Has anyone considered writing up a FAQ? For example: How much coffee do I use per "cup?" What are the best methods to store greens? What are the best methods for storing roasted coffee? Who the hell is Harvey? What's the difference between DP and wet? What do all these acronyms mean? DP, FC, C+, SM+, HX, E61, IMHO, KMB, etc. Why do I need a variac for my popper? Why should I have dumped before the rolling second crack? What is a bloom? What month(s) should I look for coffee from my favorite region? What is the difference between the different variaties of coffee plant? What does first crack look like, smell like, sound like? What is the temperature of the bean? Why does my Ethiopian always roast unevenly, yet taste wonderful? What do goats have to do with coffee history? Why should I homeroast? Why would Starbucks burn their coffee? Which espresso machine is the right one for me? Which brewing method is right for me? I could go on and on with questions that seem to get answered on a regular cycle. Many internet mailing lists will send out a FAQ on a regular basis such as monthly, others offer a link to a FAQ in their "welcome" email. Wes |
Go for it! A FAQ including all the questions that have been asked on the List at least a dozen times over the years would indeed be a looooooong FAQ. BTW you got me on one acronym: SM+. Is that Sweet Maria's plus home roasing equals great coffee:-) No duh it just hit me, Solis Maestro Plus. Kona Konnaisseur miKe mcKoffee URL to Rosto mods, FrankenFormer, some recipes etc:http://mdmint.home.comcast.net/coffee/Rosto_mod.htmUltimately the quest for Koffee Nirvana is a solitary path. To know I must first not know. And in knowing know I know not. Each Personal enlightenment found exploring the many divergent foot steps of Those who have gone before. From: homeroast-admin [mailto:homeroast-admin] On Behalf Of Wesley Simon Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 11:36 AM Has anyone considered writing up a FAQ? For example: How much coffee do I use per "cup?" What are the best methods to store greens? What are the best methods for storing roasted coffee? Who the hell is Harvey? What's the difference between DP and wet? What do all these acronyms mean? DP, FC, C+, SM+, HX, E61, IMHO, KMB, etc. Why do I need a variac for my popper? Why should I have dumped before the rolling second crack? What is a bloom? What month(s) should I look for coffee from my favorite region? What is the difference between the different variaties of coffee plant? What does first crack look like, smell like, sound like? What is the temperature of the bean? Why does my Ethiopian always roast unevenly, yet taste wonderful? What do goats have to do with coffee history? Why should I homeroast? Why would Starbucks burn their coffee? Which espresso machine is the right one for me? Which brewing method is right for me? I could go on and on with questions that seem to get answered on a regular cycle. Many internet mailing lists will send out a FAQ on a regular basis such as monthly, others offer a link to a FAQ in their "welcome" email. Wes |
For which bean? Brett On 7/18/06, Wesley Simon wrote: <Snip> -- Regards, Brett Mason HomeRoast Zassman |
The sweetmarias web site has most of these and more answered beautifully. Jared On 7/18/06, Wesley Simon wrote: <Snip> |
I am lacking in time and knowledge to take on such a task at this point. I spend a great deal of my *spare* time giving back to a 12 step fellowship. On 7/18/06, miKe mcKoffee wrote: <Snip> |
On Jul 18, 2006, at 2:36 pm, Wesley Simon wrote: <Snip> Well, besides the Sweet Maria's coffee library (on their web site), there's, http://www.coffeefaq.comalthough, I'm not sure whether it addresses all your questions. Of course, the best thing for it would be a wiki (like Wikipedia, Coffeepedia perhaps) so that anyone could contribute and no one person would have to be responsible for maintaining it. John Blumel |
On 7/18/06, Jared Andersson wrote: <Snip> A FAQ doc could link to the approriate places on the SM site. Safe Journeys and Sweet Music Justin Marquez (Snyder, TX) |
I think a FAQ is a great idea. Our hosts could set one up giving passwords to those who are on the list or it could be done by a third party. I think setting up a Wiki would be pretty easy and we could all get started. I will start looking into doing this (never done it before) to see if I could host it on my DSL connection. On 7/18/06, Justin Marquez wrote: <Snip> -- Steven Hay hay.steve -AT- gmail.com Barry Paradox: Consider k to be the greatest element of the set of natural numbers whose description require maximum of 50 words: "(k+1) is a natural number which requires more than 50 words to describe it." |
Hack away folks. The site password is "tom&maria" On 7/18/06, Steve Hay wrote: <Snip> -- Steven Hay hay.steve -AT- gmail.com Barry Paradox: Consider k to be the greatest element of the set of natural numbers whose description require maximum of 50 words: "(k+1) is a natural number which requires more than 50 words to describe it." |
I'm an idiot. There I said it. ahem. Hack away folks. The site password is "tom&maria"http://homeroast.pbwiki.com/I started with the FAQs asked in this thread, which seemed as good as anything. On 7/18/06, Steve Hay wrote: <Snip> Steven Hay hay.steve -AT- gmail.com Barry Paradox: Consider k to be the greatest element of the set of natural numbers whose description require maximum of 50 words: "(k+1) is a natural number which requires more than 50 words to describe it." |
To play devil's advocate, coffee roasting is not a carved in stone process. As soon as you answered some of those questions, someone else would disagree with you...and technically, you'd both be right. Each to their own you know? I agree that there are some questions on there that are cut and dried, and those could be put together in a FAQ. Greg |
The issue of Idiocy has been answered on the FAQ ... On 7/18/06, Steve Hay wrote: <Snip> -- Regards, Brett Mason HomeRoast Zassman |
