FROM THE EDITOR

A FEW MONTHS AGO, a new coffee shop opened just down the street from my house. Because it was within walking distance and boasted both organic coffee and free wireless, I decided to give it a try.
     For a new business, the shop seemed to be doing well: it had a solid selection of coffees, the woman behind the counter was pleasant and knowledgeable, and the space had a nice feel to it. However, the coffee itself left a little to be desired—it tasted like it had been in the pot a long, long time.
     On my way out, I noticed one of those “We value your opinion” boxes with a stack of cards in front of it. I don’t usually take the time to fill out those cards, unless something was very right or very wrong, but I wanted this close-by shop to stay in business. So I scribbled a few suggestions on the card, along with my name and number, and dropped it in the box. I didn’t mention that I worked in the industry, or even that I knew anything about coffee.
     So a few days later, I was surprised to get a call from the owner of the shop. As it turns out, she was the woman who’d been working behind the counter that day. “You’re the only person who’s given us any feedback,” she said. “It was hard to hear, but I really appreciate it.” She mentioned she’d made some changes to her brewing process so that her customers got good, fresh coffee every time they stopped by.
     After we hung up, I starting thinking about how great Roast readers are about giving us feedback—how often we hear from you when you read an article that teaches you something, or when you have a different take on a topic than what we published. Over the past two years, you’ve told us what you’d like to see, how you’d like to see it, and what you hope to never see on our pages.
     As the editor, one of my main goals is to listen to all of your suggestions and comments, and to integrate those suggestions and comments into Roast in the best way possible. So, this year, we took everything we’ve heard from you and asked ourselves: How can we take Roast to the next level and make it a truly useful tool for readers?
     The answer seemed obvious: keep the in-depth, technical editorials, while adding more hands-on, how-to type articles that provide you with the information—and the actions—you need to make better decisions and better coffee.
     Along those lines, we’ve made some great additions to our editorial this year. First off is Terry Davis’ new regular column on roasting technology, Wired for Roast, where he tackles everything from technology at origin to the newest innovations for the roasting room. Coming next issue, we also introduce our Back to Basics column by Chris Schooley. Designed to be a starting point for beginning roasters, a refresher course for mid-level roasters and a training tool for experienced roasters, this column tackles roasting issues in a hands-on format.
     We’ll also continue to include the columns that you love: Edwin Martinez’s look at daily life on his family’s coffee plantation in Guatemala, the Coffee Lab Report, our roaster profile, Navigating Origins and The Flamekeeper. And this year, our editorial lineup includes all of those topics that you’ve asked for: coffee hybrids, advanced and beginning roasting techniques, green bean storage issues, sample roasting and more.
     Our look has gotten an upgrade as well. We’ve kept our classic color scheme and design while making columns easier to find and read and giving articles a better flow and feel. More sidebars, illustrations and photos make articles more useful and easier to understand.
     We hope you like our redesign. You’ve given us a lot of great suggestions and comments over the last two years—this is our way of saying thank you for all of that time, energy and passion. Please, keep the feedback coming. And in return, we promise to serve up fresh, hot copy every time.

Keep the flame burning,

Shanna