Perhaps a little overboard?

Sylvia PID #1

In the past few months, the seriousness of my “coffee hobby” has escalated. I bought a coffee roaster, a “Gene Cafe,”  and I installed a PID-controller, which is a computer-controlled thermostat. While I don’t think that everyone I know should follow these footsteps, I certainly am getting mighty-fine coffee out of my setup.

A couple weeks ago, Heidi and I collaborated with our friend and neighbor David Griswold, founder of Sustainable Harvest coffee company, on an auction item for our children’s school, Sunnyside Environmental. We hosted a coffee seminar: David described the origins of coffee, growing, harvesting, processing and importing. Heidi lead a cupping of coffee’s from around the world, as well as a comparison of different roasts. Finally, I described brewing techniques, culminating in making espresso drinks for everyone. It was a blast.

Sometime soon I’ll add photos of my PID controller and roaster at work…

(2016 edit: stuck in an image of what my machine more-or less looks like, since WordPress lost my original picture)

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