A nice post reminding us why we complicate our lives with home 
roasting. I think in some sick way I enjoy traveling because there 
are always those transit days that force a person to either a. 
estimate where they can get the least-worst cup of coffee or b. get a 
cup of tea. The later was never an option, but lately I keep a little 
good earl grey or Darjeeling with me, and I have to admit it is much 
better than travel options. For example, I have to transit through 
the airport in San Jose Costa Rica a lot, and the coffee there is 
painful, at best. Oddly, as of late I would actually rather have a 
really commercial coffee, light roast, flavorless, then have 
someone's really sick idea of "specialty coffee" roasted a bit 
darker. Seriously.
This all brings me to, of course, Via. I just don't get it. The idea 
of traveling with your own mediocre Starbucks coffee because you are 
so addicted to it you can't be without, even when you go to some 
imaginary city with less than 1000 sbucks locations, well, it seems 
very depressing. It goes beyond coffee addiction, its brand 
addiction. Via is really expensive and yes, it is a lot better than 
the cup you get at the San Jose CR airport, but does that matter? If 
you are traveling, being without good coffee is temporary. Anyway, 
Greg, it's very encouraging to know that home is where the best 
coffee is at. I think home roasting still has a ways to go (roasters 
and grinder could always be better), but if it's the freshest cup, if 
it gives us choice of taste and we can craft our own idea of the 
"best cup" (even if we don't always hit the nail on the head), it 
certainly is a LOT better than being a slave to a giant chain coffee 
store.
Which brings up traveling with home roasted coffee: sometimes I do, 
sometimes I don't. My Hario Skerton/Aeropress combo was great in 
Africa, but recently in Guatemala I preground everything. The 
aeropress is the smallest coffee maker, fit's better in my luggage, 
but is hard if you want to make cups for 2-3 others as well. The 
Clever dripper would be better for that, but it is large for my 
luggage. In Costa Rica I did not bring any coffee or coffee maker. 
You would think there would be lots of good coffee around, and there 
is at some places. Helsar farm has their own Behmor and serves very 
nice French Press coffee, as does Montes de Oro farm. I brought a 
Behmor down to the Don Mayo mill because his Gene Caffe died, and I 
couldn't get a new heating element for him in time. In CR a lot of 
the producers we work with are now home roasters! They can't afford 
Probats and the like, so in the past they never were able to 
roast/taste/serve their own coffee. That has changed, and on most 
trips I am taking down machines for someone or other. Now, if we 
found someone on the list who actually travels with green coffee and 
a roaster (!) as well as grinder and brewer, we would have to crown a 
new champion of coffee excess!!!
Tom
<Snip>
-- 
-Tom
"Great coffee comes from little roasters" - Sweet Maria's Home Coffee Roasting
               Thompson & Maria -http://www.sweetmarias.com     Sweet Maria's Coffee - 1115 21st Street, Oakland, CA 94607 - USA
             phone/fax: 888 876 5917 - info_at_sweetmarias.com
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