So true!
Did the Kuerig disappear? Why swapping one cartridge system for another. Also would you be asking Parks to sell these pods too? They will be overpriced just as the K-Cups are.
Kuerig is there, only makes coffee, not espresso. Nespresso is a net-addition. Capsules will be more expensive but we can’t expect Parks to provide a machine without stocking some pods. How many we buy is up to us. I’d bring some in from my supply at home 
A Nesspresso machine isn’t expensive and it is easy to use like the Kruerig - only mess is tossing the spent cartridge which I’d guess 75% of the time I’ve used it the prior person was too lazy to even do that. I think frother will be a real challenge for DMS they have to cleaned or or it immediately becomes gummy.
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Technically for coffee snobs, this isn’t espresso either. Just better than K-cups. I thought they were going for a full-auto expresso maker.
I was using the Vacuum former to make my own disposable K-Cups but finally found some on Amazon. Much better when you can use a coffee you like (or tea).
Milk frotheds don’t work very well after the milk has been open for a day. I don’t use mine as a result.
The actually do have legitimate italian roasted beans. No seattle based coffee shop would ever settle for crap there.
Its the “coffee drinks” that are the worst, all sugar and milk with only a single shot of coffee being either (a double Ristretto pull or half Macchiato pull).
If one has to get a coffee drink then goto one of the midwest based chains like Caribou or Dunn Bro where one gets at least an Doppio or Americano pull. Local Shops would do a real Latte / Cappuccino. For that I’d suggest either C2 Cafe, Crooked Tree, or All About Cha. 1418 Cafe use to be good in Plano but I think they turned that into a sandwich shop instead.
K-Cups are not any more coffee than Folger’s flashed freeze pre-cooked stuff. All the caffeine has evaporated, the oils removed, and all is left is just the woody pulp and tannins.
One wouldn’t ask a Hippy to smoke ditch weed, a Wine Connoisseur to drink md20/20, so please don’t ask a coffee enthusiast to drink anything more than a real cup of joe.
if instant coffee is your think then feel free to have my share of that stuff.
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First place for so of us 
I mean sure we have to sleep and shower but that’s what our Second place is for 
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Crooked Tree is fantastic. Thanks for the other suggestions; I have added them to my list of places to try sometime.
Roasting
I used to roast my own coffee, but am far from being an expert at it. You can get similar-quality coffee for about half the price if you buy it green, and green coffee is far more shelf-stable than roasted. It was fun and interesting, but I quickly gained appreciation for the skill involved in getting the most out of the beans. One concern I have with a machine like that for DMS would be the batch size (which is fine for home use but would likely be too cumbersome in a shared space.) @Jray, it sounds like you might have some experience roasting coffee? Surely someone here has more than me, and could weigh in on this.
Roasting levels
For anyone interested in roast levels from a roaster’s perspective, this page gives an interesting, illustrated rundown (from green to “imminent fire”), along with times, temps, and relation to first/second crack.
Local roasters
There are several good roasters in Dallas, and I have only tried a few of them—so maybe some of you have suggestions! I am a fan of Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, and have been buying from them almost exclusively for the past few years after switching from another roaster who, though good, seemed to be less consistent week-to-week.
Nespresso and Starbucks
A couple of people have mentioned Nespresso. I once used a Nespresso machine for about a week and was not impressed. (As an aside, I used to live walking distance from Nespresso world headquarters.)
To paraphrase Siva Vaidhyanathan in his book Intellectual Property: A Very Short Introduction: Starbucks is as much an intellectual property company as a beverage company.
My view is that it has done an amazing job marketing fast-food coffee at specialty coffee prices using terminology that it invented—but it is not the best place to go for a quality cup of coffee. The good news for makers is that Starbucks sets a quality standard that is fairly easily surpassed.
Proposed espresso equipment
Again, I will pledge $100 towards a (good, not Nespresso) espresso machine and grinder—so I think that puts us up to $300 already. We can totally do something within $2k if we keep an eye out on Craigslist, but it would be easier to get something really good and appropriate for the space for closer to $2.5k all-in.
Machine
For the machine, I would aim for either an HX or dual-boiler home/office unit that is plumbable—I think a unit like that would be both efficient to use and resilient to misuse. I’ve never used an Expobar machine, but this looks promising (a plumbable, dual-boiler machine with a rotary pump, an E61 grouphead, and a PID temperature controller.
(Picture taken from espressoworks.ca)
I have also heard good things about Rocket machines, but a Rocket would be over the budget unless we could find a used one at a discount.
Grinder
My making it is a combination of grinding, grinding, grinding and being lucky enough to finally get a shot.
—Busta Rhymes (out of context, probably)
For the grinder, I enthusiastically recommend a Baratza Vario. I use one at home, and it was absolutely worth the upgrade from my previous Nuova Simonelli Grinta (my only regret was not upgrading sooner; after the upgrade, I was getting much better coffee from the same beans, with less hassle and less waste). The Vario provides unusually good grind quality for the price, even distribution, consistent dosing, and it also has low ground retention, which is especially beneficial in home/office environments. Sometimes Baratza sells refurbished units at a moderate discount.
Latte art
I try to do it. It can be satisfying.
