I could poop my pants I'm so excited.

[zix]

I'm just glad that I don't have to cup for myself in order to be able to access the finest coffees

absolutely!
From my standpoint (consumer living in sweden), finding good green beans has become increasingly hard, rather than easier, the last few years. It seems most brokers/dealers (I won't mention names here) that sell to the local specialist coffee/tea shops have finally, terminally, lost interest in the green bean sales. They raise the price, lower the quality and strangle our choices. Most specialist shops, if they have any greens at all, sell "Colombia" without any other origin or quality descriptions, and, if we are lucky, one other origin. Probably Kenya.
You brits are lucky to at least have Steve. There is an online seller here too, but they still are a ways behind ol' Steve.

[lukas]

Uh, that looks like an even nastier situation than here in germany. I can get Yirgacheffes, Kenyans, Brazilians and others, but all only 'generic' specialty coffee (sounds pretty crazy, I know): They seem to be all the same and quite boring. Steve and Walter are sources of quality beans for me ... I haven't found a german supplier that does the same quality beans.

[Richard]

I hadn't realised that we in the UK were lucky for coffee, I suppose I had a clue when we recently had guests from Belguim. They were very impressed with my few basic offerings and said that they couldn't source as good a cup of coffee back home.

I took that to mean that my guests hadn't managed to bump into a source rather than that there wasn't one, they do have an excellent source of speciality beers though, I'm still wading through them, one bottle each evening, some are up to 9%, most around 6%.

I did some 'surfing' yesterday, internet surfing rather than my most favoured sport. It seems the 'perfect cup of coffee' can still be brewed in the humble press-pot. My recent experience has been that espresso machines have taken over and that it's mostly 'blokes'.

Now whilst I understand why most females wouldn't want to mess with certain types of pastimes and sport, how come it's all blokes on the speciality coffee scene, is it something simple like the summer phenomena when lot's of blokes don aprons and become BBQ chefs, in that case I always thought it was the fire-starter or cave-man instinct. So with coffee, is it us boys with our toys ?

Is this the answer ?

The few guests that I've had since I started brewing decent coffee were all subjected to the same, "Can I make you some coffee ?"
If memory serves me well the ladies mostly say I needn't bother going to the trouble and that tea or instant will be fine whilst the blokes offer to do the grinding for me.

Is this a clue ?

[bruceb]

Well, as usual it's the exception that proves the rule: Among my friends and colleagues the majority of those who enjoy a good espresso are ladies (using the term somewhat loosely). Most of the men want a 16 oz cup of filter coffee or will accept a double longo and possibly ask for a second. I don't believe I know anyone of either gender who drinks instant anymore.

As to roasting and the coffee scene in general, it certainly is true that it's predominated by men. Here on TMC we have some active female roasters and of course in the barista arena there are many ladies and a number of them are national champions.

Whether it is cooking, coffee, sports cars, boats or any of a number of other "technical" hobbies and/or avocations more men seem to become passionate about them. My suspicion is that this has to do with the fact that many men have difficulty becoming really passionate about other things like relationships, art or literature. Of course, tradition also plays a role in the interests of the genders as does upbringing and peer pressure.

These things can change, too. My wife was brought up with the idea that she would become a dressmaker. She had the training, began working and didn't like it. She moved into the arts, but now that we are restoring an old house she is quite at home with a pneumatic hammer drill and bricklayer's hod. I haven't been successful in interesting her in roasting or using the espresso machine, but there is only so much time and energy available to a person and she likes my coffee, so that's fine.

Disclaimer: It goes without saying, hopefully, that this is all a big generalisation and that both men and women can be good or bad at whatever they do.

[Richard]

Oh-yes, absolutely, (I hate it when people say that) I just wondered if tradition meant that ladies don't roast coffee, also I had this idea that because it's such a messy operation "OMG, he's been roasting coffee" that it remains the domain of us cavemen.

I'm very tidy but I can still make a mess.

[lukas]

Traditionally (ie 50-70 years ago), it was the womens or the childrens job to roast the coffee for the afternoon (I think men just didn't bother about what's going on in the kitchen then?). Roasting was done in things like this:



which works like a charm for me.
Thanks Bruce, I think your post is full of truth

[Richard]

works like a charm for me.

Wow, what a fabulous looking piece of kit, presumably the forerunner of the whirly-? (whatever it's called)

You guys really are obsessed about coffee, I suppose if you're looking to buy a house that the most important feature is how large is the kitchen.

Because 'it's' iron it will retain heat, I wasn't sure that heat retention to that extent would be a good idea. Hmmm, I'm fairly sure I would like one of those but I haven't a clue where I would keep it.

Very nice and thanks for posting the photograph.

