u/srmrox
Feedback needed on Qehve's Pre-Order System
Hello there.
Some context on the project:
Considering the non-availability of high-end, low-cost coffee gear in Pakistan, we have initiated a project to bulk buy / import things needed. However, since this is not a business for us, we cannot invest money (at least not too much for too long). Hence, we need to manage this through pre-order / group-buy model.
The problem(s):
Given the context on online scams, trust is a problem everyone understands. Its going to be difficult for people to send over money to our bank to be used for payments to vendors. While we can commit to transparency and disclosing whatever is happening in public channels, or rare one-to-one queries, we do not have the capacity to deal with customer service, etc. If we do build such systems, the cost of operations would escalate so much that end of the day, the products will cost as much as they do when bought from the market.
Feedback needed:
- In your opinion, what's a workable way to collect money to pay vendors in this situation?
- Do you know of any escrow systems that can facilitate this? (Kickstarter would be a good example, probably not operational in Pakistan)
- Let's say we do figure out a 3rd party to process this, how long would be a reasonable amount of time for you to receive your goods (considering we release traceable data and public updates)?
- What should happen if we don't reach out goal of minimum order quantity? Would you want to keep your money committed (hoping the next round is more successful) or necessarily want a refund immediately? Note that due to currency fluctuations, PKR based pricing will be variable in any case.
Be blunt with your opinions and comments. The more issues discussed now, the less things are overlooked later.
u/srmrox — 4 days ago
▲ 21 r/pakcoffee
Vanilla Dalgona Latte
Double shot espresso beaten violently into brown sugar and vanilla syrup before being mixed into milk.
u/srmrox — 10 days ago
Dressed in Values
What you wear says something about who you are, even when you're not trying to say anything at all. Join us in a thought-provoking and hopefully not so controversial conversation about fashion as more than just an aesthetic choice. We'll dig into how clothing reflects identity, faith, culture, status, and a sense of belonging, and what it really means to dress with intention.
The spotlight of the evening falls on modesty, as a lens through which we can ask bigger questions about dignity, humility, freedom, and social responsibility.
Whether you have strong opinions on the topic or are just starting to think about how your wardrobe connects to your worldview, this is a space to explore those ideas openly and honestly.
Come ready to share, listen, and maybe see your closet a little differently.
Sign up for the livestream: https://1url.org/coco
u/srmrox — 10 days ago
Welcome to Qəhvə | coffee gear and guidance for home brewers
Hello there.
Welcome to r/qehve!
Qəhvə (pronounced as kahvah in Azerbaijani) is an upcoming brand of coffee gear and guidance for people who want to make better coffee at home without wasting money on expensive gear.
Qəhvə is being built around a simple idea: home coffee should feel:
- Accessible: in terms of local availability and affordability
- Practical: you shouldn't have to look up archives of scientific papers to understand what works and what doesn't),
- Enjoyable: it should "just work"
Our focus is especially on beginner home baristas. We are trying to give you (a fellow or future home barista) answers to common questions along with provision of the tools in the techniques we discuss.
Qəhvə’s aim is not to compete in the coffee gear space, rather, to become a trusted advisor for affordable home coffee brewing by carefully selecting gear, with honest trade-offs, beginner-friendly guidance, and post-purchase help so people actually succeed after they buy. We don't want you to just buy "our" gear, since we are simply curating and while-labelling things anyway.
We want you to have the best cup of coffee at home, and are just trying to make that journey that slightly bit easier and cheaper.
We want this sub-Reddit to be a space to gather your feedback, listen to your problems, provide you with advice and to seek your feedback on what products are you finding to get a hold of the most.
Qəhvə is being built as an Open Organization, which has the following core characteristics:
- Transparency: all our data (including finances, logistics, etc.) will be made public
- Inclusivity: it's for everyone, everywhere (no gatekeeping)
- Adaptability: we change as per the needs of the community
- Collaboration: we are in this together
- Community: we work things out together
For Qəhvə, this means we want to operate around openness. We will try our best to be fully transparent about the products we discuss and sell. Discussions are a part of the product we sell. Questions, setup photos, mistakes, comparisons, and user feedback are all part of what we want to deliver to you, and we will source them from you! It's a 2-way street.
