<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Blue Bottle generates more than just a caffeine buzz, but what does it mean?]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by spaceshaper http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:44:09 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/1 Sounds tasty!

If it helps people actually NOTICE what they consume I'm all for it.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

]]> Sounds tasty!

If it helps people actually NOTICE what they consume I'm all for it.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

]]> Comment #2 by edarnold41 http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/ Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:26:00 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/2 Coffe fetish = occupational blindness?

In case nobody noticed, the 'skilled worker' in the photo was not using the dark-lensed goggles necessary in working in close proximity to a high-intensity halogen lamp, which emits UV like you would not believe.

I guess retinal burns are a small price to pay for being a high-tech barrista.

]]> Coffe fetish = occupational blindness?

In case nobody noticed, the 'skilled worker' in the photo was not using the dark-lensed goggles necessary in working in close proximity to a high-intensity halogen lamp, which emits UV like you would not believe.

I guess retinal burns are a small price to pay for being a high-tech barrista.

]]> Comment #3 by odograph http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/ Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:00:49 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/3 bunsen

You'd think a high-grade bunsen burner would provide similar drama, at lower risk and env impact.

(I used to roast occasionally, but had trouble making the vacuum pots go ... maybe my bodum burr grinder wasn't up to the task.  Now I like a simple cone filter.  Now there a lack of conspicuous consumption for you ...)

]]> bunsen

You'd think a high-grade bunsen burner would provide similar drama, at lower risk and env impact.

(I used to roast occasionally, but had trouble making the vacuum pots go ... maybe my bodum burr grinder wasn't up to the task.  Now I like a simple cone filter.  Now there a lack of conspicuous consumption for you ...)

]]> Comment #4 by swag http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/ Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:52:18 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/mad-flavor-in-the-bay-area-coffee-fetish/4 Keeping perspective in a world of hyperbole

First of all, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that Blue Bottle's siphon bar is anything more than an update to 1830s technology:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_coffee

Secondly, that price tag was the fabrication of a New York Times' writer who was at a loss to describe the nuances of premium coffee and thus pumped up a price tag to make his piece stand out. The truth is that that $20k includes the individual vacuum pots (each cost hundreds), other parts, training, and perhaps even shipping and installation for that matter. In the end, it starts to make La Marzocco's new GS/3 model (which they've designed more for home use, mind you) at $7,500 seem like much less of an extravagance.

And to say that few world workers benefit from the global coffee trade -- second only to oil in world trade commodities -- is a rather näive statement. Some people prefer to obsess over the pennies paid to growers in third world economies while conveniently putting the blinders on for international disparities in labor costs that surface for truck drivers, storage space, marketing middlemen, retailer store shelf space, etc., in industrialized, consumer economies.

The sustainability of growers is something to obsess about. But as with every delivery system involved with food production and consumption in industrialized nations, there's a lot of gross oversimplification of where the problems are and how to solve them.


]]> Keeping perspective in a world of hyperbole

First of all, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that Blue Bottle's siphon bar is anything more than an update to 1830s technology:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_coffee

Secondly, that price tag was the fabrication of a New York Times' writer who was at a loss to describe the nuances of premium coffee and thus pumped up a price tag to make his piece stand out. The truth is that that $20k includes the individual vacuum pots (each cost hundreds), other parts, training, and perhaps even shipping and installation for that matter. In the end, it starts to make La Marzocco's new GS/3 model (which they've designed more for home use, mind you) at $7,500 seem like much less of an extravagance.

And to say that few world workers benefit from the global coffee trade -- second only to oil in world trade commodities -- is a rather näive statement. Some people prefer to obsess over the pennies paid to growers in third world economies while conveniently putting the blinders on for international disparities in labor costs that surface for truck drivers, storage space, marketing middlemen, retailer store shelf space, etc., in industrialized, consumer economies.

The sustainability of growers is something to obsess about. But as with every delivery system involved with food production and consumption in industrialized nations, there's a lot of gross oversimplification of where the problems are and how to solve them.


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