Comment by CaliforniaKarl | Hacker News Reader

Comment by CaliforniaKarl | Hacker News Reader

I love this, for a number of reasons.

This is a great example of taking a coasting or downward-trending venture and pivoting into something new, without sacrificing your existing cash flow.

It seems like the proof of concept is going well, confirming that the basic model is sound. What comes next is to scale it up.

The farmers are also researching existing innovations in the field (i.e. harvesters), with the goal of extending those innovations to meet the field's unique challenges.

They are also selling initial product, which although is much more expensive than similar products of this type, is serving to bootstrap continued and expanded production, with the goal of reducing price by increasing supply.

(Huh, I think I went off on a tangent and started taking about Tesla.)

I don't understand why people would throw shade onto this. Not only is this entrepreneurial spirit, it's _successful_ entrepreneurial spirit.

I wish them all the best!

EDIT: Spelling

Did I miss the pricing bit? All I saw was a quote saying that specialty coffee that sells for $120/lb exists, not that these places are selling it. (if you're looking for it you can find absurdly expensive anything, the only coffee you'll find at that top price is probably kopi luwak where they harvest the beans from civet poop)

> where they harvest the beans from civet poop

and typically abuse these poor animals in the process [1]

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/se...

There's a lot of "I" in that article.

Hey, it's The Guardian and "lifestyle".

... It's probably not from civets if an animal did even poop it out. Demand has increased so high, even highly abusive farms can't keep up. So they just outright lie about the beans or have some other animal eat the beans and shit them out.

"...have some other animal eat the beans and shit them out."

Sounds like something I can do at home myself then.

DIY scarification, bring your own cat.

The only coffee you'll find at that top price is probably kopi luwak...

I don't know about $120/lb coffee, but it's not that hard to find pretty expensive coffee. "Hula Daddy" Kona Coffee runs up to $90/lb, depending on the type:

http://www.huladaddy.com/catalog-coffee

And currently, Starbucks has a coffee going for nearly $80/lb ($40 for an 8.8-ounce bag):

http://store.starbucks.com/coffee/starbucks-reserve-coffee/

(I've noticed that Kopi Luwak really doesn't seem to show up on the radar of most coffee snobs, despite the claims of the sellers, which has always made me suspicious of it. Also, it's a lot more than $120/lb; it's not uncommon to find it going for over $300/lb.)

You can get 'enzymatically treated' fake Kopi Luwak for only a ~20% premium over a regular, good quality bean, and I would say it's actually better than the real stuff. I also think arabica varieties are overrated in general, and a good blend that includes a robusta, with its excellent crema-producing properties, is almost always a better cup.

That being said, $100+/lb coffees are pure wankery. If people want to spend their money that way, so be it. But just because something is rare or expensive doesn't make it actually taste better.

Source: am coffee snob

I'm sure you know this, but for a fraction of that cost you'll get a green top grade coffee bean. Roast it yourself so it's always fresh. You won't look back. I've tried robusta. It looks amazing but is deadly strong and tastes like burning tyres.

I've roasted a few times, simply using an old hot air popcorn popper. It was a lot of fun, but there isn't anywhere local I can get good green beans. Do you have any recommendations for on-line shops?

Regarding robusta- first crack tends to be hard to hear, which can mess up your roast if you aren't careful. My subjective recommendation is to use them for ~10% of your total bean bill. Crema for days when you pull shots, great earthy flavor. Pairs really well with Sumatran beans.

sweetmarias.com

They have in depth reviews of all coffees. I've bought from them for years.

Thanks!

One suggestion: skip the hot air and use a stovetop popcorn popper. Both the air popcorn poppers and specific air coffee roasters struggle to get hot enough in my experience.

I'll give that a shot next time. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks - I'll try again. I'm probably not much use to you as I'm in NZ. I just went around asking at places that said that they roast it. I got funny looks but everyone untried sold me green beans. Eventually I got far back enough in the chain to find the supplier that everyone buys from. The defensive attitude goes away when they know it's for home use, not potentential competitor. The supplier have a taster employed and a list of about 50 coffees that I can buy. The taster is an excellent source of knowledge that can always recommend something new and great.

http://johnburton.co.nz

Tldr: ask your local roaster for some or ask who their supplier is.

I have tried kopi luwak and IMHO it taste bad, I couldn't finish it. I think there is one more expensive than that one and it is the Black Ivory, collected from elephants waste [1]. But after been disappointed by the kopi luwak I am not interested in expensive coffee, give me a cheap colombian like Juan Valdez, or some organic colombian.

[1]. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ivory_Coffee

The theory behind Kopi Luwak was that the civets knew which (coffee) berries were perfectly ripe, so ate them; in the process, pooping out the seeds (coffee beans).

Once humans found this out, now civets are kept in cavity and fed just coffee berries (i.e., they have no choice, just eat whatever is put in from of them). Natually, the beans that come out will be no different than average coffee beans. Yes, there's this whole "civet digestive enzymes" part, but that plays a negligible role IMHO.

Also reducing transportation costs is good for the environment. And consumers will like that!

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