OlywaDave wrote:Nice! What did the hotel folks think when you brought all that in?

The folk's at the Hyatt thankfully didn't even bat an eye. I did put a bright orange "Caution - Hot" sign on top of the machine, when we left the room in the morning. Didn't want housekeeping to receive a nasty burn.

terryz wrote:
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This is the prototype of a new model. It is basically two GS3 machines joined in the middle. super sweet looking and who knows maybe we can call it the best new product of 2007!?

I dunno if a layer of superglue betwixt two panels makes two single group machines a two-group. It looks as if there are two completely separate (water, power, drainage) machines, joined, as you say, at the hip. What would be the advantage of this setup over two separate single group machines?
The advantage of two singles would be that, in case of a serious service issue, one could stay while the other went to the LM hospital.

Oh, and Larry, I'm staying at whatever hotel you're staying at for the next one. OTOH, the Coast hotel across the bridge of lights is a nice place to stay, and the shuttle buses are regular and dependable. Finding your way back home after having a few is way too complicated, so the bus it the way to go anyways.
Anybody make it to 'La Muse' East Village Cafe, or the deli next to it?

Rocket Coffee wrote:I found Dan Kehn and Jim Schulman roaming the staging area of the USBC's early Saturday morning looking for some "good" espresso, so I gave them access to the espresso bar with the best view in Long Beach (my hotel room) for some shots of our new, not yet officially released espresso blend, Rocket Reserve.

Thanks Larry, it was great to meet you and your wife! I look forward to the official release of your new espresso blend.

Psyd wrote:Anybody make it to 'La Muse' East Village Cafe, or the deli next to it?

Very good crepes, though pricey. I ordered a cappuccino. Bleech. I didn't know you were at the conference, sorry I missed you.

HB wrote:Thanks Larry, it was great to meet you and your wife! I look forward to the official release of your new espresso blend.

Goes for me too. I'll be sampling the "Rocket Reserve" and reporting in the next few days.

Jim, what did you think of the single-origin Yirgacheffe at the Supreme Bean? I thought it was like a blueberry bomb going off in my head, but I don't have much of a palate to notice anything beyond that.
-JP

JohnPark wrote:Jim, what did you think of the single-origin Yirgacheffe at the Supreme Bean? I thought it was like a blueberry bomb going off in my head, but I don't have much of a palate to notice anything beyond that.
-JP

I sampled it with Abe and Dan (I think). The shots we got were rather different; quite sweet with pit fruit, but no berries. However, Jeff was dialing in while we were sampling, and the shots were quite variable. He may have hit the groove when you were there.

Psyd wrote:I dunno if a layer of superglue betwixt two panels makes two single group machines a two-group. It looks as if there are two completely separate (water, power, drainage) machines, joined, as you say, at the hip. What would be the advantage of this setup over two separate single group machines?
The advantage of two singles would be that, in case of a serious service issue, one could stay while the other went to the LM hospital.

With all due respect I think you may be reading into the display of that machine a little too deeply and possibly even being a little hard on them.

The banner above the machine said "Concept". I know this well as where our booth was I had to stare at it for about 13.5 hours. However I had no problem with our view across the isle. I mean how many of us have been able to be 30 feet away from an original La Marzocco 4 group GS for a weekend?

I can't speak for La Marzocco but to me the display of that machine means they seem very into the idea and performance of the GS3s and have "concepted" the idea of creating multiple group versions. If you were to be able to order a 2 group or 3 group or whatever, I doubt very much that it would appear to be joined at the hip with "superglue". When has anything La Marzocco ever sold anything that looked thrown together?

Also I think we mustn't mistake a "concept" for a "prototype". I for one a was grateful to have seen it, use it, and know they are toying around with this concept. Thanks LM!

The prototype grinder by the way... Very nice. Lock the PF hit the button, and the belt driven conical burrs drop the exact amount of espresso, programed and controlled by the user into the basket. My only seriously criticism would be that it did stack the grinds a little fluffy and high once the portafilter was disengaged... However a quick settling tap of the PF on the tamp pad "or counter top" dropped the grounds down perfectly to start the tamping routine. The stepless burr adjustment knob was really nice too. 80 complete turn of the knob was a complete revolution of the adjustment gear. Pretty slick. I stepped up, tried my first shot sans adjustment and put out a pretty decent shot though a little too fast. A surprisingly intuitive adjustment to the grind and I was in business. Day three was pretty dead at times with the finals going on and such, but I probably pulled between 8 and 10 shot of Borogove Espresso Cremona which is Dismas Smith's new roasting and business venture with Tim McCormack. http://www.borogovecoffee.com/ Pretty good stuff I say he pulled me a shot when he was on the machine and left behind about half a five pound bag for folks to play with.

HB wrote:Thanks Larry, it was great to meet you and your wife! I look forward to the official release of your new espresso blend.

The pleasure was all mine Dan! The official release of the "Rocket Reserve" will be this evening. To celebrate we will be including a free Rocket Coffee Roasters t-shirt to the first twenty people that order two pounds or more of the new blend!

another_jim wrote: Goes for me too. I'll be sampling the "Rocket Reserve" and reporting in the next few days.

Great finally meeting you as well Jim! It was a kick having you and Dan "dial" in the blend.

Rocket Coffee wrote:Great finally meeting you as well Jim! It was a kick having you and Dan "dial" in the blend.

Send me the shirt and a bill! I just got done roasting my first pound of coffee, the greens that Edwin sent me from Finca Vista Hermosa, and I think that the remaning pound will be the end of my roasting career. Not that I hate it, just that I'm ready to have someone else to that part. If I could get someone to come over and make espressi, I'd probably be that lazy, too!

HB wrote:Very good crepes, though pricey. I ordered a cappuccino. Bleech. I didn't know you were at the conference, sorry I missed you.

I wasn't able to make it. If I were, I'da probably been spending most of my time volunteering somewhere or another. Maybe at Rocket? I've launched a few theatrical tours there, so I get to spend the occasional week or month in LB. The cappu I had was pretty good, but it was a few years ago. I'da loved to make it, but I was gigging at the other end of the country. I'm still not sure how the home of the SCAA doesn't have local baristi in public stocks if the coffee isn't at least marginally acceptable! ; > Isn't the SCAA's HQ just twenty blocks or so east of the cafe? Get to work, BIB (Baristi In Black).

OlywaDave wrote:With all due respect I think you may be reading into the display of that machine a little too deeply and possibly even being a little hard on them.

Could be. Not being there, I may just be suffering a bit of sour grapes as well. I dunno, I think I'm a bit more present than requiring someone to push two single groups together to understand the concept of a two group. Maybe I'm just one of those that screw up the curve for everyone else, or I just don't have a keen grasp of marketing. It just seemed kinda odd that the image of two singles in very, very close proximity seemed amazing. I kinda felt I saw the zipper on the monster, and wasn't as amazed as I was meant to be.
Is the amazing part the fact that the side-project-ness of the GS3, destined (if I have this right, and the rumour mill is even close to accurate) for the home market mostly, and now is getting the attention of the 'big boys' in the industrial/commercial sales dept?