You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

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Date: 25 Jun 2006 16:56:13
From: Default User
Subject: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

You know the old gang is getting desperate...

when a photo of a bad cup of coffee generates a dozen or more replies.
Like somehow all you coffee desparados are surprised that some ripoff
restaurant out in palookaville treats coffee as as cash generator.
Nest thing you'll tell us is how shocked you were that they jack up
the price of a bottle of wine to 3 or 4 times what you can get it for
at costco.

You guys don't get out much, do you?

Hmmm, maybe that's why it's so important to have your egos fed by the
alt.coffee chorus. Ya think?

Date: 26 Jun 2006 00:24:12
From: D. Ross
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

Default User <default.user@default.cmx > wrote:

Date: 25 Jun 2006 20:04:29
From: St. John Smythe
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

Default User wrote:
> You know the old gang is getting desperate...
>
> when a photo of a bad cup of coffee generates a dozen or more replies.
> Like somehow all you coffee desparados are surprised that some ripoff
> restaurant out in palookaville treats coffee as as cash generator.
> Nest thing you'll tell us is how shocked you were that they jack up
> the price of a bottle of wine to 3 or 4 times what you can get it for
> at costco.
>
> You guys don't get out much, do you?

More than you, apparently. The picture illustrated the equivalent of
receiving chopped sirloin after having ordered a ribeye. Someone who
doesn't know what a good espresso looks like wouldn't be expected to
know that, of course.

--
St. John
No animal should ever jump on the dining room furniture unless
absolutely certain he can hold his own in conversation.
-Fran Lebowitz

Date: 25 Jun 2006 20:21:33
From: Default User
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 20:04:29 -0400, "St. John Smythe"
<sinjen@n4vu.com > wrote:

>Default User wrote:
>> You know the old gang is getting desperate...
>>
>> when a photo of a bad cup of coffee generates a dozen or more replies.
>> Like somehow all you coffee desparados are surprised that some ripoff
>> restaurant out in palookaville treats coffee as as cash generator.
>> Nest thing you'll tell us is how shocked you were that they jack up
>> the price of a bottle of wine to 3 or 4 times what you can get it for
>> at costco.
>>
>> You guys don't get out much, do you?
>
>More than you, apparently. The picture illustrated the equivalent of
>receiving chopped sirloin after having ordered a ribeye. Someone who
>doesn't know what a good espresso looks like wouldn't be expected to
>know that, of course.

Of course I know the difference, you smug little twit.

I also know enough to not order espresso at an eye-talian restaurant
in Hominy Flats. Truth is I wouldn't order an espresso in any
restaurant. It's simply a cash cow for them. It's rare enough for a US
coffee house, presumably dedicated to coffee above all other products,
to deliver a decent espresso. Restaurants haven't the time, trained
staff or inclination to deliver a decent cup of espresso. All they
want to do is add the 3 bucks to your bill. I think the OP was well
aware of that, as best as I can recall the post.

My point, if I have to make it explicit for your tiny little mind, is
that no one who gives a shit about coffee should be even remotely
surprised when a restaurant, no matter how "fancy", serves a crappy
espresso. (Gratuitous excrement references included to titillate
mrdrfox, alt.coffee's resident corprophiliac, Sometimes I feel like I
should do something nice for the guy.) I assume everyone here has
already come to terms with that unfortunate reality. So, my real
point, as the title makes clear, was that folks are getting hard up
for something to talk about here. Maybe coffee isn't that rich a
subject?

Almost as weird as the on-going argument -- an actual incessant
argument that people will not let drop-- with the bozo who decided
he's discovered a new way to make coffee and will spend untold hours
defending his new way over any other possible coffee-making technique.
Now tell me this place isn't too bizzare for words.

Date: 26 Jun 2006 08:10:41
From: Jack Denver
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

I suppose your situation is like Alex in Clockwork Orange - someone has
strapped you into a chair in front of the computer and has pinned your eyes
open so you are forced to read alt.coffee? Otherwise it makes no sense that
you are bothering to write long rants back instead of just moving on and
reading something else that you like better.

Of course what you say about ordering espresso is sadly true most of the
time, but the photo was of a particularly outrageous example - not only
was it the usual thin black dreck but it was spilled all over the sides of
the cup and into the saucer (and onto the tablecloth?), so it was a double
whammy - bad coffee badly served. Also, what can be done to change this
dismal situation is certainly a valid subject for discussion here. And I
have to admit that like Barry, every once in a while I allow myself to be
"fooled" even though I know what's coming - I'm like Charlie Brown - I think
THIS TIME Lucy won't yank the football away, THIS TIME the restaurant owner
really means it when he says that he will bring you a "nice espresso". My
wife the realist begs me, NO, NO, NO please don't order the coffee you'll
make a scene and embarass me but I do it anyway (once in a while) just out
of scientific curiosity. Maybe someday I'll get lucky or the espresso scene
in America will finally change and I'll be able to witness it.

