Home-Barista.com

 Social media experts to the rescue

"Just five years ago, we were happy with the slops served up by George Howell, Intelligentsia, Klatch, Counter Culture, and others of that ilk. Now we await with baited breath the next [Twitter and Instagram] revelation on how coffee should really taste." --Jim Schulman, Fines: Necessary evil, or just plain evil?

 One person's OCD is another person's pleasure

"I'm not the kind of person who turns making a drink into a professional Olympic training exercise with hours of practice. For others, that kind of approach is some form of OCD they want to engage in." --David (happycat), Cheapest "God" shot

 Lever as haiku

"The lever machine is a Haiku on the economy of means." -- Thomas McIntosh, Building a lever machine.... from scratch

 Searching for the father of espresso

"Moriondo's name only surfaced in 1993, when Ian Bersten exhumed his invention from Italian patent archives in his famous book. His discovery diminished the credit assigned to Luigi Bezzera and Desiderio Pavoni who had been, up to then, commonly cited as the fathers of the espresso." --Sebastien Delprat, In search of Moriondo's espresso machine

 Features don't necessarily translate to better coffee

"We may sometimes reach premature and incorrect conclusions that lead us to chase "features" in our machines that sound very logical, but may not necessarily translate to better/more consistent coffee." -- Yaseen, Wouldn't an E61 with dedicated PID brew boiler and steam thermoblock be better than HX?

 There are worse hobbies for your wallet

"It could be worse, at least we're not all into boats." --Tom Chips, Has Espresso Become a Hobby for the Rich?

 Learning can be a humbling experience

"For me, learning from my Cremina is like learning to be a parent... I now give no advice, I just try to take solid advice. This whole thing has humbled me in a really wonderful way, and I'm better for it, completely apart from the espresso." --Bill (Czar0001), LMWDP Rollcall

 What equipment can and cannot do

"Equipment can't increase your floor, but it can certainly increase your ceiling." --Mitch (CwD), BEST espresso grinder to date??

 Maybe the best equipment isn't right for you

"In the last year there have been a lot of well funded inquiries looking for the 'best' this and the 'best' that. I'd like to posit that time and experience is a more valuable luxury than expensive equipment. The best fit for you now might be eclipsed later by a better fit for a later you." --Russell, BEST espresso grinder to date??

 Better espresso or wanting new toys?

"What I've realized over time for myself, is that it's not so much that I want better espresso, but that I want new espresso toys." — Greg Gardner, My Olympia Cremina & ungrade-itis

 Drinking coffee is for sissies

"Drinking coffee is for sissies. I mainline my brew." — Alan (Almico), No good coffee/espresso shops. Is it just me?

 Bragging rights and better espresso

"Who needs good espresso when you have good espresso equipment? It turns out that bragging rights don't taste any better in the cup if you don't put them to good use." --Jake Groseclos, My long and rambling path to preinfusion/pressure profiling

More quotable quotes...