Comments on: Trieste http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trieste James Hoffmann's blog. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:29:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: jim http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-2707 jim Tue, 21 Nov 2006 17:14:42 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-2707 Fergus - And that may be fine for the one guy you chose indiscriminately to reward (still not seeing the ethics - what has he done to earn your money above someone elses?) but does nothing for his many brethren, and does little in the way of eradicating the problem which left him homeless in the first place. Serious and sensible schemes like encouraging consumption at origin seem a better way to invest time and money to create more demand and increase stability in the market and it is good to see organisations like USAID and Coffee Corp working on this. Fergus – And that may be fine for the one guy you chose indiscriminately to reward (still not seeing the ethics – what has he done to earn your money above someone elses?) but does nothing for his many brethren, and does little in the way of eradicating the problem which left him homeless in the first place.

Serious and sensible schemes like encouraging consumption at origin seem a better way to invest time and money to create more demand and increase stability in the market and it is good to see organisations like USAID and Coffee Corp working on this.

]]> By: Fergus http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-2704 Fergus Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:54:55 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-2704 Jim - If you give a homeless guy a guaranteed $5 on a regular basis, he'll be able to plan ahead, and will eventually have enough to pay for a room. Jim – If you give a homeless guy a guaranteed $5 on a regular basis, he’ll be able to plan ahead, and will eventually have enough to pay for a room.

]]> By: CakeBoy http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-1256 CakeBoy Sat, 11 Nov 2006 19:39:02 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-1256 Jim, your blog is always a great read and the photos just amazing, but today you have triggered my coffee cup fetish with the fab pictures of cups in the air, cups on shelves and .... well ... cups ;) Jim, your blog is always a great read and the photos just amazing, but today you have triggered my coffee cup fetish with the fab pictures of cups in the air, cups on shelves and …. well … cups ;)

]]> By: jim http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-1126 jim Wed, 08 Nov 2006 09:43:07 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-1126 Larry - I can hardly claim any sort of credit for the idea. If you read stuff by the real espresso machine historian types (like Ian Bersten or Enrico Maltoni) you'll see that there was no realistic way for this to brew small amounts of strong coffee with baskets about twice the size of the ones now, if not bigger. Plus the groups with the four cup splitters and stuff. You basically used your boiler as a reservoir of brew water and then just loaded fresh filter coffee and brewed a cup. It was quick, it could be done on demand, and pressures weren't really high enough to do anything really exciting with the extraction. Early spellings of espresso often appear as expresso even in Italy (I recall seeing it on a Victoria Arduino poster, though they quickly reverted back to espresso). Phil - I have a variety of problems with Fair Trade coffee. I don't see the ethics in indiscriminate hand outs. I don't see how you can build as substainable relationship if you don't factor quality in the cup in, and only having co-ops of very small farms means that it is very difficult to increase, demand or control quality. More than that I hate that they paint the picture of it being very black and white. It is either Fair Trade (tm) or it is Unfair Trade and you are a monster for being it and enslaving peoples of the third world. For me - ethically sourced, traceable, high quality coffee is far more exciting. I want the farmer to get paid because his coffee is awesome, not because he has been portrayed as a peasant with a donkey and I ought to feel sorry for him. If all coffee tasted the same then Fair Trade would be fine. But it doesn't. That said - some Fair Trade lots can taste ok, but this isn't because they are Fair Trade, nature can do wonderful things to the coffee plant. The Cup of Excellence winner I visited in El Salvador was a complete fluke - he harvested poorly looked after trees from a tiny plot and due to a conspiracy of nature it just happened to taste utterly incredible. Now he has a relationship with a roaster in the US, he has money to maintain his quality, hire more staff and plant more trees. This is all good. Sorry - I am rambling. I think my biggest gripe is that Fair Trade isn't about what is in the cup, and as much solves the problem of coffee pricing as giving $5 to a guy sleeping in the streets solves homelessness. Larry – I can hardly claim any sort of credit for the idea. If you read stuff by the real espresso machine historian types (like Ian Bersten or Enrico Maltoni) you’ll see that there was no realistic way for this to brew small amounts of strong coffee with baskets about twice the size of the ones now, if not bigger. Plus the groups with the four cup splitters and stuff. You basically used your boiler as a reservoir of brew water and then just loaded fresh filter coffee and brewed a cup. It was quick, it could be done on demand, and pressures weren’t really high enough to do anything really exciting with the extraction. Early spellings of espresso often appear as expresso even in Italy (I recall seeing it on a Victoria Arduino poster, though they quickly reverted back to espresso).

Phil – I have a variety of problems with Fair Trade coffee. I don’t see the ethics in indiscriminate hand outs. I don’t see how you can build as substainable relationship if you don’t factor quality in the cup in, and only having co-ops of very small farms means that it is very difficult to increase, demand or control quality. More than that I hate that they paint the picture of it being very black and white. It is either Fair Trade ™ or it is Unfair Trade and you are a monster for being it and enslaving peoples of the third world. For me – ethically sourced, traceable, high quality coffee is far more exciting. I want the farmer to get paid because his coffee is awesome, not because he has been portrayed as a peasant with a donkey and I ought to feel sorry for him. If all coffee tasted the same then Fair Trade would be fine. But it doesn’t.
That said – some Fair Trade lots can taste ok, but this isn’t because they are Fair Trade, nature can do wonderful things to the coffee plant. The Cup of Excellence winner I visited in El Salvador was a complete fluke – he harvested poorly looked after trees from a tiny plot and due to a conspiracy of nature it just happened to taste utterly incredible. Now he has a relationship with a roaster in the US, he has money to maintain his quality, hire more staff and plant more trees. This is all good.

Sorry – I am rambling. I think my biggest gripe is that Fair Trade isn’t about what is in the cup, and as much solves the problem of coffee pricing as giving $5 to a guy sleeping in the streets solves homelessness.

]]> By: Phil http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-1120 Phil Wed, 08 Nov 2006 05:56:49 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-1120 Jimmy, isn't it a lever, rather than a brew switch? And Jim, I'm intrigued by that passing comment about fair-trade syrups, do you dis-agree with the idea of Fair Trade coffee?? Jimmy, isn’t it a lever, rather than a brew switch?

And Jim, I’m intrigued by that passing comment about fair-trade syrups, do you dis-agree with the idea of Fair Trade coffee??

]]> By: Larry http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-1105 Larry Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:05:47 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-1105 I'm curious were you are heading with the "massive grouphead - quick brewed single cup" idea. the Original clover I’m curious were you are heading with the “massive grouphead – quick brewed single cup” idea.

the Original clover

]]> By: Jimmy http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-1088 Jimmy Tue, 07 Nov 2006 16:23:33 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-1088 I seriously wonder what those old machines cost back then, in equivalent dollars to today? I mean, just look at the thickness of the brew switch on the mutant e61-ish group... it's thicker than most PF arms! I seriously wonder what those old machines cost back then, in equivalent dollars to today?

I mean, just look at the thickness of the brew switch on the mutant e61-ish group… it’s thicker than most PF arms!

]]> By: RichW http://www.jimseven.com/2006/11/06/trieste/#comment-1034 RichW Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:06:55 +0000 http://jimseven.com/?p=287#comment-1034 It must suck to be you. Damn, man. Stop it already. Get a real job like the rest of us! It must suck to be you.

Damn, man. Stop it already. Get a real job like the rest of us!

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