Quotable Quotes
Memorable quotes and quipsabout espresso from the forums
Unsolicited advice
"Sigh... I should have remembered the first rule of bulletin boards: never give advice to anyone who already knows what they want to do." —Jim Schulman, Comments on Niche Zero Review
Taste isn't a number
"The idea was to come up with a direct relationship between taste and refractive index, this might work for some roast levels and coffees but has proved to be less than reliable." --Rich Goodin, Why TDS/extraction yield measurements are not a good way to evaluate taste profile/quality?
Hobbyists and the purposeful path to nirvana
"Hobbyists might have very different goals, but until one can get to the point where they ... get consistent results, they have no business trying for accidental coffee nirvana." --Alan (Almico), Finding balanced cup in pourover
Placebo effect challenge
"How many of you dare to do a blind tasting, while upgrading or just comparing machines, and not drinking a shot knowing which one is which, automatically think 'yeah it tastes better, because it's better technically, double boiler, profiling, more expensive machine, etc, so it must be better'?" --Martin, Blind tasting espresso machines in the cup
Endless upgrade quest begins anew
"I feel a bit deflated, as some part of me was glad that this meant there were no more step ups possible and I had the best of the best. Now it'll only be the entry level best." --Claude, Kafatek hints about new Conical Model
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail
"Chasing extraction yield is a great and worthwhile effort - and will probably teach you a lot. Just be careful of the subjective assessments gleaned from objective measurements." --Assaf Litai, Lelit Bianca vs DE1+
Word of the Day: "Unambiguousness"
"It isn't about right or wrong. We won't know what right is anyway. It is about repeatability and unambiguousness." -- Assaf Litai, Looking for a Simple Measure of Preinfusion
We're still talking about coffee, right?
"If you want both high extractions and espresso porn shots, you have begun on an endless quest for magic baskets and grinders." --Jim Schulman, Looking for a Simple Measure of Preinfusion
People like what people like
"Ultimately it really is - people like what they like. Sometimes I feel people like what sounds interesting vs tastes good but that's another thread." --Richard Gregory, Light Roasts - Are they losing their luster?
Bad Roasters/Bad Drivers
"Coffee roasters are like drivers; no one seems to think they are bad at it." -Alan (Almico), Roasting coffee with evenness
Is it worth it? Don't ask me!
"I do a lot of things that aren't really worth it because I think my cost-benefit analytical skills are broken." --Walt Tani, Compak K10 WBC has landed!
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?
