November 2007 Newsletterw.coffeeco.com.au
alanfrew@coffeeco.com.au

Frequently asked questions are the topic of this month's
newsletter. One thing about getting back from a 3-week trip is
the volume of email that accumulates in my absence. When you've
got so many queries it becomes obvious that a lot of them have
common elements, so here goes:

Q. Can I visit your shop to pick up coffee, or to buy a machine?
A. In general, no. I don't have a shop, just an office warehouse,
and much of the time I'm not there, being out roasting coffee or
moving green coffees between roasters.

Q. Can I visit your shop for a machine demonstration, espresso
lessons etc.
A. No, see above, plus which the only time I have machines on the
bench is after receiving an order.

Q. Don't you have your own roaster?
A. No, I hire time on other people's machines. Much more flexible
and cost effective.

Q. I have an XYZ machine that I bought from ABC Co. Will you
repair it or sell me spare parts?
A. No. Sorry, but I'll only look after machines that were bought
from me. If you DID buy from me, though, I'll support your
machine as long as I can get parts for it. So far that means all
the machines I've ever sold.

Q. I can get the XYZ machine for $$ less from ABC Co. Are you
willing to match the price?
A. No. The price on the website is the price we charge you. If
you can buy it cheaper, good luck, but we're not going to offer
you advice, spares or repairs. Ongoing support is factored into
our prices.

Q. Why don't you roast date your coffee bags?
A. All our coffees are roasted and packed against demand. The
"oldest" coffee we will have is 4 days from the roaster.

Q. Why don't you have a selection of different decaff beans?
A. Decaff is our slowest moving bean (see above.) More decaffs
are unlikely to increase demand.

Q. I wanted to order this month's special coffee, but it's not on
the list any more?
A. Specials normally sell out quickly, and when they're gone,
that's it.

Q. I used the "Comments" section to ask you to add stuff to my
order but you didn't do it?
A. That's because we have no way of collecting payment for any
extras included in the order.

Q. You mean you don't keep records of our credit card numbers
etc.?
A. No. We don't even SEE credit card details these days, all the
transactions are processed directly by the bank.

And finally:
Q. We asked for "Espresso" grind and it's too fine/too coarse.
What are you going to do about it?
A. Nothing. As I've said for years, the only way to get a correct
espresso grind is to buy your own grinder.

This month's special coffee was chosen and prepared for the
Nicaraguan "Cup of Excellence" auction, but didn't make it that
far. Instead it's been sold as one very small lot, and I've got
just a teensy bit to sell.

Nicaragua Fancy COE
$40.00/kg

Clean, well defined chocolate and malt flavours, medium body and
crisp acid, all in complete balance.

And, yes, we had a great time in Italy, and with luck the photos
will be up on the website by the end of this month.

Alan