Hi there, Susan here.
I visit this site every morning. Read all the recent posts. Peruse a few threads. Study roasting issues. Post on the rare occasions I know something that someone has inquired about (which is almost never since hardly anyone here has Gaggias, and that is about all I know much of anything about).

I do the same thing at GCBC.
Also at CoffeeGeek (reluctantly)

If I need information, I search.
If I can't find information, I ask a question (well, not at CG....too many people give wrong answers as if they were the right ones), and then I sift through the answers to see what computes.

Most of what goes on at this site is way over my head, and most of the equipment is way too expensive, but the underlying theories/facts/information is all the same at every level.

My not-quite-comfortable-ness here is .....just fine with me.
As in: don't change a thing. It's just fine here.

And that's probably more than you wanted to know, but I am talkative by nature....

Susan

In a little over 3 years I've posted a little under 100 times here. I don't know if that's above or below average, but I visit the site more than once a day to peruse. Basically I'll chime in if I feel like I have experience with something that can contribute, which generally means I'll post about equipment I have owned or used extensively.

I very rarely look at CG anymore- too noisy. It looks like there I've posted 35 times in 5 years.

Eiron wrote:Like others have already said, it's not a decorum issue for me so much as a proper experience/equipment level issue. When folks are discussing the nuances of partial ristrettos teased from $6,000-$9,000 "home" machines, or the subtleties of 140-seconds-past-2nd-crack single origin roasts between their multiple $2,000 machines, then any mention (in any context) regarding a $500 "starter" machine or a preference for blends containing robusta seems inconsequential. It becomes a non-involvement situation.

If we're intimidating people from posting due to equipment value, we've got a serious problem.

Ken "It's the coffee,..." Fox and Dave "It's ONLY coffee" Stephens nailed it.

Many of us here started with equipment way below the kilobuck range. The most important thing is a passion for espresso and knowledge of what is espresso. I would read with great interest how the QM 0930 performs in the hands of a dedicated espressionist. Too many people who purport to 'love espresso' have not got a clue what espresso is.

Today while strolling through Salisbury, my associate said "I had an espresso once. It was the most god awful thing I ever tasted" I replied, "You've never had espresso." We proceeded to visit a half dozen shops where I queried the button pusher "What is espresso?" Not one gave a response anywhere close to what we consider espresso. One silly girl, locked in the loaded PF, left the machine and went off to clean dishes off the counter. Sure enough, the next victim got a scalded gusher. At one shop where the PBTC seemed to have genuine interest in espresso, just no clue, promised to visit H-B tonight. His espresso was 3oz from 15g in 15 sec. Ristretto 1.5 from 15g in 7. The point is that we visited hardware probably in excess of $25K without an espresso to be found.

One of my boyhood friends visits almost every year. He almost never fails to comment "I still remember that first espresso you served me. Until that time I'd never had espresso." He now has a *$ Barista and a Capresso, IIRC. His espresso still sucks and he knows and admits it, but it's better than all but two shops, out of a maybe a hundred in our home town.

Eiron wrote:I usually think about my posts a dozen times before I start them, then never actually write anything...

Can I give you a list of PoP* to train?

* Pile on Posters :
Reiterators of the what was stated in the preceding umpteen posts
[OK, I admit I'm guilty ]

I found this forum a few years back when I decided there was no reason I should be paying for 2 trips to the cafe when I could make this stuff at home myself. I give the members here 100% credit for everything I know now, which isn't much in the grand scheme! I asked a LOT of questions and no one was ever rude to me. Occasionally I find an old post of mine, roll my eyes and think, "Wow, that was a stupid question". And yet the answers always came politely. I still ask questions and post quite a lot but I also try to pass on what I've been taught in some of those newbie threads that have been mentioned. Hopefully I'm giving sound advice.

I belong to many forums and none compare to the civility found here. One of my other interests is lifting weights. Anyone who thinks the atmosphere here is hostile should head on over to the Bodybuilding.com forums for a reality check.

Hello all this is as good as topic as any to introduce myself this being my first post. My name is John in West Virginia. I have been lurking on the site for a few months and then joined. This is my first post after being a member for about a month. I read the posts daily and use the information from the members in helping me build my wish list. As of yet the only device I own is a Keurig coffee pot. I am saving money for equipment and should be able to purchase in Apr or May. I enjoy the posts and at this juncture have little to contribute as I know next to nothing when it comes to pulling a shot. But I can say without hesitation my first shot pulled in a few months will be the best shot ever. Without the contributions from the members I would not even have considered going down this road. So let me take this opportunity to thank the members who have the patience to put up with the new guys questions and make the site a great place to learn. In time I hope to be one of those members who can field some of these questions and take some of the load from you folks.

The two things that I feel get in the way sometimes are the opinion-as-fact issues and the defensiveness issues. These are issues you will find on every message board. The first is the concept of "no, [blend X] is better pulled with 17.5 grams and is terrible when pulled (where you pulled it) at 16 grams." This, of course, is simply opinion but stated as fact and debated as fact. This applies to uncountable subjects discussed on this website from coffee, to equipment, to companies, and to how to tie your shoes. The defensiveness issue usually rears its head with respect to equipment where making a negative comment about equipment owned by another is punishable by death. Also, people comment too often on equipment they have never touched.

I don't really see much of the newbie bashing thing unless a newbie comes with a post meant simply to create a stir...for example (for post #1) "Americans make the worst coffee in the world...discuss" posts. I actually think that it tends to get more heated and sometimes uncivil between the more knowledgable and long time posters.

Overall, I think this website has some of the best, most civil and most on topic discussions to be had.

another_jim wrote:Ken seems to be saying that most of the lurkers are short timers making buying decisions; which was also my suspicion. But their actual number is irrelevant; I didn't start this thread to address them.

I was addressing the lurkers, both registered and unregistered, who tune into the site as if it were a TV series, something to watch regularly, but not to participate in. If you are content, fine. But if you want to post on occasion, and don't, for fear of being judged or shamed, please speak up.

Like some of the others who have commented on this thread I tend to visit the site most days. If I'm not looking for something specific I'll hit a few random threads. But I do not often contribute, mostly out of fear of generating newbie noise (i.e. asking a question related to the thread that is answered elsewhere) or having nothing to contribute that hasn't already been stated by those with more knowledge. Another reason I'm a fan of the site is the precision of the searches which is helped by the minimisation of newbie noise.

As has been echoed previously the depth of knowledge on here is huge, and yes that can be intimidating especially for those joining this site with no previous experience of an online forum and it may be that percentage of the lurkers that need help in establishing their roots here?

Finally I think this is one of the cleanest and politest forums I have encountered and kudo's to HB for the work done here that makes it what it is.

I joined HB five months ago and spend way too many hours each day reading the most recent posts. I have only posted seven times over this period as I rarely have little to add to the excellent discussions that are ongoing. I do not have the depth of knowledge that many of the regular posters have, and am happy to learn from them one and all. My espresso is better due to HB and its members. Don't change a thing, and thanks to Dan and all that moderate the great discussions.

I for one have made the decision to quit posting for the above mentioned reasons. People allow themselves to be too rude for my taste when sitting behind a keyboard. I admittedly don't have much experience posting on forums so maybe that is par for the course, but to me it's not worth it. I don't necessarily fear being judged or shamed, but simply would prefer to do without the conflict and negativity.