Best Bang for my Buck Beans

[Chadtheguru]

I have had an Aeropress for years. I go through phases of using it every day and not using it for months. I also have a nice Cuisinart burr grinder and a Hario Slim Mill. I love the ritual of grinding my beans and going through the motions with the Aeropress.

My biggest problem is beans. I'm not sure I've ever had fresh beans. I have gotten a couple bags of 8 Oclock whole bean from Walmart a couple towns over and I once got a pound from the Dunkin Donuts next to the Walmart. I live a good hour away from any roasters so anything I opt for besides Walmart and Dunkin will have to be mail ordered. Cost is a factor, of course, with a house full of kids. It seems like everything I can find fresh roasted is at least $20 per pound. Is there a roaster out there with fresh quality, affordable beans? Or is that an oxymoron?

 

[Pitch]

Why do you not try roasting your own. Beans are readily available on line for about six dollars per pound depending on the bean and quantity. You can roast in a variety of ways from the most basic whirly pop stove top popcorn maker to thousand dollar roasting machines. I started using an old hot air popcorn popper we had.
I spend about half an hour a week roasting enough for the two heavy coffee drinkers in my house.
You may roast fantastic "Holy Crap this stuff is great coffee" ,you may roast "oh well its coffee", but I never have had a roast so bad I considered throwing it out.
A lot of info and sources of supplies and knowledge on the interwebs. Look at "Sweet Marias" for a start.

 

[Chadtheguru]

I've looked into roasting my own beans a few times. I agree that it could be a fun and affordable soulution. I've even kept my eyes out for an appropriate hot air popper on our regular yard sale and Goodwill runs. The only hot air poppers I've found are the ones with one hole in the bottom. Don't I need one with the vents in the sides so that it will roast evenly?

 

[gearchow]

There is another method of hot air roasting and it only involves a heat gun and a stainless bowl. I think it needs to be a heat gun and not a hot air dryer. Maybe you already got these things?

http://www.homeroaster.com/heatgun.html


-jim

 

[JohnYaddy]

I've only used old Westbend Poppery II machines. They're a little more scarce than they used to be, but there are usually a few on ebay. Once you figure out what you're doing, it's pretty easy and quick. I did a pound last night in less than an hour. Read a paperback sitting on the steps in my garage and listened for the cracks.
The biggest thing you'll notice with really fresh beans is how much the brew "blooms." I usually brew inverted. With last night's roast, I have to pour water into the Aeropress slowly and then stir when it's about 2/3 full. Once it sits for a minute, I stir again and put the cap on it. Another 30 seconds or so and I press it out.
If you just want to order, try Peet's. Good "bang for your buck," but's it's going to cost more than 1 or 2 bucks. I'd really go the home roast route. If you hate it, you can usually flip the air popper. I'm sure someone on here would buy it from you, or throw it back up on eBay.

 

[gearchow]

I've only used old Westbend Poppery II machines. They're a little more scarce than they used to be, but there are usually a few on ebay. Once you figure out what you're doing, it's pretty easy and quick. I did a pound last night in less than an hour. Read a paperback sitting on the steps in my garage and listened for the cracks.
The biggest thing you'll notice with really fresh beans is how much the brew "blooms." I usually brew inverted. With last night's roast, I have to pour water into the Aeropress slowly and then stir when it's about 2/3 full. Once it sits for a minute, I stir again and put the cap on it. Another 30 seconds or so and I press it out.

Some beans really foam up!

If you just want to order, try Peet's. Good "bang for your buck," but's it's going to cost more than 1 or 2 bucks. I'd really go the home roast route. If you hate it, you can usually flip the air popper. I'm sure someone on here would buy it from you, or throw it back up on eBay.

or you could pop popcorn.

-jim

 

[aldomarino]

Best bang for the buck IMO is Santo Domingo.

 

[oakeshott]

Cast iron pan, a smallish one, can do a great job roasting up the proper quantity of beans for the pan size. I use about 1/2 cup in a #5 pan. That and a whisk and you are in business. Plenty of YouTube videos on it. I did it for months before getting something that let me do larger quantities.

 

[JohnYaddy]

Forgot to mention that if you go the home roasting route, sweetmarias.com is a great resource for beans and roasting advice.

 

[takeshi]

My biggest problem is beans. I'm not sure I've ever had fresh beans. I have gotten a couple bags of 8 Oclock whole bean from Walmart a couple towns over and I once got a pound from the Dunkin Donuts next to the Walmart.

It's a pretty safe bet that those are not.

Cost is a factor, of course, with a house full of kids. It seems like everything I can find fresh roasted is at least $20 per pound. Is there a roaster out there with fresh quality, affordable beans?

What range is "affordable"? Always provide numbers with highly subjective words like this. What area are you in? "North Florida" covers a lot of miles.

 

[Chadtheguru]

It's a pretty safe bet that those are not.

I was afraid of that..

What range is "affordable"? Always provide numbers with highly subjective words like this. What area are you in? "North Florida" covers a lot of miles.

Affordable, hopefully, as in 10-15 per pound with shipping. I may be just daydreaming. I really can't imagine fresh roasted beans realistically being available in that price range. Just hoping.

What area are you in? "North Florida" covers a lot of miles.

I'm in the big bend area, 50 miles W of Gainesville.