Training and robustness
I think making great espresso at DMS would totally be doable. As for difficulty, it takes a long time to master coffee, but as long as we have a couple of members who can periodically tweak some of the underlying parameters, I think it would take maybe 15 minutes of training to get people to the point where they are making better espresso than what is sold at Starbucks, and maybe an hour of training if they want to get started with steamed milk.
And I think espresso equipment along the lines of what I suggested above (a dual-boiler, plumbed unit) would be far more resilient to misuse than some of the other equipment at DMS. Machines of this caliber tend to be solidly built and very serviceable.
Plan B
There’s nothing wrong with Plan B.
—Dick Van Dyke
If for some reason the (good) espresso plan falls through, I propose the formation of a coffee council to discuss rounding out the existing pourover equipment that Stan kindly provided, creating a self-sustaining method of stocking high-quality, freshly roasted beans at DMS, and focusing on teaching and practicing techniques for making great pourover, French press, AeroPress, etc.
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GREAT POST by the way… Thank you!!
In other news, I’ll have to take your suggestion for Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters. Usually I got to Dunn Brothers because they’re close to the space, their Nitro cold brew growlers is amazingly priced and very flavorful. Plus they roast their own in house.
If you get the chance speak with the owner about their roasting services too.
BTW: I am a trained Barista with over ten years experience. If I still worked in the restaurant industry I would have already been certified. Point being if we have the equipment then I’d be able to take a orders doing my usual office hours at the space.
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For those whom wondering; yes one can roast other beans to make a good cup of coffee
Soykaf is been my latest challenge with a good cup of decaf blonde roast being the result. I’m sure with a better roasting setup and more trials with roasting times a true deep flavor can be achieved.
But best pulls where made with cold brew and chemex. Espresso and drip wasn’t much of a success, yet.
I don’t see a real espresso machine fairing well in the DMS environment unless it comes with a Barista. A bit tight on space as well at the moment.
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Lots of parts to clean. Just tossing out used K-cups is a challenge. I see it’ll always be “I’ll do after I go enjoy my cup. Don’t want it to get cold.”
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Well there’s a grinder in the galley now that I assume would be serviceable in grinding coffee for these if people want more variety than what’s donated for free. I’m sure it’s not barista approved standards but I recall it being the only genuine burr grinder in my price range.
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I’m a little curious why DMS uses parks. Just from a cursory glance free vending Dallas and Accent food services are both better reviewed and seem well established in the area, not to mention Accent has an office less than a mile away. I’m assuming there’s a price reason or something since nobody has those available without talking to a sales rep but imo parks is way over priced, but again no clue what the other two cost so I can’t really form an opinion.
I’m about to hit the hay, so I can’t link ya, but I believe there’s a discussion about it on talk somewhere.
I want to say it was as recent as a month ago that @Nick looked into it and got quotes with negotiable contracts from a couple of other vendors.
I do not recall where that left off though
Why Parks?
- No long term contract, DMS or Parks can end contract by giving notice (not sure how far advance notice is: 30 or 60 days probably)
- No guaranteed sales amount. If they don’t sell enough DMS membership does not pay anything. Supported entirely by folks that use service. No DMS Funds at risk.
- Parks provides all equipment, maintenance, labor, and food. DMS provides only floor space and electricity.
- Any shrinkage is on Parks - DMS does not guarantee any payment above a certain amount if they suffer loses, e.g. theft by non-payment.
- No restrictions on DMS selling competing goods: like coffee.
Parks may not be the cheapest but other companies have one or more of the above items in their contracts. Food is a convenience that is being provided by Parks (or other vendor) to the membership. In the above examples, if shrinkage or guaranteed minimum is not met then the DMS general fund must pay, this would mean members dues that do not use the service would be subsidizing other members eating convenience. Which is not fair or proper IMO.
I spend about $50 month with Parks. I also bring my own sodas and usually noodle cups to avoid that cost. A bit of work, but if I bring 4 sodas and a noodle cup, my cost is about $2. If I buy from Parks it would be about $5+. $3 savings x numbers of days at DMS each month, which is 10 - 20 days, that is $30 ~ $60 in savings.
Nick Sainz has researched some other companies and did a good job. One is much cheaper on high volumes items like drinks, 30% less is my guess… He had it on an agenda but was tabled until we actually get ready to move in and have a firm date and fully executed lease agreement (this will happen once Tempest knows the actual date they’ll move out and give notice, then Landlord can sign amendment to our lease.) Once this happens the BoD will vote on whether to change vendors.
For example, we could execute an agreement for only 102 or 104 to avoid some of the conflicts - if they’ll do that.
Hope that answers the Question. @Nick can give more details about the other vendors if you have questions.
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Ok, I assumed there were reasons but just wanted to check and make sure because sometimes things get missed. But yeah that basically answers my question thanks.
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I vote @ghobbs and @denzuko for heading up the new “Black Bean” coffee SIG!
I’ve really got no experience roasting, I just spout a good line and my google-fu is strong. I figured I’d spec a 1-3lb pilot roaster cause that would probably get the most usage from this group. I could see people coming in fairly often to roast up their batch…
Now if we could tap a gas line eBay has got some deals…
Unfortunately there is no gas inside the building, All of the gas lines go to the roof for heating, there are no gas lines inside 104, and I don’t think there are any in 102.