James Hoffmann: Room For Dissent? - Page 2

June 24th, 2021, 3:20 pm

One more quote from Hoffmann's grinder showdown, maybe this is the crowd to discuss this

coffeeOnTheBrain wrote:Did anyone else read this between the lines of what James was saying and if not what did you read between the lines.
He said he doesn't know what burrs are mounted in the EK. I read he does not want to get into the discuss about old and new Mahlkönig 98mm burrs and who can blame him.
He said all grinders are stock. I read he does not want to get into a discuss about allignment and who can blame him
He said he is going to use the high uniformity burrs on the Lagom and not the unimodal burrs. I personally had the unimodal burrs and I am not a fan of them for espresso, due to my personal taste preferences. For Filter I was not a fan when I owned them either, but I am planning to reevaluate them (meeting with a friend who owns a Lagom isn't that easy in Covid times). Anyway James might be aware of issues with the unimodal burrs / allignment in the Lagom (I am not saying the Lagom is a badly alligned perse, it just comes up in the Lagom thread from time to time) and again he might not want to get on that discussion and who could blame him.
A pattern has emerged!
He didn't talk much about espresso with lighter beans, saying that it didn't change much his already presented opinion formed with traditional shots. Well that part might have been much more interesting and frankly I think it would have emphasized the differences between the burrs. I guess he didn't want to get into a discussion there.Thanks to Michael Fabian we have a reviewer who is not afraid of a respectful discussion.
I am not trying to say that I didn't enjoy watching the videos, I did a lot actually and they surly were packed with valuable information. They were much more then the typical influencer commercial videos on YouTube, but they were still a tiny bit shallow.
I would appreciate someone to step up and put his opinion about coffee or in this case burrs out there, be it popular or not. Of course this doesn't grow your channel like being unoffending, but is that what is important.

#12: Post by **Cyberness** » June 24th, 2021, 4:30 pm

coffeeOnTheBrain wrote:Thanks to Michael Fabian

I haven't seen actual reviews from him. He was just sharing his thought and feeling about grinders. This is not a review. Review is an act of testing, collecting the facts (desirably measurable) and sharing them with auditory with some conclusions. I so far I saw only conclusions... but based on what? His personal experience?

I think the problem is that JH showed that there is not much difference between some equipment in terms of final result, and people who spent thousands dollars on that equipment, chasing some phantom difference and chimera, got mad - how dare you say that my EG-1 doesn't taste different than your not aligned EK! Or vise versa...

June 24th, 2021, 5:00 pm

A review of a restaurant or a movie is

Cyberness wrote:... an act of testing, collecting the facts (desirably measurable) and sharing them with auditory with some conclusions....

?

I didn't know that

#14: Post by **Cyberness** » June 24th, 2021, 5:11 pm

coffeeOnTheBrain wrote:I didn't know that

You would be surprised, but a good movie review is actually a very formal process with collecting the facts, making some "measurements" and sharing conclusions. If you want to hear "feelings" and "opinions", that's fine, but I don't care about someone's opinions. I need something more objective than "what I think about it".

#15: Post by **Nate42** » June 24th, 2021, 5:52 pm

rmongiovi wrote:Well, I'm just a coffee drinker, certainly not a cognoscenti, and I've only watched a few of his videos. My first thought was an internal question with regard to who is this guy and why should I think his opinion matters. I'm too old, and definitely not the personality type, to be swayed by an influencer which is frankly what he appears to be to me. So I listen to his opinions but if I disagree I see no reason to disagree with him. I've got no vested interest in really caring what he thinks. Combined with his soft spoken delivery that leaves me with absolutely no desire to do more than just shrug and move on.

James Hoffmann is a world barista champion, the founder of square mile coffee in London, and also has been participating in internet coffee nerdery for way longer than the word "influencer" has been a thing.

Not that any of that makes him infallible or anything, but he's not just some random dude with a popular YouTube channel.

June 24th, 2021, 6:03 pm

Cyberness wrote:You would be surprised, but a good movie review is actually a very formal process with collecting the facts, making some "measurements" and sharing conclusions. If you want to hear "feelings" and "opinions", that's fine, but I don't care about someone's opinions. I need something more objective than "what I think about it".

I didn't, but I kind of see what you mean now. And yes I am more interested in the differences in taste of these grinders than anything that could be measured. Michael did focus on the taste and I appreciate that.

#17: Post by **rmongiovi** » June 24th, 2021, 6:23 pm

Nate42 wrote:James Hoffmann is a world barista champion, the founder of square mile coffee in London, and also has been participating in internet coffee nerdery for way longer than the word "influencer" has been a thing.

Not that any of that makes him infallible or anything, but he's not just some random dude with a popular YouTube channel.

The OP asked why people don't argue with Hoffman and I answered from my point of view. To me, he's just a random dude with an opinion about coffee. Everything I've heard him talk about is subjective. Why is being a "world barista champion" supposed to impress me? He's great at making coffee? How does that really make his opinion any more valuable to me than any other person's? It's just one data point out of millions. If I agree with him, great. If I don't agree it's something to think about but it's still great. Why would I ever want to argue with another person about their opinion? That's an unwinnable argument.

It's like listening to a great symphony conductor talk about what he thinks great music is. It's wonderful to hear his opinion but I feel no need to argue with him if I disagree. He has his taste in music and I have mine. It's not a matter of right and wrong. I've been around the block a couple of times and I strongly believe that there is no accounting for taste.

#18: Post by HB » June 24th, 2021, 6:51 pm

rmongiovi wrote:It's not a matter of right and wrong. I've been around the block a couple of times and I strongly believe that there is no accounting for taste.

Especially when the taster knows specifically what they're tasting. My favorite part of the site reviews are the blind group taste tests. It's surprising how many times the presumed "winner" didn't win.

#19: Post by **jpender** » June 24th, 2021, 8:05 pm

I like James Hoffmann. He has very nice hair. He is an agreeable person and fun to listen to.

I think this video is just about internet envy. Who is Michael Fabian? I recognize him, I've probably watched a video from him. He's just like Hoffmann but less successful at it. His hair isn't really quite as nice. He doesn't speak as fluidly, doesn't come across with the same panache. That doesn't make his observations or opinions any less valuable but it puts him at a relative disadvantage on the you tube stage. And that's what this is about: stage presence. There is a monetary aspect to this.

And he says: "Are [James Hoffmann's] statements now being taken as the word of God, going beyond debate? Look at online discussion and you'll never see someone openly disagree with him."

Completely false. You can find numerous counter examples in this forum, in this very thread.

I love James, not just because he is experienced and has an opinion worth at least hearing, but because he's FUN.

#20: Post by **Jake_G** » June 24th, 2021, 8:32 pm

jpender wrote:Who is Michael Fabian?

Funny you should ask...