Is This Selfish of Me???

[Coffee2Di4]

So, unfortunately Peters father passed away on the weekend and the funeral is this coming Friday.

I agreed to play Barista afterwards, so Im packing the Maver and Macap up and taking them for a little journey north for a couple of days.

Were expecting anything up to 50 people, so Im furiously roasting enough beans to make quite a few coffees - Ive got permanent burn marks on my arm from the wok just quietly!

Last night I did two 400g batches of Mystic TP because it was the first bag of greens I grabbed when I got home from Taree at 8.00pm.

Had a sniff this afternoon and Ive decided that Im not loosing the Mystic onto the great unwashed rellies and Im keeping that roast for myself. Its far too nice smelling, and - lets face it - most of the drinkers will be so stunned that the coffee they are drinking isnt stale and burnt that they wont recognise a good bean when they have one.

*sigh* back to the drawing board (or wok, as the case may be!)

Anyone got any recommendations of a bean that doesnt taste so wonderful that I will be regretting that Im giving it to an appreciative, but inexperienced, audience?

Or am I just being selfish???



Oh, and any thing from you experienced folk that I should take into consideration when transporting my HX to eradicate any potential damage from travel?

Cheers
Di

[greenman]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

On the back seat with a lap/sash belt holding it in place, I took my Mazzer on a trip recently and it behaved brilliantly being restrained in this manner (put the kids in the boot!!!)

[GregWormald]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Sorry about your loss.

As far as the machine goes, put it in a box, pack it in the back/boot with lots of stuff around it.

Beans--Buy some decent commercial roast. If thats not available, use what you can get more of.

Greg
And yes, youre being selfish--whats the problem with that? If you dont take care of yourself, others wont either.

[madpierre06]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Sympathies Di. Can I suggest taking a couple hundred gm of the Mystic...introduce it at some stage to give even the great unwashed a shot of a nicer than is even appreciated drop...you may just find someone asks.."WHAT THE **& IS THAT???" 8-) Then you get to tell them...if they dont then someone has enjoyed a nice drop anyways, on what can be a difficult day. And Im sure youll feel a lot better for sharing a little of your stash.

Re other beans and packing...what Greg said.

Hope the day goes as well as it can for you.

Alan

[scoota_gal]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Di...great to see you here! I was hoping that we would...

Condolences from me to your man and family too. I hope all goes smoothly for you all leading up to Friday.

Pretty much what Greg said...go and get some stuff from your local roaster if you can spare the half hour to get down there!

If you can get someone to stand beside you who can at least keep you topped up on milk and supplies and also write down your orders, that might be easiest. And if you have got a really friendly local cafe you might even be able to source some decent takeaway cups from them rather than the awful foam ones from the stoopidmarkets. Some kind person might like to sell you a couple of sleeves of cups (I know I would!)...

[Coffee2Di4]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Thanks all - his passing was almost a blessing: after putting up a good fight against Prostate Cancer for the past 8 years, it was a reasonably short bad period, so for that we are really all grateful!

I roasted up another 800g of Wahgi tonight, so added on to the 400g of Mystic I should, hopefully, now be set for the hoards.

Thanks for the tips, Scoots - I might put Emily in charge of the taking orders for me and it might be an opportunity for her to become a tycoon if I give her 10c per cup and well keep a tally of her orders. Ill just have to teach her Barista Shorthand (C / L / FW / E and "Bugger off if you think Im doing anything other than that", the "No, I dont do Hot Chocolates or Babycinos" and finally, the specialty of the day, the "You crazy hippies can forget about even contemplating that soy is going to be on offer - no soy is going to hit this steam wand!" )

Ive luckily got a stash of about 50 6oz cardboard ripple cups that I bought home after a training course that didnt finish until late one afternoon a couple of months ago and forgot to take with me back to work so I might put them to good use (...move along, nothing to see here! )

Ah damn, I better go and do another batch of beans, I suppose - Im worried that I wont have enough. Even if I have some left over afterwards, Id rather that than running out halfway through...The Hoyks family is a force to be reckoned with if you get on their bad side!!!

[A_M]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Thanks all - his passing was almost a blessing: after putting up a good fight against Prostate Cancer for the past 8 years, it was a reasonably short bad period, so for that we are really all grateful!

