Stars, coffee cups, thumbs-up/down, lots of ratings/few ratings, I’ve thought through the options. I even revisited ratings with a few months of this blog under my belt. Despite a few frustrations, I’ve decided that I’m happy with my 4-point scale. It forces me to give a thumbs-up or down, with a little bit of nuance. A “3 out of 5″ just doesn’t seem prescriptive enough to me for a review and leaves you wondering “should I drink it or not?” That said, my rating system works well for beans at home, but certainly isn’t perfect for a cafe. After all, what if the drip is good, but the espresso bad? What if it’s a fantastic space, with only mediocre coffee? My feeling is that this is where good old-fashioned words become important. You’ll just have to interpret my comments as best you can. What else can I say? If in doubt, try it out and let me know if you agree.
Without further ado, here are the ratings:
4 – Organize your life around this coffee. Drop everything, re-schedule your appointments or plan a trip if necessary.
3 – Good coffee. A small detour will be well-rewarded.
2 – It’s coffee. It’s caffeinated. It’ll do.
1 - Danger, Will Robinson!
Excellent rating system! I love it. But…have you found that coffee that you can rate a 4? I have, and that is why I’ve opened a coffee shop to sell it.
Thanks, and I love the site…Eric
Hi there,
I stumbled onto your site and found it most helpful. I started working at a cafe here in NYC about a year ago and before I knew it I was manning the espresso machine. I have since developed a love for coffee. My family lives down in Ecuador and I recently went down to visit them. Many people don’t know this but Ecuador has some AMAZING coffee. I had a couple meetings with the owners of a relatively new company and brought back samples. My goal is to spread the word and get Ecuador on the coffee map as well. Any suggestions? Maybe I can send you a couple samples and you can give me some feedback.
Thanks so much.
Regards,
Chris