More or Less · Topics · Episode #160
The Brevel Cappuccino-Industrial Complex
Clip from the full recording, 2:55–8:06 · download mp4 · watch at this point on YouTube
Jess's newfound obsession with pulling the perfect cappuccino turns into a fight about wasted coffee grounds, tripped breakers, and why Sam thinks pulling shots is exactly like burning tokens.
Jess announces a milestone: after years of owning multiple Brevel cappuccino machines, she’s finally learned that the pressure dial on the front actually means something, tutored by “the great Jessica Sittig,” one of the world’s most prolific espresso drinkers. Sam counters that it wasn’t the Brevel that tripped the breakers in their shared cottage complex, as Jess has been telling people, but frayed wiring up and down the street that PG&E is now scrambling to fix.
Sam’s real objection is the waste: watching Jessica Sittig twist the dial and pour pounds of coffee grounds down the drain chasing “perfect pressure” strikes him as absurd when he’s happy drinking whatever comes out, mark or no mark. Jess and Dave land on the perfect analogy for him: it’s exactly like burning tokens on a bad prompt. “It’s called a pull,” Jess insists, “like a pull request.”
Sam pivots to a fix: Brevels should have an internet-connected shot counter, like the bottles that tell you how many plastic bottles you’ve saved by using a filter, so he can watch the data pile up “like a rat hitting the button.” Dave, unimpressed by the whole ecosystem, calls the Brevel “the Miata of coffee machines.”
Key points
- Jess: finally learned the pressure dial matters, trained by "the great Jessica Sittig."
- Sam: it wasn't the Brevel that tripped the cottage breakers, it was frayed wiring affecting several cabins on the street.
- Sam: bothered by pounds of wasted coffee grounds poured out chasing "perfect pressure"; he's happy drinking "slop."
- Dave/Jess: compare the wasted espresso pulls to burning AI tokens ("it's called a pull, like a pull request").
- Sam: wants an internet-connected shot counter on the Brevel, like a water-filter bottle's savings tracker.
- Dave: calls the Brevel "the Miata of coffee machines."
Where they landed
Quotes
“”— Dave
“”— Jess
“”— Sam
Suggested tweets
“Oh Sam, it’s exactly how you’re spending tokens.” Dave Morin on Jess Lessin's new cappuccino-pull obsession
Tweet this →Jess: “It’s called a pull. Like a pull request.” Sam: “I’m happy to drink slop all day long.” More or Less, everybody
Tweet this →Sam wants an internet-connected espresso counter so he can watch himself “hit the button like a rat.” Peak AI-brain
Tweet this →All topics · Full episode #160 + transcript · Subscribe on YouTube · Spotify