randytsuch wrote:Is SM going to wonder why a bunch of people are buying 2lbs each of the same four coffees?

I gave SM a heads up and they told me there was enough of each coffee. I'll update the announcement with substitute coffees if and when the originals run out.

randytsuch wrote:BTW, if your coffee sucks, can you request that your scores not be posted?

I've done lots of private reviews, some as favors, and some paid through coffeecuppers. I've found out, with great sadness, that free reviews are a waste of time, not because I'm unpaid, but because they go unheeded.

If scores are public, they're real. Then people might pay attention, and improve their skills. That would be a good reward for this effort. For instance, there's a big quality difference between the cafes that compete in the USBC and those that don't. There's a lot less between the ones who win regularly and the ones that don't. Win or lose, the competing itself will improve your skills

farmroast wrote:This can be much more than just a competition. This will be one of the best ways to improve your roasting, tasting and blending approaches. We often mention to roast, cup and adjust. I would suggest sending in a sample and at the same time putting some in the freezer tightly packaged. After your roast has been analyzed you can pull your sample out and look for what was identified. Then we can discuss the ways that improvements can be accomplished. This process will improve your tasting and roasting abilities. Don't miss out on this special opportunity whether a newbie or a long time homeroaster.

this makes me wish i had a roaster SOOO bad:(


If this is a success, hopefully I will be able to get in on it next time. GL everyone!

Cheers,
Jackson

Excuse me for being the forever pessimist, but is this a way of supporting your coffee habit?????????

Brad, with all due respect to homeroasters, I think it's quite an effort to set up a blind taste test and document the results, all for a measly 150 grams of coffee per entry. Also note that Jim co-owns CoffeeCuppers.com and is a founding member of this site, so it's not like he needs to go begging for coffee.

As someone who's organized similar projects, I assure you they're always a lot more work than you thought and for less appreciation than you hoped.

Brad, you've probably never attended a coffee tasting ... If there's more than ten entries, I'll be slurping and spitting even the good coffees, otherwise I'd be posting the scores from the ER.

another_jim wrote:I've done lots of private reviews, some as favors, and some paid through coffeecuppers. I've found out, with great sadness, that free reviews are a waste of time, not because I'm unpaid, but because they go unheeded.

If scores are public, they're real. Then people might pay attention, and improve their skills. That would be a good reward for this effort. For instance, there's a big quality difference between the cafes that compete in the USBC and those that don't. There's a lot less between the ones who win regularly and the ones that don't. Win or lose, the competing itself will improve your skills

I was only semi serious about the sucking coffee, I am hoping my coffee won't suck, but we shall see.

I think I will only enter the drip contest, since it's easy to roast for drip, and I haven't been able to roast espresso that I'm really happy with yet.

BTW, I appreciate the effort Jim putting into this contest, seems like a lot of work to me.

Randy

Jim, great detailed format. My one suggestion would be if possible (not too much headache) to not freeze espresso entries until they each hit 6 days post roast, then take out for one day post freeze. I believe this would be more of an even field than differing degrees of pre and post freeze resting. Unless specifically requested other treatment of course.

Oh and great bean selection, know exactly what I'd do. (Damn near a duplication of the beans I use in my 4 bean 5 roast Delirium blend )

another_jim,
You are correct, I have never been to a cupping and know virtually nothing about the process. Sorry. Good luck with the endeavor.

I'm in; sounds like great fun. I'm delighted to see something like this take place.

Thanks, Jim.

miKe mcKoffee wrote:My one suggestion would be if possible (not too much headache) to not freeze espresso entries until they each hit 6 days post roast, then take out for one day post freeze.

Can you explain?