Spectating the Kona Ironman Triathalon

Last month I spectated the Kona Ironman Triathalon and it was an amazing experience. I had only seen this race on television. I can only imagine it was even more amazing as a participant.

For those of you not familiar with the Kona Ironman, this was the World Championship race for the Ironman triathalon distance. The participants first swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles, then run a marathon (26.2) miles for a total of 140.6 miles covered in one day. For Ironman triathalons in general, pros finish the race in 9 to 10 hours, the average participant finishes in 12 to 13 hours. In Kona, the pros finish in 8.5 to 9.5 hours, and the average participant finishes in 10.5 to 11.5 hours.

The friend who invited me watch the race with her, Shannon, knows a lot more about this race than I do. And there is plenty of information about training for, getting into, and participating in the race itself on the internet. One factoid Shannon noted, however, is that she couldn't find any information on the web about spectating for this race--something I'm going to try to rectify. Because of the course design, it was relatively simple to spectate and support participants at the Kona Ironman.

The race went out and back from a 2 block radius in Kona as the hub. Most of our spectating was done within 1/2 miles of the King Kamehameha hotel which was the official race hotel. The race start was in the water in the bay in front of the hotel:




The red flag shows the position of the hotel. We got great views and were able to cheer from Palani road as the racers cycled and ran up and down this road several times. They finished the race arriving towards the hotel from Alii Drive.

The best views of the transition area were probably from the tall banyan tree-- though we didn't get there early enough to climb and get a prime spot (and police officers were preventing people from climbing on the backside of the tree). The tree is in front of the race start and by the swim transition so we stood by the tree for a while and watched the swimmers leave, return, and then head-out on their bikes from this viewing location. The swim portion was crowded and almost looked like a fish feeding frenzy. This was confirmed after the race when we heard that people were swimming on top of each other and kicking each other during the swim. We also heard, however, that there was a school of dolphins in the water swimming by the race start as well.



The cut-off time for the swim is 2 hrs 20 min, so waiting for people to finish wasn't too bad. Once we saw them off on their bikes, we went off for lunch at Quinn's which is on Palani. The fish dishes were just okay, but the people who had burgers said they were pretty good. However, Quinn's had temporarily set-up outdoor seating to view the race and it was a great place to see both the cyclists coming into the transition and the runners heading out for the last portion:



For the grueling part of the marathon, we stood a block up the hill on Palani and cheered people on. This portion (north of the Queen K Highway) was approximately 9 miles into the marathon and a serious hill. I bought a cow bell at the Ironman tent store which was in the hotel parking lot and cheered people on until after the sun went down.



The finish was right by the swim start off of Alii, and people were lined up along Alii cheering on people as they finished:

From Hawaii, 2011

Some other notes for spectators:

Tracking athletes
I was able to track the race using my Android smartphone. Unfortunately there is no 4G in Kona, and generally the signal strength in town was weak (Sprint is my carrier). We discovered that the race organizers had set-up workstations connected to the internet in a corner of the hotel lobby that people were using to track racers and watch the online race footage. It became the place to check on our racers' progress as they passed certain check points and calculate how long it would take them to get to a certain point in the race. It was also a nice place to get a break from the sun and enjoy a little bit of air conditioning.

Ironman merchandise
Several of the local shops were selling Ironman merchandise before, during, and after the race. The official Ironman merchandise tent, however, closed the day after the race. They had the best selection and for you bargain hunters, they had started to mark down t-shirts after the swim cut-off had completed. Also, the Wal-mart a few blocks up Pulani from the hotel had Ironman shirts for sale the weeks before the race also.

Calculating where to be when
This applies to all races, not just this one. This was the first time I had ever cheered on specific runners for any race, but I used the same basic math that I use when I'm running to calculate pace and estimated distance. All you need to know is the racers' estimated pace, start time, and where you are on the course. For example, if a person is running 10 min/mile pace and you are 9 miles into the marathon course, then the person will be running past you about 10 x 9= 90 minutes after they start the run portion. All you need to keep track of is when they hit each transition and add the estimated time onto that. I'm sure somewhere there is an App for keeping track of this.