We will practice public disclosure as much as we can. This includes sharing meaningful updates on finances, unit economics, sourcing, logistics, delivery performance, returns, customer feedback, operating challenges, and the trade-offs behind key decisions.
However, we will not disclose any details about customers or staff.
We want to make the knowledge related to coffee more accessible, decisions more transparent, feedback more useful, and the community more central to how the brand grows.
With that said:
Welcome to Qəhvə!
u/srmrox — 11 days ago
Vote for the Qəhvə Logo Contest Winner
We recently ran a logo design giveaway for Qəhvə’s starter kit, and now it’s time to vote.
Please review the 7 submitted logo options in the image and vote by upvoting the comment with the entry number you like best.
Qəhvə is being built as a beginner-friendly coffee gear and brewing guidance brand, focused on helping people buy the right first coffee setup and learn how to use it properly. The brand direction is built around trust, curation, accessibility (both in terms of availability and affordability), and practical guidance for home coffee brewing.
Please vote based on which logo feels strongest for Qəhvə as a coffee gear and home brewing brand.
The winner will receive the Qehve Starter Kit giveaway.
Voting format: upvote my comment which has the logo / entry number that you like the most. Only votes on the 7 comments I make with the logos will be counted.
Winner will be decided based on which comment has the most upvotes. All upvotes for one participants will NOT be summed up.
u/Acrobatic_Inside3173 — 11 days ago
The humble Chinese grinder works!
Hello there.
As part of an effort to make cheaper coffee gear available in Pakistan, we imported a starter kit and tested out this hand grinder. Without too high expectations, estimating the grind size for an espresso, we made our first shot at a grind level of 7 and then 8 using a Gaggia E24 Classic.
The dose was 20 grams for grind size at step 7 and 18 gram (the standard basket size) for step 8.
Both times, the grind size worked!
At step 7 with 20 grams, the shot took way too long, so not ideal in theory as the dose settings weren't right to begin with; however, the taste of the coffee was fully extracted and it was not bitter, as I initially expected.
At step 8 with 18 grams, the shot took close to how long it should have taken, so it was almost perfect.
Previously, I tried using a Timemore C3 (which is a PKR 30,000 hand grinder from a reputable company) with this machine and the steps between what would have worked for espresso were too wide. At step 6, the machine got choked and at 7, it was too fast.
This Chinese hand grinder has more steps; hence, looks like it allows for better control.
20 grams seems to be the maximum amount of coffee it can fit in one go, but that's sufficient for a 150 ml moka pot and more than what almost any espresso machine's default basket will take.
In short, the grinder passed the test!
Cost wise, here's the break down:
| Description | Cost calculation | PKR cost |
|---|---|---|
| Product cost from AliBaba | USD 21.00 * 279.6 | 5,781.6 |
| Shipping cost (based on weight, see below) | USD 60 * 50.4% * 279.6 | 8,455.1 |
| Custom duty (based on value, see below) | PKR 10,536 * 67.3% | 7,091 |
| Total | 21,327.7 |
Rounded up total is about PKR 21,350
----
Weight calculation:
- Grinder: 530 grams
- Weighing scale: 290 grams
- Moka pot: 230 grams
Shipping cost allocated to grinder: 530 / (530+290+230) = 50.4%
Value calculation:
- Grinder: USD 21.0
- Weighing scale: USD 4.2
- Moka pot: USD 6.0
Custom duty allocated to grinder: 21 / (21+4.2+6) = 67.3%
u/srmrox — 15 days ago
Collected the first starter kit from China today.
Will share cost and performance statistics in the comments. Stay tuned!
We bring receipts to the table, so will be sharing how much each step costs to help maintain credibility over the guidance that we provide.
u/srmrox — 19 days ago
Trying to gather up things people are facing into a graph to understand why everyone seems to be sad in a world of abundance.
If you feel like it, comment the biggest problem you're facing right now that nobody is listening to. If you want to keep it private, send me a message. If you want to keep it anonymous, respond to this form: https://forms.gle/RUHjJRaDc73jGDn9A
We had a meetup with a fellow sub-redditor on this.
