A humble wish for the year 20XX

The internet in 2008 gives us the ability to instantly share information about how we prepare our coffee with people around the world. As precision instrumentation becomes inexpensive and ubiquitous, this flow of information becomes more accurate and helpful.

Balances, for instance, help us measure how much dry coffee we use and how much liquid coffee ends up in our cup. Thermometers (or a Scace device) precisely measure our brew temperature. Digital timers allow us to record exactly how long the coffee and water are in contact. And water analyzers tell us our TDS and hardness.

Sharing this kind of data allows people on the other side of the globe to closely duplicate what we are doing. The give and take that results from this sharing encourages good techniques to spread and bad techniques to die out.

The one thing we DON'T have is a way to accurately communicate our grind fineness and particle distribution. Telling someone they can get a great Clover brew by grinding "halfway between presspot and drip" is better than nothing. But it's a lousy substitute for real measurement.

It won't happen in 2008, but I hope in the not-too-distant future we will have a $250 Laser Diffraction Particle Size Analyzer. Then folks in say, Seattle, will be able to tell folks in say, New Zealand exactly how fine they're grinding the Esmeralda to make the best cup on a Clover or Chemex or vacpot. And we'll be able to tell why the Robur tastes a little different from the Anfim. At that price I know I'll be buying one, and I bet James Hoffmann will be buying one, too!