Afternoon-
First I must thank Zara for hosting this event. There was ample room and
once we realized you couldn't run two espresso machines on the same circuit
all went flawlessly. The food was great (those scones are a hit), the coffee
was very good. It was especially interesting to do side-by-side comparisons
of the same bean roasted with two different methods and rested the same
amount of time. If you haven't done this, I would recommend that folks give
this a try. Once again Jefferey amazed folks with his detailed roast
profiles and double-roasted Sidamo that made a darn nice espresso.
Thanks again Zara for hosting.
Demian

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
We had a relaxed and very enjoyable gathering this afternoon with about =
a dozen coffee roasters and fans.  The best part for me was seeing =
everyone else's toys in action - now that I've seen the Aero, I want =
one.  We had 2 Mazzer Minis, a Giotto and an Andrea, a HotTop, a HGDB =
setup, and a Stir Crazy Turbo setup, not to mention an ibrik, a Turkish =
grinder, various French presses, and more roasts than we could sample in =
an afternoon although we valiantly drank our way through multiple pots =
of French press, dozens of espresso shots, and a round of Greek/Turkish =
coffee.  Add to that all the food we ate, and no one went home unbuzzed =
or hungry.
Demian and I both did double roasts and the taste test results were =
interesting.  I roasted the same beans twice, once in my HotTop and then =
tried to match the same level of roast with my HGDB.  Everyone liked the =
HotTop roast best.  Demian brought a double roast he did in an iRoast =
and with his Stir Crazy. Everyone liked the iRoast best.  I would have =
predicted the opposite, especially for the HGDB roast which I have more =
control over than the HotTop.
In any case, thank you everyone who came for a great afternoon!  I =
forgot to take any photos, but someone did snap a few and I hope will =
put them up somewhere we can all see them.
By the way, after everyone left, I got in a good long swim in the =
Endless Pool - next time you all should take me up on the offer to bring =
your suits and towels!