 

[Chadtheguru]

Cast iron pan, a smallish one, can do a great job roasting up the proper quantity of beans for the pan size. I use about 1/2 cup in a #5 pan. That and a whisk and you are in business. Plenty of YouTube videos on it. I did it for months before getting something that let me do larger quantities.

Haven't even considered that option. I have a decent stove fan. It may also give me a chance to try it out without a lot of.. umm.. equipment commitment.

 

[xillion]

Affordable, hopefully, as in 10-15 per pound with shipping. I may be just daydreaming. I really can't imagine fresh roasted beans realistically being available in that price range. Just hoping.

Sterling Coffee Roasters offers free shipping on all orders. 3 pounds of Blendo Stupendo is $44.85 @ $14.95 per pound.

http://www.sterling.coffee/collecti...-micro-hand-batch-craft-roasted-coffees-daily

They roast and ship quickly. I had my order in hand three days after I ordered. Oh, and the coffee was great.

 

[oakeshott]

Haven't even considered that option. I have a decent stove fan. It may also give me a chance to try it out without a lot of.. umm.. equipment commitment.

I just went back to my cast iron pan for some small roasts this past weekend. It really puts you in touch with how the beans behave. It's a great way to learn. Here's a pic of my setup for cast iron:



If you're giving it a go, here's a few tips. Make sure to preheat the pan. Keep in mind that as soon as you dump the beans in, the temp drops a LOT. On my gas stove, I'll preheat at 5, dump in the beans and keep them at 5 for about a minute. Then I lower to 4 and keep them at 4 for about 4 minutes. The actual time varies, however, as I adjust based on the color change of beans. I didn't used to keep them at this lower temp for so long, but I got a bunch of roasts that were a bit grassy and I think it's because of some early underdevelopment. This lengthier time at a lower temp seemed to take care of it.

After 4 minutes at 4, I'll goose it up to 5 again. After about 2 minutes, up to 6. That's quite a high temp for the amount I'm doing and the reasoning behind it is that it gives good momentum going into first crack. Once first crack starts, I'll let it go for 1 minute and then turn the heat down to 5. After another 1:30 seconds (usually), I'll dump the beans for cooling. (More on that in a minute.) Keep in mind that these are just guidelines. In actual practice, the times vary based on what the beans are doing in the pan. Since you're doing it for the first time, this at least gives you a rough outline to follow.

You want your beans to cool as quickly as possible. Dumping them into something that allows them to cool quickly is good idea. In the pic above, is a steel colander that I would put in the freezer before starting the roast. I'd dump them into that and shake and toss them outside to cool them and get rid of the chaff. It worked pretty well. What I use now, and what's even better, is a pair of old copper pans that used to belong to my great grandmother. Copper is a great heat conductor and does a pretty good job of bringing the temp of the beans down quickly. I pour them between the two pans for a few minutes and then spread them out on a screen (this all happens outside, btw. I have chaff and stray beans all over my backyard...also some of the most active squirrels you'll ever see.)

Once you've roasted up a batch, you'll want to try it right away. That's fine, but the taste of the beans improves a LOT with a couple of days rest. They peak at different times, but 7-10 days is probably average.

Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any questions. In fact, if you send me your address, I've got a leftover bit of a really nice ethiopian I can send you to try before you spend real money.

Addendum: A note on the degree of roast. Most coffee you get has been over roasted. All you taste is the roast and not the bean. You do NOT want to the point where the bean is oily. Especially with the Ethiopians. With cast iron and other stove top methods, a good range is just at the end of first crack and just into the beginning of second crack. That's a range. It's hard to get a really light roast on the stove because the heat distribution isn't uniform enough. A really uniform roast requires much better gear, but I promise you that the coffee you'll get off of your stovetop, if you pay attention and do the right things, will be better than 95% of what you'll get in the wild.

 

[Chadtheguru]

Wow. Great post! And that's very generous of you. PM incoming.

 

[Mick]

Whirley pop (stove top pop corn popper) works well from what I hear and they are very reasonable new.


http://whirleypopshop.com/

Bed Bath and Beyond sells them for around $20 if you can't find one used for a dollar or two at a thrift shop.

You should be able to get green delivered well under your price target.

Plan on spending $14-18 for a pound of roasted at a artisan roasting house. Cut this in half for the price of green product. If you find a local roaster, ask if they will sell you green so you can get started.

 

[Gig103]

I buy coffee from Redbirdcoffee.com, and purchasing 5lb bags comes out to $11/lb and free shipping. I think that's a plenty good bank for the buck considering it's roasted to order!

 

[StillShaving]

Some of the RedbirdCoffee blog postings are quite interesting. I enjoyed the one about this WWII era Jiffy glass dripper, and this photo:

 

[Chadtheguru]

I buy coffee from Redbirdcoffee.com, and purchasing 5lb bags comes out to $11/lb and free shipping. I think that's a plenty good bank for the buck considering it's roasted to order!

5lbs of coffee would definitely go bad before I could use it. I think the green bean home roast method is likely my solution. I can roast smaller batches at a time and the green beans will last a long time in the cabinet.

 

[Chadtheguru]

I recently found a nice older popcorn popper for cheap and I have a Sweet Maria's sampler on th ups truck.