As for the discussion about the "new" brewing method that is better than all
others, I admit that it was a little ridiculous, but part of what makes
this group worth reading for years on end (as I have) is that every once in
a while some odd eccentric character (such as yourself) will drop in. If
all we needed to do was repeat the conventional wisdom then we could have a
bot publish a FAQ and be done with it. Back when I was in college, whenever
I went to any public lecture or event, some sweet old lady or gentleman
would always show up and ask a question during the question period. For the
first few seconds it would seem OK but then you'd realize something wasn't
quite right about them and wasn't that a tinfoil lining sticking out of
their hat and they are asking the guest lecturer why the CIA is beaming
voices into their head and whether the technology being discussed could be
used to turn the mind control rays off, etc. Or the questioner would be
some Trotskyite to the left of Che and would attack the speaker (who was
already exceedingly liberal to begin with) from the left rather than from
the right as you might expect. But that was really part of the fun of
attending such events - if everyone was "normal" and asked only the boring
expected questions the events would have been a snooze.

"Default User" <default.user@default.cmx > wrote in message
news:rlku9298jpcuom2fitrkgjkjptd6fuhcus@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 20:04:29 -0400, "St. John Smythe"
> <sinjen@n4vu.com> wrote:
>
>>Default User wrote:
>>> You know the old gang is getting desperate...
>>>
>>> when a photo of a bad cup of coffee generates a dozen or more replies.
>>> Like somehow all you coffee desparados are surprised that some ripoff
>>> restaurant out in palookaville treats coffee as as cash generator.
>>> Nest thing you'll tell us is how shocked you were that they jack up
>>> the price of a bottle of wine to 3 or 4 times what you can get it for
>>> at costco.
>>>
>>> You guys don't get out much, do you?
>>
>>More than you, apparently. The picture illustrated the equivalent of
>>receiving chopped sirloin after having ordered a ribeye. Someone who
>>doesn't know what a good espresso looks like wouldn't be expected to
>>know that, of course.
>
>
> Of course I know the difference, you smug little twit.
>
> I also know enough to not order espresso at an eye-talian restaurant
> in Hominy Flats. Truth is I wouldn't order an espresso in any
> restaurant. It's simply a cash cow for them. It's rare enough for a US
> coffee house, presumably dedicated to coffee above all other products,
> to deliver a decent espresso. Restaurants haven't the time, trained
> staff or inclination to deliver a decent cup of espresso. All they
> want to do is add the 3 bucks to your bill. I think the OP was well
> aware of that, as best as I can recall the post.
>
> My point, if I have to make it explicit for your tiny little mind, is
> that no one who gives a shit about coffee should be even remotely
> surprised when a restaurant, no matter how "fancy", serves a crappy
> espresso. (Gratuitous excrement references included to titillate
> mrdrfox, alt.coffee's resident corprophiliac, Sometimes I feel like I
> should do something nice for the guy.) I assume everyone here has
> already come to terms with that unfortunate reality. So, my real
> point, as the title makes clear, was that folks are getting hard up
> for something to talk about here. Maybe coffee isn't that rich a
> subject?
>
> Almost as weird as the on-going argument -- an actual incessant
> argument that people will not let drop-- with the bozo who decided
> he's discovered a new way to make coffee and will spend untold hours
> defending his new way over any other possible coffee-making technique.
> Now tell me this place isn't too bizzare for words.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Date: 26 Jun 2006 12:25:50
From: sprsso
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

>> Now tell me this place isn't too bizzare for words.

Especially yours. Perhaps you should waste them elsewhere....al
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

Date: 26 Jun 2006 19:51:46
From: Ken Wilson
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

"sprsso"
>>> Now tell me this place isn't too bizzare for words.
>
> Especially yours. Perhaps you should waste them elsewhere....al

OTOH - i liked the Charlie Brown analogy and the fact that someone else's
wife begs them not to drink coffee out of the comfort zone and hope
overcomes them.

;-)

Date: 28 Jun 2006 21:28:58
From:
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

Jack Denver <nunuvyer@netscape.net > wrote:
> Back when I was in college, whenever
> I went to any public lecture or event, some sweet old lady or gentleman
> would always show up and ask a question during the question period. For the
> first few seconds it would seem OK but then you'd realize something wasn't
> quite right about them and wasn't that a tinfoil lining sticking out of
> their hat and they are asking the guest lecturer why the CIA is beaming
> voices into their head and whether the technology being discussed could be
> used to turn the mind control rays off, etc.

I work at a University and often sit in on lectures open to
the public. These people always show up... or a competing
academic whose sole purpose is to outshine the guest lecturer.

