What Green Coffee did you Buy or Roast Today?

[Mick]

This last weekend was a problem for me as well, I had just enough roasted left to get through to the warm weather that let all of the ice drop out of the trees. Being under iced up pine trees is scary. This pic was taken the day before everything got glazed with a 1/4 of ice.

-jim

I can roast outside in the snow as I have cover where I roast (under a deck and an entry overhang both) but it is just a little too cold for my toy roaster to fight freezing temps and still do a decent job of roasting the beans (it's right at 30° today).

Anything 55-60° and above seems to be fine (prefer 60's and above). 40's and below and the little roaster does not have enough oomph to get the job done.

No point in "baking" beans when I can get an lb from the local roasting house. I want to try some more of the bean they get in and I find that if I buy an lb of their roast first I have something to shoot for when I try to get what they get out of the bean. Who ever they buy their green from must really like them as the un-roasted beans I have bought from them have been the cleanest and most consistent in quality that I have come across.

 

[gearchow]

I can roast outside in the snow as I have cover where I roast (under a deck and an entry overhang both) but it is just a little too cold for my toy roaster to fight freezing temps and still do a decent job of roasting the beans (it's right at 30° today).

Anything 55-60° and above seems to be fine (prefer 60's and above). 40's and below and the little roaster does not have enough oomph to get the job done.

No point in "baking" beans when I can get an lb from the local roasting house. I want to try some more of the bean they get in and I find that if I buy an lb of their roast first I have something to shoot for when I try to get what they get out of the bean. Who ever they buy their green from must really like them as the un-roasted beans I have bought from them have been the cleanest and most consistent in quality that I have come across.

If my yard was large enough to accommodate it - and it isn't - I would build a roasting shed.

-jim

 

[Mick]

If my yard was large enough to accommodate it - and it isn't - I would build a roasting shed.

-jim

I have a second garage in the rear of my yard (off of an alley) that I have contemplated putting in a 2 kilo gas fired roaster but I am sure the wife would blow a gasket if I went any more crazy on coffee than I already am. Besides I don't want to make this into a business as that always seems to take all of the fun out of anything

 

[HydroWVU]

We got about 15 inches last night, spent most of the day shoveling myself and neighbors out.

I usually roast in my garage, but it has been just too cold.

I have been thinking about making one of these and use my gas grill to roast 5 lbs at a time.. Maybe start selling it at local farmer markets around here.

http://www.coffeeroastersclub.com/presta/consumer-drums/24-5-lb-coffee-roaster-drum-for-bbq.html

John

 

[HydroWVU]

I roasted two more 1/2 lb batches today.

Both to FC+. I got the 8 lb sampler from Sweet Maria's in October and I am finally coming down to the end of it. I try to roast one African and one south or Central American each time. 1/2 lb at time.




I have a little under two pounds. Should last me a couple of weeks.

Edit: I should have used a flash those pictures are horrible

 

[Mick]

@Turtle. I'm looking at getting a full sized JavaMaster 5002. It'll cost me well into the 5 figures but I'm thinking about making a business out of it.

Do you use a hot air roaster now?

That looks like a pretty sophisticated fluid bed roaster

http://javamasters.com/the-roaster5002.html

 

[gearchow]

Pretty neat concept too. Go into a shop, pick out your beans, tell them what roast level you prefer and depending on the queue, get fresh roast in 10 minutes. The concept is neat, but in practice it might be different.

What a cool looking machine. Does it cool in the same container?

-jim

 

[Mick]

Do you use a hot air roaster now?

No, I use a Behmor 1600 right now.

Fluid bed and radiant heat (drum) roasters are completely different animals.

You should do some serious reading and physical observations of both types before deciding.

Talk to a specialty roaster that uses each type exclusively and listen to what they say about their roast method.

DRINK a lot of coffee roasted with each method AND if you can get the same beans from the same co-op roasted to the same level by each of the methods this would be the best thing.

A 2 kilo commercial drum roaster (Chinese North) will cost about the same as a commercial fluid bed roaster so cost should not be in your decision making process, taste and repeatability of roast profiles should be what you are looking for if you are looking to roast commercially.

 

[Mick]

It's supposed to warm up into the 60's today.

Already 40º at 7:30 so it's looking good for a roast. Still snow everywhere but this should be no problem as where I roast outside is protected and no snow has fallen there.

All weighed out and ready to roast 2 lbs in a few hours

 

[Mick]

Well it topped 60º and I got all 4 half pound roasts done (Sumatra, Rwanda, Guatemala, and Brazil).

The roaster is cleaned up and put away until next time.

still LOTS of snow everywhere but it is going away quickly at this temperature

Sumatra on the left Rwanda on the right both light roasted for pour over

 

[HydroWVU]

You guys make some beautiful roasts. I have been very happy with my roasting so far. I got my Behmour 1600 on the cheap, and I have told my wife that if it breaks, be prepared to get a replacement at a much higher cost.

@turtle If your HotTop roaster went kaput would you invest in a new one?
@hard_heart same to you with your Behmour 1600 (although yours considering an upgrade)

For me, I am not sure what my price point would be. I would absolutely get another Behmour 1600, but probably would not consider anything over $1,000.

I am very happy with the quality of coffee I am getting currently, and the taste is so far above an beyond what I get at stores I don't think I could ever go back. I have yet to master the other roasting profiles for the Behmour 1600, still using P1.