And finally, the maps of the ironman course are here: http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/?show=maps#axzz1cx1y6FKv

Spectating for this race is so much fun-- especially in the run portion when these competitors have been out on the course for hours and still have a marathon to complete, and are running past the spectators so we can see the pain and grimaces. The pros are amazing to watch, but it's the 'regular' people that really inspire me. They don't make excuses not to train or participate. They don't quit. I have something to learn from these people!

The before and after and after after

I've moved a lot and know how busy and tiring it is, but this is the first time that I've bought a house and this has felt at least 10-times more exhausting than a normal condo purchase. The combination of dealing with the contractors that sold me the house and that fixed up the house (a frustrating experience worth a full other post), buying the stuff to use and maintain the house, moving, then fixing/maintaining the house is a lot of work. Especially for one person. And especially when there is a time deadline.

I'm finally at a point where I can now relax and fix/arrange things at a leisurely pace. Now is the time to finally post some pictures!

This is what the main floor bathroom looked like when I closed on the house. The wood floor was rotting and the countertop was cracked all the way across:



This is what the main floor bathroom looks like now. I picked the finishes from the contractor, but didn't see the actual cabinet until after it was installed. It's a little too big for the bathroom, but works well for now:



The house was missing a lot of the 'finishing touch' woodwork. The crown moulding did not go all the way to the ceiling and the bookcases had been painted grey and the detailwork was missing. These are some pictures from before the contractors started, during the process of adding additional moulding, and after painting and moving in:









And these are some photos of the final results. I posted more pictures in my Picasa account of the before, during, and after for those of you who are curious (just e-mail me for the link).





The kitchen and dining area:



The main floor bedroom (a.k.a. guest room):



The top floor bedroom and bath after new carpet, paint, and adding 3 solar tube lights:








The entrance from the driveway and the ground-level basement (disregard the boxes which need to be unpacked/put-away):









And finally, the flowers that my mom planted in the front are still alive. Yes, Mom, I have been watering them:



Next steps: The new windows are supposed to be installed in September. Then I will get new curtains and window shades. And I also plan on adding a carport to both provide some shelter from the rain and increase resale value of the house (which might not mean much if the economy keeps heading down the current path).

My house is like a Beverly Hills Socialite

According to real estate records, my house was built in 1911 and is 100 years old. From the street it doesn't look older than 50, and from inside the front door it looks like it could be between 30 to 40 years old.

Like a Beverly Hills Socialite, this house has had a lot of work done on it over the years to hide the age. Unfortunately, it's not subtle and this house has had a lot of obvious facelifts.

As an example, this is what the house looked like last February (2011) before the house flippers got their hands on it:




And this is what the house that I purchased looks like:



If you look at it carefully, you'll notice that the flippers removed the architectural supports to the cupola over the front door, and the spindle posts of the front railing. What you can't see easily are the covered porch and two second floor balconies that were removed.

On the inside of the house, there is a little tiny bit left of the original millwork to hint at the age. There is also some awkwardness in the layout, and lower ceilings in the basement and stairwells that hint that this is an old house.

As a person who likes the handcrafted detailing in old houses, I do think it's a shame that a lot of this was removed from my house over the years. The kitchen cabinets have a sticker on them that say they were built in the 70's, and the cabinets around the fireplace look like they were probably built when ranch-style houses were popular:



This photo was taken before the house flippers purchased the property in March. They painted the wood cabinets a modern grey color instead of refinishing the wood which actually looks okay, but is not true to the period of the house.

The bathrooms were also updated more recently:



It's obvious that previous owners of this house focused more on function than on preservation. With all that it lost, this house did gain something. All of these remodels and renovations means that almost everything in and on the house is new or updated. I don't have to worry about typical old house problems like removing old electrical wiring, or converting from oil heating to central gas heat. Plus, some of the renovations make the house a lot more practical for living than if it were true to the period. For example, the interior walls between the kitchen, dining, and living rooms have been removed and it is all now one big great room.

Going forward, I'm having some more work done on the house before I move in. One of these is to replace the single pane windows of the house with something more energy efficient and secure. Though I'm trying to be cost conscious, I decided to splurge and get better quality windows with some architectural detailing that would be a little more true to its appropriate age. What I'm learning is that replacing architecturally appropriate detailing is $$$.

I'm also replacing the floor and vanity to the main floor bathroom (pictured above). The wood floors in the bathroom are rotting around the bathtub, and the vanity countertop has a crack across the entire length. Now I have a dilemma. I'm not replacing the 70's tub or stone shower tiles because of cost constraints so I'm trying to decide what kind of flooring and vanity to install that would be true to the original (1911) house's architecture but would still match the existing tub and shower tile.

