I must have first met Dave in the mid 2010s (?) after reading some of his posts/comments on CFUK & H-B, I realised that we lived nearby to each other and this led to Dave inviting me round to try some of his espresso & watching him roast up a batch, which he kindly let me take away and compare with some coffee I had brought with me - of which Dave wasn't shy about giving his opinion…but then, was he ever? :-)
it was clear from the off that we had very different tastes & preferences, neither of us being the type to back down, or roll over and offer insincere agreement. That never got in the way of our friendship…we would both, calmly, say what we had to say, back it up with our real world experience, let the words hang in the air and let the other draw their own conclusions & maybe get closer to a consensus on matters. If not, it didn't matter. Dave was good company, his engineering prowess was clear and we would meet up every 6 months, or so (apart from during the pandemic), whiling away hours talking about his current projects, innovations, methodical thought processes & generally put the world to rights.
He appreciated my focus on brewed coffee (my interest in espresso was already on the wane when we first met), so he gave me a call when he had the Niche Zero prototype, to get another perspective on its use for manual brewing (something that he pursued more with further involvement with Niche). I recall him being quite taken aback with his first 1 hour French press steep!
His warmth & generosity has been mentioned many times already and with good reason, if he had a coffee that he thought I would appreciate, he would roast up a lighter batch for me (his roast of Café La Granja La Esperanza Tres Dragones natural, remains one of my stand out beans). He really was motivated and gratified by people having a great experience.
When I lost my job during Covid, Dave helped me find another and subsequently keep a roof over my head. I owe him a lot.
In these 'online' & sometimes divisive times, our friendship reinforces to me that you don't need to agree with, nor share an entire outlook with someone, for you to benefit from their friendship & thoughtfulness. We all have more in common than not. Never overlook the the fact that anyone you are communicating with online is another human, with whom you may share an interest, on their own, short, journey through this world.