[lukas]

You guys really are obsessed about coffee, I suppose if you're looking to buy a house that the most important feature is how large is the kitchen.

You got me there

Actually yes, when I'll relocate next year I'm still thinking about how to lay out the kitchen to get the coffee stuff nicely integrated.
The roaster is a cast iron thingy build 1920, the guy who sold it to me said it was a wedding gift for his grandma ... got it off ebay for a few euros and it works for batches from 200 (if I can set the gas low enough) to 500 grams.

[Cookie]

Its the first thing i considered when I bought my flat was is the kitchen big enough to get everything i wanted in it.

everything else was important but a secondary consideration

[Richard]

I have to admit to being committed to not buying an espresso machine, my success with the wok means I'm also committed to not buying a roaster which just leaves the need for a grinder.

I have already learned how important the grind and grind-quality is by experimenting between a manual grinder and that dreadful whirling blade coffee grinder. I have also learnt that I don't care for coffee make via the Aerobie, the coffee is very clean but lacks the taste I get from my press. This has also meant that I'm now nervous to consider any other brew process.

That glorious first cup of Monsoon and yesterdays Old Brown Java was a complete let-down brewed in the Aerobie.

I like the idea of the Aerobie but the paper filters are robbing me. I need to wait for gold.

I'm going to give that Aerobie one more chance by grinding very fine in the whirly-blade grinder, if it doesn't work the Aerobie is going on the back shelf.

I'm learning, slow, but I'm learning.

[lukas]

Don't despair, and keep going with your brewing methods. There are only so many things you can try out at once!

Brewing a consistently good cup in the aeropress did take time for me, and I personally wouldn't try a too fine grind in it. Once you have a better grinder, you might come back to the aeropress, it seems really picky about grind and grind quality (took me a while to dial my mahlkönig in for it).

Interesting things to experiment with with the french press:
proportion of amount of water to ground coffee (try 13 two 15 grams per 250ml (60+-10g per litre))
steeping time
grind size
to stir or not to stir
water temperature
And keep in mind to only change one variable at a time ('tis tough, I know).

Oh and yes: brewing with 13g/250ml will taste vastly different to brewing with 16g/250ml.

[Richard]

I have been playing with the quantities and though I've used volume rather than weight, yes, I'm Ok with that and of course different beans.

The problem I have is 'the-something' thats missing when I use the Aeropress compared to the press-pot. I'm happy with the convenience and the taste of the press-pot brew but I'm never happy if I'm sitting on my ass and not fiddling.

I like to fiddle.

Right now I'm coffeed-up for the day, I need a break, better get some work done, my tongue is numb from coffee and I'm wired to the mains, got the full 240 volts running through me.

[lukas]

hey, the best thing is: you've got all the time in the world to dig deeper. keep going and don't go too fast

[bruceb]

Right now I'm coffeed-up for the day, I need a break, better get some work done, my tongue is numb from coffee and I'm wired to the mains, got the full 240 volts running through me.

NO NO! Don't quit now! Go for the full 400 volts.

[zix]

I can get Yirgacheffes, Kenyans, Brazilians and others, but all only 'generic' specialty coffee (sounds pretty crazy, I know)

Well, I happen to live in the second largest urban area (Göteborg and surroundings). This is the Espresso City right now, competing mainly with Malmö for the title. We have two medium sized roasteries (the biggest swedish ones are elsewhere), two or perhaps three micro roasters/coffee shops in the city and Swedens largest seaport so naturally there is lots and lots of coffee bags that pass by here. For me, there will always be a good chance of finding green beans.

But you still need to be "in the know" to find the stuff. I know of only two shops in Göteborg with more than two green beans in their regular repertoire. One of them is an espresso machine specialist, the other is a micro roaster/coffee bar that have sold greens to the consumers for the last 80 years or so, and let's hope they continue to do so.

In most of the rest of the country, the situation is far worse. Many of the smaller cities don't even have a tea/coffee shop, or if they do the shop owner doesn't have any contacts that want to supply them with greens in the quantities they want (no, 60kg bag batches is not enough for a tea/coffee shop - it is much too much!).
But it didn't need to be this way. And things may still change.

The new, ambitious roaster company that distributes to many of the tea/coffee shops can offer something like 20 different blends and a choice of around 20 single origins. Pre-roasted. Also, they sell greens... most of the singles. I had a field day with all those singles (several field days, actually) until the shop owner told me about them upping all their greens prices and demanding the shop to buy each origin in larger amounts. Apparently they don't make enough money selling them, or perhaps they want to plug their roasted coffees.
As of right now, they seem to be unaware of any synergy effects of delivering both greens and roasted beans. My hope is that they will find positive synergies, even though it doesn't seem so right now. If they do it might turn the tide for us in Sweden.