Dumping responses from all channels here: https://kumu.io/srmrox/colorful-conversations#problems
u/srmrox — 19 days ago
▲ 3 r/PakistaniEats
https://reddit.com/link/1t0caqr/video/fv9wu8ftueyg1/player
Steam ice cubes, water and espresso like you would steam milk. Stop just when the ice melts.
Can also add espresso afterwards to the water.
Cool drink for those hot summer days.
u/srmrox — 21 days ago
▲ 3 r/pakcoffee
https://reddit.com/link/1t0ca3b/video/ro1z342hueyg1/player
Steam ice cubes, water and espresso like you would steam milk. Stop just when the ice melts.
Can also add espresso afterwards to the water.
Cool drink for those hot summer days.
u/srmrox — 21 days ago
Hello everyone.
I posted earlier that considering the need in the sub-reddit to have a reliable source of affordable coffee gear, I hope to launch "yet another" coffee gear store.
Happy to announce that we're making some speed in this regard.
I have also decided to make the whole brand an open organisation, which means we will share all details on origin, cost of item and delivery cost, along with a share of overheads to all products, also declaring our margins on the product.
This allows us to stay transparent with the product cost and use. Hopefully, this maintains the credibility of advising one product over another - as that's where the whole idea started.
However, I cannot do this alone. The whole brand was envisioned for the community, and the brand needs the community from the start.
Keeping trademarks and intellectual property in mind, we had to name it an unusual name, qəhvə (which means coffee in Azerbaijan's native language), where the ə is pronounced as an a, so it's the same as the Arabic word for coffee.
What I need support is with the logo design!
We have made a very rudimentary one so far, looking to enhance it before launch.
We're doing this in a giveaway style.
Requesting interested people to share their logo ideas in comments below (can also message instead). There will be a poll and whoever wins will get our first starter kit worth USD 92.93 (receipts in comments).
Regardless of who wins, we will get ideas from all logos submitted to come up with our final logo, with credit given on our store page (in our about us page) to the people who contributed in a positive way.
For full disclosure, the starter kit will be opened and tested before being sent onwards to you. Our goal is to test if the equipment we have initially sourced even works or not, as it's coming from China.
Note that this is my first time doing a giveaway so I'm still figuring this out too. If I am breaking any implied rules, please let me know!
All comments made till midnight, Pakistan time on May 8th, 2026 will be considered for the giveaway.
u/srmrox — 21 days ago
Trying to gather up things people are facing into a graph to understand why everyone seems to be sad in a world of abundance.
If you feel like it, comment the biggest problem you're facing right now that nobody is listening to. If you want to keep it private, send me a DM. If you want to keep it anonymous, respond to this form: https://forms.gle/RUHjJRaDc73jGDn9A
u/srmrox — 22 days ago
▲ 1 r/LahoreSocial
Trying to gather up things people are facing into a graph to understand why everyone seems to be sad in a world of abundance.
If you feel like it, comment the biggest problem you're facing right now that nobody is listening to. If you want to keep it private, send me a DM. If you want to keep it anonymous, respond to this form: https://forms.gle/RUHjJRaDc73jGDn9A
u/srmrox — 22 days ago
▲ 2 r/islamabad
Trying to gather up things people are facing into a graph to understand why everyone seems to be sad in a world of abundance.
If you feel like it, comment the biggest problem you're facing right now that nobody is listening to. If you want to keep it private, send me a message. If you want to keep it anonymous, respond to this form: https://forms.gle/RUHjJRaDc73jGDn9A
u/srmrox — 22 days ago
Biggest problem nobody is listening to?
Trying to gather up things people are facing into a graph to understand why everyone seems to be sad in a world of abundance.
If you feel like it, comment the biggest problem you're facing right now that nobody is listening to. If you want to keep it private, send me a DM. If you want to keep it anonymous, respond to this form: https://forms.gle/RUHjJRaDc73jGDn9A
u/srmrox — 22 days ago
Trying to gather up things people are facing into a graph to understand why everyone seems to be sad in a world of abundance.
If you feel like it, comment the biggest problem you're facing right now that nobody is listening to. If you want to keep it private, send me a DM. If you want to keep it anonymous, respond to this form: https://forms.gle/RUHjJRaDc73jGDn9A
u/srmrox — 22 days ago