Posted Mon Apr 2, 2012, 9:28pm Subject: LA Home Coffee Meet-up, AKA a " coffee charrette"
Hi all. I have been thinking about this for a while. I'm a restless person, and I go through gear pretty quickly. I also love bargains, so I have a lot of stuff that I've picked up out the cheap just because I'm curious. At any given moment I usually have a pile of gear hiding under the dinner table. I though it might be nice to put some of that to use. I though it might be nice to arrange some sort of meet up where local seasoned and aspiring "home coffee enthusiasts" could bring a piece of their set up and everyone could have the chance to play with new and different gear. This would also be a great chance for those starting out to gets some hands on experience with actual working machines and grinders accompanied by the insight of people who are actually using it everyday.
My attraction to coffee has a lot to do with the craft elements, so I thought it would be nice to borrow a term from the arts, and dub such a gather a "coffee charrette". Right now I just want to know if there is any local interest in such a thing...anyone?
Well, that's the rub isn't it. Location would depend on attendance, and in LA attendance depends on location. My ideal would be to make it a recurring thing and see if some of the local coffee spots would be interested in hosting, and see if some local roasters would be interested in donating some beans. Right now I just need to get an idea of how much interested there would be. There was something similar going on in NYC but with pro baristas that would sort of teach or demo techniques to walk-ins. I can't remember the name of it, but then I can't remember what day of the week it is most of the time.
The general idea would be:
Everyone is welcome
If you have a piece(s) of gear that you really like and want to share with others, you would contact the organizer
If you don't have anything to share, please bring a small bag of nice beans if you can (and if a beans "sponsor" can't be found)
I would be happy to host such an event, but people would have to put up with my tiny house and impossible to park in neighborhood west of the 405.
fatnat79 Senior Member Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 148 Location: Los Angeles, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Grimac Mini Grinder: K30 ES Vac Pot: Yama / Bodum Santos Drip: Bodum French Press Roaster: Gene Cafe / Popcorn Roaster
Posted Tue Apr 3, 2012, 4:52pm Subject: Re: LA Home Coffee Meet-up, AKA a " coffee charrette"
I might be interested in attending something. In addition to meeting local members, trying out new and unique gear, I would love to be able to sample others' home roasts and shots pulled with them to compare with mine. Maybe a local homeroast swap can be a part of it where we can trade 1/4 lb samples of our roasts to take home for those that homeroast.
Posted Tue Apr 3, 2012, 9:27pm Subject: Re: LA Home Coffee Meet-up, AKA a " coffee charrette"
Hey, I'm glad to see that there is some interest. I work from home, so I have no idea what times work for other people, I just sort of do things whenever.
If the meet up where in Little Tokyo what day of the week and when would be best? If the meet up where on the West Side/Little Osaka, what day of the week and when would be best?
Coffee meet-ups are a bit of a pain because its hard to have them at night, which only leaves weekend mornings and afternoons, and Sunday is off limits for some, Saturday is off limits for others, yada yada yada. It will take some serious leg work to make this something more than a house-party affair, but I think that its worth it (my wife is an organizer for a meet-up suport group for kids with special need similar to our son's, and just getting more than 3 families together at someone's house once a month is really tricky)
I total agree that the home roast exchange would be cool, even better for people thinking about roasting, but I would have to respectfully decline to participate. My home roasting skillz are limited to pre-heating the Behmore and the selecting one of the options on P2.
One last mind bump: it would be cool if there were an opt-in CoffeeGeek google-map feature that would let us see other member in the area that are willing to be seen.
Cerridwyn Senior Member Joined: 6 Jun 2010 Posts: 395 Location: Inland Empire California Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Wed Apr 4, 2012, 5:21am Subject: Re: LA Home Coffee Meet-up, AKA a " coffee charrette"
If you plan more than one you always realize that the first one will either be the best or the worst in attendance and that different people will come depending on the when and where.
I live 60 miles out of LA, so evenings would never work for me. However, a weekend thing might, if it wasn't a work weekend.
Pick a couple of different places and do it a month a part on two different days and spread the word and see who comes. If you can get a place to let you meet there, you might get some new geeks who would join up here because of there.
CafeDemitasse Senior Member Joined: 5 Mar 2012 Posts: 3 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Wed Apr 4, 2012, 4:32pm Subject: Re: LA Home Coffee Meet-up, AKA a " coffee charrette"
We (the aforementioned Demitasse) would love to host such an event. We got some random equipment we could demo, I supposed. Single-beam siphons, a vario grinder, stuff like that.
OK, that is amazing. I was trying to figure out how to run extension cords from the various circuits in my house to handle several sets of espresso machines and grinders. I will be in touch...very exciting.
Posted Fri Apr 20, 2012, 3:53pm Subject: Re: LA Home Coffee Meet-up, AKA a " coffee charrette"
Hey everyone. I just stopped by Demitasse to talk about the charrette, and they are all in. I've also contacted LA Coffee Club, and they are excited about sponsoring the beans. I'm trying to work things so that the local businesses involved get some value in exchange for their support and enthusiasm, so...
Time: As far as Demitasse is concerned, weekday evenings after 5:00pm would be the slow times during which we wouldn't be interfering with customers. 5:00pm to 7:00pm would make this sort of a coffee happy hour type of event. Would that work for people? I don't travel east of LACMA that much, is there a time of week that is more hospitable traffic wise? Can your body handle that much caffeine so late in the day?
Beans: LACC has access to lots of local roasters, so I'll see what they are thinking in term of beans. Any suggestions as far as variety goes? A single roast? 2 roasts from 2 roasters? 4 different roasts from 4 different roasters? Single origin or blends?
Coffee: I'm planning this first charrette around espresso. Its the most equipement heavy method, and therefor puts up the highest barriers to entry and experimentation. My goal is to have 4 espresso machines (entry level SBDU, Silvia, HX/DB, Lever) and 4 grinders (Preciso, Vario, SJ, 68mm Conical). How does this sound? Anyone have some of this stuff that they would be willing to bring? I have some, but my gear only seems to become more esoteric, so I'm going to need some help here.
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