I just wanted to say thank you to Dan for putting on EspressoFest 2006. I also wanted to thank Counter Culture Coffee for hosting in their great training space and to Chris Coffee and 1st Line for the great machines I got to try. I enjoyed meeting eveyone and seeing some of the exciting projects that people are working on. It is nice having a face to put to posts.
Thanks again Gregg

Dan, thanks for all of your time and effort in putting this together. I had such a great time and was so absorbed in everything going on, I assume that everyone else enjoyed it too.

Beyond the wonderful coffee and geek stuff, it was great to meet everyone face-to-face.

I'm looking forward to Espresso Fest 2007.

I want to thank Dan too, as well as all those who contributed equipment, facilities, and time to making the espressofest possible (this includes Bob, whose Elektra had me scratching my head on how it made great shots so easily, and how I could swipe it without anyone noticing).

It attracted Ted Simpson and Greg Scace to the first SCAA in four years, so I could finally meet them in person. "Newbies" Lino and Sean astounded all of us with their prototypes. We had the M3 and Chris's Macap MXK conical to fill the state of the art grinder bill. So espressofest actually had more hi-tech stuff of interest than the actual SCAA, where we could find the Schectermatic (Gimme had commandeered it), the GS3, and some old-school hi-tech -- Paul Pratt's GS1. Abe showed us all that he knows as much about pulling real perfect shots as virtual ones (where we all shine). Bob Yellin showed his cupping skills. Me, I demonstrated my need to shut up about cupping, shot pulling, or tech stuff when in this company.

Finally, Dan showed that he may be cut out to be the PT Barnum of espresso, since the Fest was a 3 ring circus without any of the chaos this usually entails.

Extraordinary group of people. I would like to thank all that had a hand in putting this together. I'm sure there were many I didn't know about, but just want to say that I really appreciated the opportunity to experience all their hard work at this EspressoFest, and to meet these great passionate people.

Dan Kehn

Counter Culture Coffee

Intelligentsia

Andrew Barnett (Ecco Cafe)

Cafe Fresco

Terry Z (Espressoparts.com)

Chris (chriscoffee.com)

Paradise Roasters,
and all the people that brought amazing equipment to let us see, and use.

thanks again
John Ermacoff

I'm quite jealous ... really sounds like a cool experience.

Matthew Brinski

I had a very good time at this event. Many thanks to all that were involved in one form or another. There was some very neat (read expensive) gear that you just don't see everyday.

I would have liked to have seen more hands on though. Put it on the list for the next one.

chris

Dan:

Please allow me to echo the comments that others have made. You did a wonderful job in making this event happen. My hat is off to you and all the sponsors.

Next time we meet, your first four beers are on me.

I agree with all, this was a wonderful event. It's usually great just to get together at someone's house for a micro-jam; but a sponsored event at a great venue is the cat's ass!

Speaking of cats, I wound up with the Hefty Sak full of Black Cat. Does anyone know what the roast date is? Any pointers on brew temp?

Noll

If I remember correctly, Matt sent out the Black Cat for EspressoFest last Wednesday. I recommend 201F as a starting point brew temperature.

Many thanks to Dan for tirelessly organizing this true festival. It was the most interesting seminar at SCAA 2006, and it wasn't even in the show. Many thanks to the sponsors; Peter at CCC, who hosted the event and suffered our abuse without complaining; Chris Coffee, Terry Z at Espresso Parts N.W., Jim at 1st-Line, Andrew at Ecco Caffe, Tony at Caffe Fresco, Intelligentsia, Miguel at Paradise Roasters who gave us the opportunity to hear the angels sing with his dry process Yirg, all the HB volunteers who contributed machines and their valuable time. Sean, Lino & Andy who earned their propeller head titles, and the locals from Noll to Bob Barraza who participated and made us feel at home.

A special thanks to all the expats who traveled from the four corners of the US to participate in the jam. With so much going on there, we could have had this program run for two days at least. We didn't get to the grinder shootout, the prosumer/commercial machine shootout. We only scratched the surface of the extraction space and Bob Yellin could have spent another week on cupping alone. As to my contribution, there are at least two funny stories I was dying to tell, but ran out of time. Jim Schulman, once again showed us how you can break all the rules and still get a good shot. I could see Chris Tacy's eyes popping out on that notion alone.