So, yes. In short, you have summed up 10 plus years of
reading a.c. - I like how you have summed it up. Thank-you.

Heck - I first experienced freshly roasted single-origin
coffee in 1975 (Murchies-Vancouver -- one of the original
inspirations for the creators of Starbucks) and although
I do not work FT in the coffee biz, I feel like I have
just scratched the surface of specialty coffee.

I could easily spend another ten years here
without flinching. ;-)

Cheers!

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
www.coffeecrew.com Colin Newell's Daily Grind
rnewell AT vcn DOT bc DOT ca
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Date: 26 Jun 2006 07:32:07
From: St. John Smythe
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

Default User wrote:
> So, my real
> point, as the title makes clear, was that folks are getting hard up
> for something to talk about here. Maybe coffee isn't that rich a
> subject?

Yes, you probably would be happier if you would just take a little
vacation from the group.

--
St. John
!07/11 PDP a ni deppart m'I !pleH

Date: 25 Jun 2006 20:50:52
From: North Sullivan
Subject: Re: You know the old gang is getting desperate when...

Date: 26 Jun 2006 03:40:12
From: daveb
Subject: the gang is getting bored

As usual Roque has a point (many points) . . . .

If you get something that sucks at a restaurant, especially one that
charges $250 for 4,
(which is not much $$$ in any big city, but a lot in podunk) send it
back and take it off the bill.

I question what kind of a 'fine' restaurant would permit the use of a
flash camera,-- annoying everyone in the room -- and a patron who would
actually take a picture of a cup of coffee! and yes Barry, it is OK to
dump back unused coffee into the grinder.. I was there and think you
are fine and pleasant person -- and yes, I know you were a judge at
the barista contest. I will be next year, I'll come in from NC just
for that.

TIME to explore backflushing once more!! or how to get a decent,
consistent shot from a cimbali jr. ad nauseum. Or let's have a poobah
rail against spammers or ID 'morphers'
Or multiple whiny requests to the entire group that I puhleeeeze not
call or write ANY MORE? pretty pleeeeze?

How about name calling, insults, smears, yelling, references to fecal
matter and Mom, etc.

Flaming and pie fights. Ian has a great point things ARE on a downhill
slide.

And to restaurants who cannot make a decent espresso? Take the goddamn
thing out and buy any little superauto for $500. No glitz but NO
training -- just consistently OK espresso (that is NOT picture worthy).
not that any restaurant owner would ever read this ng.

Dave
877 286 2833

Default User wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 20:04:29 -0400, "St. John Smythe"
> <sinjen@n4vu.com> wrote:
>
> >Default User wrote:
> >> You know the old gang is getting desperate...
> >>
> >> when a photo of a bad cup of coffee generates a dozen or more replies.
> >> Like somehow all you coffee desparados are surprised that some ripoff
> >> restaurant out in palookaville treats coffee as as cash generator.
> >> Nest thing you'll tell us is how shocked you were that they jack up
> >> the price of a bottle of wine to 3 or 4 times what you can get it for
> >> at costco.
> >>
> >> You guys don't get out much, do you?
> >
> >More than you, apparently. The picture illustrated the equivalent of
> >receiving chopped sirloin after having ordered a ribeye. Someone who
> >doesn't know what a good espresso looks like wouldn't be expected to
> >know that, of course.
>
>
> Of course I know the difference, you smug little twit.
>
> I also know enough to not order espresso at an eye-talian restaurant
> in Hominy Flats. Truth is I wouldn't order an espresso in any
> restaurant. It's simply a cash cow for them. It's rare enough for a US
> coffee house, presumably dedicated to coffee above all other products,
> to deliver a decent espresso. Restaurants haven't the time, trained
> staff or inclination to deliver a decent cup of espresso. All they
> want to do is add the 3 bucks to your bill. I think the OP was well
> aware of that, as best as I can recall the post.
>
> My point, if I have to make it explicit for your tiny little mind, is
> that no one who gives a shit about coffee should be even remotely
> surprised when a restaurant, no matter how "fancy", serves a crappy
> espresso. (Gratuitous excrement references included to titillate
> mrdrfox, alt.coffee's resident corprophiliac, Sometimes I feel like I
> should do something nice for the guy.) I assume everyone here has
> already come to terms with that unfortunate reality. So, my real
> point, as the title makes clear, was that folks are getting hard up
> for something to talk about here. Maybe coffee isn't that rich a
> subject?
>
> Almost as weird as the on-going argument -- an actual incessant
> argument that people will not let drop-- with the bozo who decided
> he's discovered a new way to make coffee and will spend untold hours
> defending his new way over any other possible coffee-making technique.
> Now tell me this place isn't too bizzare for words.