I roasted up another 800g of Wahgi tonight, so added on to the 400g of Mystic I should, hopefully, now be set for the hoards.

Thanks for the tips, Scoots - I might put Emily in charge of the taking orders for me and it might be an opportunity for her to become a tycoon if I give her 10c per cup and well keep a tally of her orders.  Ill just have to teach her Barista Shorthand (C / L / FW / E  and "Bugger off if you think Im doing anything other than that", the "No, I dont do Hot Chocolates or Babycinos" and finally, the specialty of the day, the "You crazy hippies can forget about even contemplating that soy is going to be on offer - no soy is going to hit this steam wand!" )

Ive luckily got a stash of about 50 6oz cardboard ripple cups that I bought home after a training course that didnt finish until late one afternoon a couple of months ago and forgot to take with me back to work so I might put them to good use (...move along, nothing to see here! )

Ah damn, I better go and do another batch of beans, I suppose - Im worried that I wont have enough.  Even if I have some left over afterwards, Id rather that than running out halfway through...The Hoyks family is a force to be reckoned with if you get on their bad side!!!  

One of the on going issues is the celebration of life... And reflection when others move on..

My thoughts are with both of you.....

Keeping busy is one way of coping and while good, you may also need time out for you self...

Dont forget to have a tin of Pablo on the side for any that complain or want something different... Remember, while all this is going on Pete also has to cope with his loss....

Take care on the drive and a safe return.... You guys have to come first...

[bolb]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Condolences Hoyks
Not selfish at all, keep the best for yourself as a discerning coffee drinker. Most people at functions will settle for anything that is liquid and generally will only be expecting instant anyway.
I think greg hit the nail on the head with the use of a commercial blend.

Best wishes for the day.
Mal

[Coffee2Di4]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Thanks AM & Bolb

I hear you, AM on all fronts! How sad am I - CoffeeSnobs is one of my time outs and provides a little bit of an opportunity to forget about the mundane stuff in life for a short while, at least.

And only 9 days to go until I get some real rest time for probably the first time in about 6 weeks...phew, Im looking forward to it!

Cheers Everyone - probably wont get a chance to yak to you all until after the weekend, so enjoy the forum without me!

AM - the ratbag/stirrer baton is solely yours for a couple of days...dont let me down, Im counting on you!

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Di
I would like to express my sincere condolences on the recent passing of you father in-law
The Kosmo household send their thoughts and
prayers to you and your family at this difficult time.

With regards to the barista duties
I think the Sumatran beans will be enjoyed by all
Dont turn into a coffee hog

KK

[Intellidepth]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

Hi Di, sorry to hear of your loss.

Im a bit late, however if you are ever in need of coffee or cups again at short notice, feel free to contact me as Im local. Ill send you a PM with my details.

I have takeaway cups always on standby as well as a recently enlarged stash of about 40kg which includes decaf. I also have multiple jugs, spare tamper, coffee bags... lots of cloths, the usual things.

I trust it all goes well and your barista skills are heralded then applauded.

[Coffee2Di4]

Re: Is This Selfish of Me???

All back home again from up North and it all went swimmingly on all fronts and I think Petes dad would have been extremely chuffed with the people that turned out to farewell him (including a RAAF Caribou, in honour of his 30 years service in the Air Force and the fact that he piloted the first Caribou to Australia from Canada when they were first commissioned).

My coffees went down a treat at the wake with nothing but very positive comments and much returned service. It was good to give the Maver a run for its money, and I probably pushed out about 50 drinks all up over the evening and then another 50 or so over the course of the next couple of days. In some respects its made me put even more thought into possibly looking at the pathway to becoming a proper barista one day - even if its just working on a Saturday morning only for the fun of it. Having said that, it comes with a huge dose of realism telling me that its all very well and good having lots of complimentary people drinking your free wares, but another matter altogether to have people paying for them so them having the right to complain/be rude/etc.

An enjoyable experience though and I ended up only really using about 800g of beans in the end - I became very efficient very early on, rather than my usual overfill, level off and waste about 100g for every basket. Its also amazing how your tamping skills improve when you have to push them out in a hurry, also - you get a real knack of know when theres enough in the basket, how to tamp levelly the first time, etc.

Thanks, once again, to everyone for their support, tips and well wishes...

Cheers
Di