rasqual Senior Member Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 970 Location: Chicago area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: *$ Barista, non-pressurized Grinder: SMP, KAP Vac Pot: Aeropress Drip: Porcelain Melitta 103 Roaster: "ring roaster", mod popper
Posted Tue Aug 12, 2008, 8:04am Subject: Third Annual Open Sky Roast-off: Aug 23
Announcing the third annual, folks. That'll be on Saturday, August 23, at the North Riverside Farmers Market just west of Chicago (map: http://snurl.com/opensky), between 8:00 am and 1:00 pm.
As in previous years, we'll be hosting an opportunity for our market customers to rub shoulders with coffee geeks (that means you). You'll meet inquisitive coffee lovers, trade tips, find new friends (if you're the gregarious sort), and enjoy several varieties of coffee (freshly brewed and free to all during the event).
As in previous years, you may bring your own greens to roast in the original OS ring roaster, whether for your own use or to swap with others at the market (or give to our customers -- we'll have small 5.5 oz. bags at the market if you wish to do this). The minimum reliable roast is just shy of 2 lbs. green.
As in previous years, You may bring your own rested roasts for brewing as well. Aeropresses and polyester will be on hand. You're welcome to bring your own Chemex and so forth but remember, this is a farmers market and brewing conditions are primitive!
As in previous years, the day is not about profit but this year there's an exception -- we'd like to see good sales of Kevin Sinnott's new video. He'll be on hand to promote it and join the chatter. Having screened this, I can say that it's a darned good production -- something for your friends whose heads are still full of question marks when it comes to brewing coffee. You can learn more about its contents here: http://www.coffeebrewingsecrets.com
The production model of the unique Open Sky ring roaster (10-15 lb. capacity) was introduced at last year's event. It's still not finished (day jobs and family life have a way of slowing development), but we'll have it at the market. The equally unique trier has been entirely reworked and the motor is installed, so we can spin beans in it without Jim Shulman's elbow grease. ;-)
What to expect: This is a small farmer's market (no huge crowds), so think of this as a meet-up but with numerous coffee-loving civilians on hand who'll enjoy conversing with you about your craft.
RSVP would be helpful, but not necessary.
Rain or shine (last year some cloud-watchers stayed home and missed a perfect day)!
- Scott
P.S. -- If you have a small folding chair and can pack it along, please do!
rasqual Senior Member Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 970 Location: Chicago area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: *$ Barista, non-pressurized Grinder: SMP, KAP Vac Pot: Aeropress Drip: Porcelain Melitta 103 Roaster: "ring roaster", mod popper
Posted Sun Aug 17, 2008, 7:13pm Subject: Re: Third Annual Open Sky Roast-off: Aug 23
It should be fun. I'll sweeten the deal by offering some of my greens stash as door prizes. Most of that would be from GCBC takings, familiar to many here -- mostly stuff from last year. Storage conditions have been favorable to preservation of quality. ;-)
edit: I'll be bringin' 18 different coffees for brewing.
Also, Kris Southerland will be on hand with his wonderful coffee pens. These are really cool:
rasqual Senior Member Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 970 Location: Chicago area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: *$ Barista, non-pressurized Grinder: SMP, KAP Vac Pot: Aeropress Drip: Porcelain Melitta 103 Roaster: "ring roaster", mod popper
Posted Wed Aug 27, 2008, 5:53pm Subject: Re: Third Annual Open Sky Roast-off: Aug 23
This is the third year I can't get people away from that coffee. It's the FTO Colombian from Kevin Kuyers at Theta Ridge in South Bend, Indiana.
I rotate around 20 coffees at the market -- many of them much better than this Colombian. Doesn't matter. Folks love this and there's some inertia to overcome in getting them to be adventurous (not withstanding my "if you don't like the cup we'll brew you something else" guarantee).
I'd say that as many as 20% of my customers want just this coffee on any given weekend (I usually offer about 8 coffees). However, that is down a bit; I'd say each year people are getting a bit more adventurous.
Anyway, what I was going to say was that I've found it remarkable that this particular product has been consistent in each of the last three years.
It's also very good roasted quite light, though honestly I haven't done that for some time.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
![rasqual: coffeepens.jpg](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/40204/coffeepens.jpg", 800, 679, "rasqual: coffeepens.jpg");)
= No New Posts since last visit 