3rd Huky Roasting Competition Discussion

[hankua]

Does SM even use SCAA scoring, I thought they had an in-house system?

And their cupping evaluation is about coffee quality and sales, not roasting per se. Should the winning roast be the best eye-popping tongue smacking entry without defect? I love these roasts, especially an Ethiopian or Kenyan; but that's not general representation of the profiles I'm seeing here. If we give some points to development and balance, maybe the results can shift a bit.

Do we really need a complicated 100 point scale?  Sure if two entries are close, the 89 is going to top the 88; agree on that. But more comments and less numbers might be useful for our members.

My opinion about our competitions is to have fun and learn. If people are head scratching after it's over, might be time to make some changes. That's why I'm advocating using our own form with a little better feedback built in.

[lagavulin]

I'll Enter. I could definitely use critique.

[SusanJoM]

I do like the idea of trying to have everyone roast on the same day. However, finding a day where a large group of people all have time available to roast that same day could prove difficult.

You are absolutely right about this, but I also think it is critical to the integrity of what you are asking of the judges to spend their time doing.  If members want the benefits of a professionals assessment of their roasts they have to be willing to do their part to make that happen.  If the time frame is made clear in the invitation to participate, contestants simply have to assess ahead of time whether they can or can't do it.   Obviously there will be a series of these events and if a member can't participate in one, s/he will have other opportunities down the road.

[JavaBuzz]

That makes sense too.

[jyalpert]

A question for the organizers - would it be possible for locals to participate in the cupping as well?  I wouldn't want to meddle with the SM judges' time, but perhaps a second table set up for any Huky user who can join to do an evaluation as well.

I would LOVE to compare notes with professional cuppers.

Also I'm happy to bring my Huky over to SM so we can give them a demonstration.  I know people do that for them from time to time so they are aware of the latest developments in home roasting.

[kenneroast]

A question for the organizers - would it be possible for locals to participate in the cupping as well?  I wouldn't want to meddle with the SM judges' time, but perhaps a second table set up for any Huky user who can join to do an evaluation as well.

I would LOVE to compare notes with professional cuppers.

Also I'm happy to bring my Huky over to SM so we can give them a demonstration.  I know people do that for them from time to time so they are aware of the latest developments in home roasting.

Great idea. I would also love to participate in coffee tasting. The insight would be even more valuable. When it's time to follow up with them about other details, I will bring this up and see how many they can accommodate. I'm also prepared to ask them about people spectating, and how many they can comfortably host. It's easy to imagine that they have plenty of space for a small crowd, but I'm worried about time. We'll see what they say.

We're currently planning to design a simple score card based on Hankua's ideas. It seems to be the most valuable. The final design will resemble the SCAA coffee evaluation form with different categories and scoring. Once it's finalized, I'll share it with the community in case anyone wants to use it themselves.

[jyalpert]

Cool, thanks.  I've been over to the warehouse a few times to pick up coffee and they seem to have some room, but who knows.  Thanks for organizing!

[kenneroast]

Hank brought to my attention that we have many international members who may want to participate. Shipping logistics need to be sorted out still, but we think we have a solution. We could ship smaller samples to you guys to meet the USPS First Class shipping requirements.

Please let us know if any of you guys outside of the US would like to be included.

[edtbjon]

Well, I would think it would be very much fun and rewarding to participate. I live in Sweden. I really don't mind about a decent extra cost for shipping. (The "big" one would be the shipping of a few pounds of greens to Sweden. I take it the shipping costs are about the same for any "overseas" shipping from the US. Shipping the 4-6 ounces back for cupping shouldn't be a problem.)

[hankua]

What about shipping 8oz to 1lb greens to save incoming costs?

[edtbjon]

What about shipping 8oz to 1lb greens to save incoming costs?

(If that was for me...) I've spent several $K on this "hobby". Spending an extra $50 (or whatever) for a chance to evolve, participte and have some fun isn't something I would hesitate about.

[SusanJoM]

What would you/anyone think about having two separate categories to be judged separately (against only others in the same category):  Solid Drum and Perforated Drum.  This aligns with my particular bias that these are very very different roasters.

But/and it also would allow people who have both drums to enter into either or BOTH categories, which I think would be very cool.

And of course also allow for Best in Show which would rank the #1 Perf against the #1 Solid....

Just thinkin'.

Susan

[venerablemonster]

What would you/anyone think about having two separate categories to be judged separately (against only others in the same category):  Solid Drum and Perforated Drum.  This aligns with my particular bias that these are very very different roasters.

But/and it also would allow people who have both drums to enter into either or BOTH categories, which I think would be very cool.

And of course also allow for Best in Show which would rank the #1 Perf against the #1 Solid....

Just thinkin'.

Susan

I like this idea, but we would have to have enough participants to make it worthwhile. Otherwise, we'd be splitting an already small competing group.

[SusanJoM]

I like this idea, but we would have to have enough participants to make it worthwhile. Otherwise, we'd be splitting an already small competing group.

Excellent point. 
Maybe it's a bit premature 

[kenneroast]

Sounds doable. With the new scoring system, rankings could be separated by drum type without asking anything more from Sweet Maria's.

I'll be reaching out to them soon to touch based about the latest developments and to discuss timelines.