I'm mindful of something the window contractor said after examining all of my windows. He said that at least I don't have to make the painful decision of whether to replace the original beautiful and detailed (drafty and leaky) leaded glass windows. Instead I get to make the decision to re-establish the original beauty to the house.

This house has been on this earth a heckuva lot longer than me, and will probably be here long after I'm gone. As temporary steward of the place, I get to correct the bad facelifts and make the house look more natural. Hopefully this doesn't turn out to be so painful that I opt for new condo living afterwards.

An example where spending a little money now can save lots later

The road to closing the purchase on the house was a little bumpy, but it closed on time and I am now a first-time house owner.

The advice that a good house inspector is worth a little extra money was definitely true in my case. During my initial inspection he noted that the sellers, concentrating on building the new house next door, removed my sewer access. This really annoyed my house inspector because it's not legal. After several calls between the real estate agents and sellers, I was told they were planning on putting a brand new sewer line in for me as part of the build for the new neighboring house. To make up for our trouble, the sellers offered to insulate my attic and accepted almost everything on my 10 item contingency (to do before closing) list. I was happy with that.

For the re-inspection, I decided to have the house inspector come back because I didn't have the experience to tell whether some of the items on my contingency list were done properly. One of them was the sewer. My real estate agent didn't think it was necessary for me to pay the extra $50 for a sewer scope (where they feed a camera into the pipes to see the inside) since the sellers were putting in a brand new line. The inspector recommended otherwise. I took the inspector's advice, and it turned out to be $50 very well spent.

While scoping the new sewer line, the inspector found a break between the new PVC sewer pipes and a foot long section of old clay pipe (Video of the sewer-scope with the breakage at approximately 2 minutes). Basically, my sewer was not connected to the city's sewer line and was seeping into the ground. My inspector tracked this seepage to between the sidewalk and foundation of the neighboring new construction.

One call from my agent and the seller's real estate agent was out to the house immediately to see the problem for himself. He said it would be fixed ASAP. If I hadn't paid the $50 for the sewer scope, it could have cost me $10,000 or more to fix this problem and the neighbors would have literally been in deep doo doo.

The sewer connection was fixed the next day and the sewer contractor proved it to me by doing a sewer scope while I watched. I saw all new PVC piping to the street and no obvious breaks in the line. The sewer contractor said that the 'breakage' was caused by soil shifting when the new foundation was placed on top of the pipe and the new connection now has more tolerance and shouldn't fail if the soil shifts.

Since there is a one year warranty on the sewer work, my real estate agent suggested that I talk with the new neighbors and have another sewer scope within a year after the house is built and soil has settled a bit. It's a good suggestion that I'll be sure to do.

My first big house-owner lesson: spending a little money and time now can save you money and grief later.

P.S. My home inspector was Hartman Home Inspections. He's a little more expensive, but his work paid for itself 20x over.

On towards the adventure of home ownership

The combination of hearing that my job would be stable (for at least the next year), my father prodding me to buy a home because of the low interest rates right now, and an e-mail from my real estate agent, got me back into the house hunting game. I've been looking at places for the past few months with the focus of buying a place that is relatively easy to maintain so that I could rent it out if necessary.

The places for sale were really limited this past Spring. I don't blame people for not wanting to sell their homes in this real estate climate. I saw a few townhomes that mainly didn't appeal to me because their bedrooms were too small for my primary requirement-- be large enough to hold a bed and a dresser. Almost all of the newer homes are obviously built for profit and not for the person/people who will live in them.

However, I did end up finding three different places that I liked enough to consider placing an offer on them. As a little game (a la the t.v. show House Hunters), I'll present you with my three most promising homes before I reveal which I ended up placing an offer on. All of the places essentially have 3 bedrooms and are in neighborhoods with a reasonable amount of street parking for guests.

