking, without going the "welfare" or "affirmative action" route. instead of a...

mos def true. i got no use for the flames shooting from this thread. i DO think this is incredibly useful to debate, because while barista comps do fall short in many ways, i believe they have the POTENTIAL to do amazing things to spread word about high-quality spro. i'm not talking about just the s...

you probably know this already, but there's a raging debate tangential to this discussion here: {link} it seems clear that barista competitions COULD be a devastatingly effective way to elevate the craft AND spread the gospel to the masses. clearly, they fall short in both regards. if you don't feel...

my own exhaustive reportage on the southeast competitors here: {link} and video! video that clearly shows why nick cho won, i might add: {link}