I have agree with this. The whole point of discussion groups such as this is to explore the many answers to these questions. Just the first question "how much coffee to use per cup" could practically use a white sheet to answer it and the final conclusion would still be "it depends." I can only think of one or two questions with clear cut answers, such as "what is the best source for greens?" ;) A: SMs or "what is the best grinder?" A: SM+ On 7/18/06, Greg C. Rose wrote: <Snip> -- Don |
Or you could contribute some info to the FAQ.... Disagreeing IS easier... Brett On 7/18/06, Don Cummings wrote: <Snip> -- Regards, Brett Mason HomeRoast Zassman |
Just don't bother adding the "clear cut answer" to the question " "what is the best grinder?" A: SM+". Please, Solis Maestro Plus is a far cry from being the best grinder available, not even close. Kona Konnaisseur miKe mcKoffee URL to Rosto mods, FrankenFormer, some recipes etc:http://mdmint.home.comcast.net/coffee/Rosto_mod.htmUltimately the quest for Koffee Nirvana is a solitary path. To know I must first not know. And in knowing know I know not. Each Personal enlightenment found exploring the many divergent foot steps of Those who have gone before. From: homeroast-admin [mailto:homeroast-admin] On Behalf Of Brett Mason Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 9:13 PM Or you could contribute some info to the FAQ.... Disagreeing IS easier... Brett On 7/18/06, Don Cummings wrote: I have agree with this. The whole point of discussion groups such as this is to explore the many answers to these questions. Just the first question "how much coffee to use per cup" could practically use a white sheet to answer it and the final conclusion would still be "it depends." I can only think of one or two questions with clear cut answers, such as "what is the best source for greens?" ;) A: SMs or "what is the best grinder?" A: SM+ |
...and anotherhttp://www.thecoffeefaq.com/********************* Ed Needham® "to absurdity and beyond!" ed at homeroaster dot com (include [FRIEND] in subject line to get through my SPAM filters) ********************* |
On 7/19/06, Don Cummings wrote: <Snip> I think the FAQ is worthwhile. The reason I think a Wiki FAQ is a good idea is because people can contribute their different ideas. Sometimes informed opinions are helpful. Of course it takes judgement to discern when oneself is providing valuable information vice ranting, which is mostly useless. I do not think having a FAQ would obviate the list discussion but rather supplement it. How many times has it been said, "that question was just asked; check the archive."? To counter your example regarding how much coffee to use per cup, one could change the question to: "How much coffee is appropriate when brewing coffee with the drip method?" and the answer could be: "The SCAA recommends XX tsp per cup be used. However, other factors such as grind, origin, roast level, and personal taste may lead you to using more or less than the SCAA recommended amount." -- Steven Hay hay.steve -AT- gmail.com Barry Paradox: Consider k to be the greatest element of the set of natural numbers whose description require maximum of 50 words: "(k+1) is a natural number which requires more than 50 words to describe it." |
I looked at the wiki--it's a good beginning, Steve. If it is public though, you might want to delete the Harvey question. I think I read (here on the list) that Harvey is only an option for list members at the moment. vicki |
It's a Zass! Brett On 7/19/06, miKe mcKoffee wrote: <Snip> -- Regards, Brett Mason HomeRoast Zassman |
I like it! Well Done! Eddie --- Steve Hay wrote: <Snip> Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com |
I really like the Wiki idea also. (with links to Sweetmarias) Jared On 7/18/06, Justin Marquez wrote: <Snip> |
It is easier to disagree. I'll take it one step further...It's much easier to stand on your hilltop and find faults than it is to offer constructive input. The feeling of superiority that comes from shooting another's idea down in a fireball of negativity only lasts a few seconds, then you're off looking for the next fix. For many of these questions, there is no single answer, but the answers are consistently the same. For a question such as "Which is the best grinder?" one could easily offer multiple answers to this. For some people buying a Rocky or Mazzer is the answer, for others, they need the best for the lowest price such as SM+, while others would say zass. There are reasons why each of these are the right grinder; it depends on the person, available funds, intended use,etc. The same type of answer applies to espresso machines. I make espresso once or twice a week, so a Silvia and SM+ makes sense for my needs. Also, I won't pay more for a grinder at this time. For others they would wear out my setup in no time. FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, it does not say or imply a single or a simple answer. It doesn't even say that there will be an ANSWER! Wes On 7/18/06, Brett Mason wrote: <Snip> |
What you mean that Q&A shouldn't go in the FAQ Mike? :) (It was kind of a joke.) On 7/19/06, miKe mcKoffee wrote: <Snip> -- Don |
From: homeroast-admin [mailto:homeroast-admin] On Behalf Of Don Cummings Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 8:17 AM <Snip> What you mean that Q&A shouldn't go in the FAQ Mike? :) (It was kind of a joke.) <Snip> Well, the 'Q' was Questionable (best) and the was 'A' Awful (SM+):-) miKe |
<Snip> One thing that could be done is to simply put message threads into the FAQs. That way people can see just how many personal opinions there are. There's an old joke that if you ask four different economists what the future looks like, you'll get 5 different answers. Our group seems to have more opinions than is does members Frank Parth |
Its a thought, although it might be nice to condense the threads into coherent thought if possible. Glad you all like the FAQ. Please, everyone is invited to contribute. Esp if you have new FAQs to add. On 7/19/06, Frank Parth wrote: <Snip> -- Steven Hay hay.steve -AT- gmail.com SM Coffee FAQ:http://homeroast.pbwiki.com/ |