1. This townhouse was built in 2005 in a charming bungalow style in a neighborhood close to where I lived as a graduate student and two blocks from where I currently live. This neighborhood contains a large park on Lake Washington, a biking/running path running through it, and is very safe and quiet. The townhouse is 1346 sq. ft., has 2 upstairs bedrooms and 1 downstairs bedroom, a 1 car garage, and was priced $100K below the maximum of my price range. It had a large open first floor with very nice appliances and finishes. Both the bedrooms on the second floor had ceiling fans and funky multi-angled vaulted ceilings and a small footprint. The master bedroom could fit a queen sized bed and dresser, but not much else. The second upstairs bedroom was big enough to fit a full sized bed and nightstand. Though there is no private yard, the complex has lots of grass between the buildings that are common space. The main downside of this place was the sizable monthly homeowners dues which are considered a negative towards resale value in Seattle.

2. This townhouse was built in a generic current-day style in 2009 within walking distance from #1, except it is a little further away from work. This place is across the street from Lake Washington and has an amazing direct view of the water. It is approximately 1800 sq. ft. It also has an open floor plan and is decked out with a high-end kitchen and high-tech features like a security camera at the front entrance. It has a whirlpool tub off the master bedroom, lots of closet space, and a 2 car garage. It costs $50K below the maximum of my price range. The downsides of this place are that it is currently being rented and will not be available for a few months, and it is on a busy (and noisy) street. Also, access to the driveway is tricky because it can only be accessed (essentially) from one direction so homeowners have to make u-turns on a busy road to get home.

3. This house was built in 1911 in a very popular Seattle neighborhood about 1 km away from Green Lake--an extremely popular running and biking area. It is within walking distance of Whole Foods, Starbucks, and other local restaurants and shops, and is closer to work than my current apartment. It is approximately 2500 sq. ft. with a patio and deck for the yard, and has been renovated so many times over the years that it has lost most of the original 1911 features except for the fireplace. The many renovations have updated the floorplan so that the main floor is more like a 1970's ranch house. It has new modern fixtures in the kitchen and bathroom and everything appears to be in good working condition. It also has a new roof and siding. It is essentially move-in ready. It has a driveway large enough for 2 cars but no garage (the original garage was converted to an entryway/basement/bedroom in one of the previous renovations). The main downsides of this place are that it doesn't have a garage, each of the bedrooms are on a separate floor of the house, and it is priced at the super absolute maximum of my price range.

Based on these descriptions, can you guess which home I placed an offer on and am now in the process of closing on?

I saw many more places than those described above, and liked the three places described above, but ended up putting an offer on the Green Lake House. Honestly, I liked #2 the best but had many issues with the sellers' real estate agent. He ended up being a swarmy agent who lies to and screws clients if it serves his best interests.

On the other hand, the Green Lake House is (in real estate terms) a great value. In 2007, it sold for $150K more than I will be paying for it. The current owners wanted to sell quickly to finance the building of their next house which will be next door from this house. The story is, the owners bought this place for the land. It was one of those old houses that came with a very large yard. They split the property in half and sold off the house with half the land to me, and are building a McMansion on the remaining land. Yup, I'm going to be partially responsible for financing a modern McMansion in a historically older neighborhood.

To compensate for some of this bad architectural/cultural karma, I would like to restore some of the period detail. But first things first, I need to close on this house before I can call it mine.

A Long Year and the Whidbey Island Half-Marathon

A year ago in the first week of April I had an interview with a company in Connecticut, and the 3 months afterwards were a series of interviews in multiple cities around the U.S. with the Great Wall half-marathon trip thrown into the mix. This was followed by a move from L.A. to Seattle, the purchase of my new employer by a larger pharmaceutical company, moves from one temporary housing to another, and the final decision to keep the scientists (of which I am one) in the company.

A year later, the dust is settling. I flew so much last year that I earned premier status with United Airlines. I moved so much that I got an e-mail about my 'Time Magazine' subscription... and I can't remember which address that subscription was sent to (I've had 5 addresses since July, 2010). And the workplace was such a roller-coaster that I didn't buy a sofa until last month-- after I had received a formal letter of continued employment.

Needless to say, I ran when I could, but didn't really train for any of the races that I did this year. The San Francisco Half wasn't too much of a stretch since it had only been about two months since the Great Wall race. For the Surf City Half in February, I specifically planned a few long runs in December and January to make sure I could make the cut-off time to get my 'California Dreaming' jacket and medal but didn't push myself too much. After that race, I started to slack on my running... a lot.

I was back to rock climbing, I had gotten tired of running in the cold rain or on treadmills, my allergies had kicked in and the medication made me sleepy, and I had just plain gotten lazy.

There was a yearning to feel normalcy when I signed up for the Whidbey Island Half Marathon the Tuesday before the race. They advertised the Whidbey Island Marathon as being on the Lonely Planet's top ten marathons to travel for list (it's #10). I figured that I hadn't done a local long-distance race (not counting the Seattle Turkey Trot) and this race would be worth checking-out.

The longest that I had run in March was 3 miles, so I was realistic enough to understand that I was not going to PR and this race was probably going to hurt a bit. This was a race where I depended on my experience rather than my physical conditioning.

I drove up to Whidbey Island (about 2 hours from Seattle) on Saturday for the race packet pick-up and stayed overnight at a place in Coupeville that was advertised as a B&B but which was actually a Bedroom without the Breakfast (or as my brother put it, a really expensive hostel). I walked to the Coupeville waterfront and looked in almost all of the shops-- which took about an hour, then went back to the B&B and got ready for the race the next morning.

The evening before the race, the wind was howling and I could hear the rain outside. I was worried that I had signed myself up for a miserable 13-mile run. But once I got to the race start, there was no rain. It was very windy and very cold, but it was not raining.

The Whidbey Island Marathon starts on the north part of the island and runs through the forests of Deception Pass before meeting up with the Half-Marathon which started at the Oak Harbor Junior High School. The drive through that area the day before was beautiful with the forests and views of Puget Sound-- though it was very hilly and not an easy marathon course. The Half-Marathon started in the middle of the town of Oak Harbor and ran through the neighborhoods before winding through forests and wetlands back towards town, then out again towards the pastoral farmlands to the turn-around at the painted-green house and mooing cheers from the resident Guernsey cows. It was very cold and very windy throughout the race. People (not just runners) were shivering at the finish line. My hands were red, the hands of the woman who sat next to me on the parking shuttle were blue.

If the sun had come out and the sky had cleared, the views on this course would have been beyond amazing. There were points where, on a clear day, a runner would have been able to see the Olympics on their right and the Cascades on their left with water and luscious green farmland in between. Unfortunately that wasn't the case this year.

One of my favorite parts of this race was how friendly and genuinely nice everybody was. The volunteers were nice, the community came out to cheer on the runners and were genuinely nice, and the runners themselves were friendly and nice. At the race start, the announcer had to ask people to please fill in the front because nobody wanted to proclaim themselves one of the faster runners. There was no elbowing or jockeying for position. And most amazingly, people actually threw their water cups and trash into the trash can along the course! I didn't have to worry about tripping or slipping on water cups or gel-wrappers. The runners didn't litter.

The real pay-off was the happy feeling I had when I was sitting in my car on the ferry back to Seattle. I had been missing the feeling of calm and accomplishment from running long distance.

Is the Whidbey Island Marathon worthy of being one of the top-ten travel races in the world? I'm not sure. It's a great race, and I plan on doing it again next year, but is it like running the Great Wall of China or through the Easter Island Moai?

As for me, this race officially brought me back. I'm now getting back to training. I'm planning for my next race to be the North Olympic Discovery Half-Marathon. It was recommended by a fellow runner during the Whidbey Island race, and by a co-worker. Then after that, I'll pick a fall marathon so I get at least one 26.2 mile race in the 2011 record books.

Making Coffee in Seattle

I wasn't really a coffee drinker when I lived in Seattle for grad school. Then I moved to L.A. where the 'best' coffee around was at Starbucks, and I rarely drank that. After moving back to Seattle a few months ago, I stopped at a coffee shop on my way to work (Zoka's on Fairview) and had one of the most beautiful cups of coffee in my memory. I've been sampling the occasional cup of specialty coffee at the various coffee shops, coffee bars, and coffee shacks around town ever since.

For Christmas, I was given ground coffee by multiple non-Seattle dwelling friends. I had never really spent that much time making coffee at home, even though I own a lot of coffee making paraphernalia. One of these friends was telling me about the fancy Italian espresso maker he got over Christmas, and it made me think, "Hmmm, can I make a good cup of coffee at home without the fancy machine?" So, I've experimented over the past few months with a couple of coffee making methods and materials to see if I can make a decent cup of mocha espresso without fancy equipment. Why mocha espresso? Because I had to start somewhere, and I like mocha espresso.

My base recipe for mocha espresso was as follows:
1. Brew espresso coffee.
2. Mix coffee and chocolate.
3. Taste.

Not too complex, huh?

Best brew recipe so far:
1. Make coffee in a stovetop espresso pot with distilled water.
2. Place 1 Kinder Milk Chocolate bar (second best is 3-4 Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate Meltaway) in the cup and pour the coffee over it.
3. Mix thoroughly and Enjoy!

If you're interested in the nitty gritty of my experimentation, or just feel like wasting a few minutes, read on for the details.

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Disclaimer: This is not a rigorous scientific study. This is me, messing around in my kitchen in the morning. These are my observations, and if you try these methods and get different results, then feel free to post your observations. I have no known commercial interests in any of the companies providing these products.

METHODS:

Coffee
I first set out to brew a decent espresso coffee. Only one type of coffee was used for these experiments: Illy Dark Roast for Drip Coffeemakers. I'll experiment with other grinds in the future.

Brewing Equipment
I've tried the following brewing methods so far: Drip Coffee, French Press and Stovetop Espresso Pot.

The Drip Coffee, which I'm calling the baseline, was made with 2 cups hot water passing through 1 TBSP coffee in a filter (per directions on coffee can). It was weak, watery, and pleasantly bitter.

I brewed the French Press coffee like tea. 1 TBSP of coffee grounds were mixed with 1 cup hot water (directions also per coffee can), then you separate the grounds from the water by pushing down the plunger and forcing all the grounds to the bottom of the pot. For those not familiar with the French Press, it looks like this:



I took two sips of the coffee, then threw the rest of the pot away. The filter didn't work well so I was drinking a coffee slurry. Plus the coffee was watery and bitter. It was stronger than the filtered coffee, but not in a pleasant way.

The coffee brewing method that worked best, and that I used for my subsequent testing was the stovetop espresso pot:



These pots work closest to those fancy machines. Basically, the water in the bottom chamber is heated to steam which passes through the coffee in the middle chamber, then the coffee infused steam is condensed back to a liquid in the top chamber. To make this coffee I put one heaping teaspoon of coffee into the filter and filled the bottom chamber with approximately 1 cup water. Then I assembled the device and put it on the electric stove over high heat. The coffee was done when about a cups worth was collected in the top chamber.

Water
I experimented with various types of water multiple times. The best taste seemed to come from distilled bottled water resulting in an even tasting coffee. The worst came from bottled spring water which resulted in a strong bitter taste. Tap water was more acceptable than the bottled water-- though the chlorine does make the coffee a little sour.

Chocolates
The chocolates that worked from best to worst were:
1. Kinder Chocolate Milk (German) which I happened to get at Christmastime
2. Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate Meltaways
3. Hershey's Kiss Meltaways
4. Trapa Supremo Milk Chocolate (from Spain)
5. Perugina Milk Chocolate (Italy)
6. Endangered Species Chocolate All-Natural Supreme Dark Chocolate (USA)

I also tried Hershey's cocoa powder, but the result was so impalatable that I don't even think it should be on the list. I was also surprised to find that the 'fancy', i.e. expensive, chocolates weren't that great mixed with coffee. They taste great as solids, but clump and don't go into liquids that well. The exception was the Kinder Chocolate Milk-- but that is hard to find and not that attractive as an everyday home-brewing option. The Hershey's Bliss chocolates were surprisingly good. The only issue is that they leave a slightly waxy film in my coffee cups.

Because I've run out of the Kinder chocolate and am too lazy to go to the gourmet store to get more, I've been using the Hershey's chocolates which I can buy at a regular grocery store with my bread and bananas.

Mixing
I tried both (1) Placing chocolates into a cup and pouring coffee over it, and (2) Pouring coffee into a cup and placing chocolates into it. I wasn't expecting much of a difference, but method (1) seems to result in a smoother consistency.

Future
Now that I've got an acceptable base recipe for the mocha espresso that I've been able to make at a consistently decent quality over a few weeks, I'm going to try cappuccino without a fancy machine. I'll also try different coffee grinds once the can of Illy runs a little lower-- I don't want too many open bags of coffee at one time since it doesn't last that long.

Once I've got my experimental parameters worked out a little more, I might host a taste test. Wouldn't that be fun?