John

 

[Mick]

@turtle If your HotTop roaster went kaput would you invest in a new one?

John

I bought my Hottop as a "kaput" for $175 and rebuilt it for only my time involved and the cost of replacement filters.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/372917-Today-s-Roast?p=5620153#post5620153

They are so simple, easy to work on, and the parts are readily available that unless I get a TJ-067 (gas fired 1 kilo roaster) http://www.northcoffee.net/html_products/1kg-gas-coffee-roaster-110.html I will probably stick with this same Hottop roaster until I can no longer bring a cup of coffee to my lips. I am going to order all of the upgrade parts for the k-type thermocouple and manual emergency bean dump to bring it up to the current model they sell but so far I have been procrastinating.

I can get by roasting 1.5-2 lbs a week for our personal consumption and this hottop is pretty quick since I have customized it to override some of the temp safety features so that I can back to back batch roast without waiting for the roaster to cool down

 

[Mick]

Well it topped 60º and I got all 4 half pound roasts done (Sumatra, Rwanda, Guatemala, and Brazil).

The roaster is cleaned up and put away until next time.

still LOTS of snow everywhere but it is going away quickly at this temperature

Today I blended all 4 origins into a single 2 lb mix of 1 light roast, 2 medium roasts, and 1 dark roast.

I started out by just "trying it" in the Chemex (bended just enough to make a 1 liter carafe)....

I was SO blown away by the taste of all of these beans brewed together that I decided to blend them all before I used too many of one type to do it.

Had 2 pulls each (wife and I) after dinner in the Pasquini (espresso machine) and it was EVEN BETTER tasting than it was in the Chemex this morning. It is rare that coffee that makes it in the pour over makes sit in the espresso machine. Normally it is an either or thing (taste better in one than the other). Today was KILLA in both brew methods

HOME RUN.......

 

[Mick]

Almost 70º outside today so I decided even though it is a little early to roast my next round, I should put in a few more roasts as they are calling for brutal cold next week and I won't be able to roast.

Three more 1/2 lb roasts.

Ethiopian Suke Quto roasted to start of first crack: Light city (very light roast)

Mexican Chiapas majomut co-op roasted to almost the end of first crack: City + (medium roast)

Brazilian Sao Fransisco roasted to the end of second crack FC+ (maybe Vienna.... will need to wait till it cools to tell exactly where it falls... I dumped a little early as it started to smell heavenly so I did not wait until the temp I normally take my dark roasts to)

This is the last of my Chiapas green. Need to get another 10 lbs or so as it is one of my favorite single origins when roasted to a medium roast.

 

[StillShaving]

Mick your blends look great.

Last night I roasted some Salvador Santa Rita, it was some older stock that I finishing up. Judging by bean color I thought I had over roasted even though it had not reached 2nd crack. It was cold and wet while roasting, so not the best conditions.

 

[HydroWVU]

Great looking coffee @turtle

We had a very nice weekend, Sunday was gorgeous I took the opportunity to roast 2 half pound batches.



First was a Jamaican Blue Mountain that I splurged on for Christmas. I took it to right before second crack. Still just roasting on P1 on the behmor, and roasting time was about 13 mins



Second was a Sumatra natural processed coffee. I roast it just into second crack.

http://www.roastmasters.com/sumatranatural.html

I got both if these coffees from RoastMasters however the link for the blue mountain is gone.

have great week everyone

 

[Mick]

Here is some Brazilian Mokka Peaberry from the Bob-O-Link farm. Roasted last night for about 21 minutes on P1 on my Behmor. Pretty sure it went past the second crack but I'm not sure how far past.

The Brazilian I use takes a dark roast exceptionally well. I run the hottop until it hits the thermal cut off (428º) and auto dumps the beans. I run the fan at full power once the roast reaches 410º to extend the bean temp as far as the hottop will take it before the emergency "too hot" dump empties the roasting drum. They come out smokin' hot and almost on fire. So far no spontaneous flair ups in the cooling tray but I keep a squirt bottle of water handy just in case

Fantastic roast every time.

I use Brazilian Sau Francisco estate peaberry that I source locally (buy 10lb of green at a time from them).

It is one of the main beans in most of my blends as the dark roast component and it is also pretty nice roasted medium as a single origin. NOT too many beans are that versatile (at least the ones that I have found out about)

Speaking of blends, today I did a sample blend of Ethiopian, Guatemalan and Sumatran that was little more than "an argument in a cup" It was REALLY bad. That one is not going on the list, that's for sure. Was difficult to drink 3 cups of it but glad it is gone and no more of that "blend" exists.

Been a while since I blended "mud in a cup". I guess I need the failures to keep me on track and producing good tasting blends

 

[Mick]

You're spot on with the failure bit. You really have to have a bad cup of coffee every once in a while in order to appreciate the good ones. This is why I still drink the coffee at work from time to time just so I can really appreciate what I have a little bit more.

When I do a new blend (one that is not in my blend book that I know is good) I only blend enough to do a full liter so that the wife and I get 3 cups each and can really decide whether it is a keeper or not. Today was one of those "not" days blend. The duds go into my blend book in RED pen so that I know that I have tried those origins in that ratio and that I DO NOT want to do it again

The blend today even had the wife commenting "what is this $!+" I felt bad but it was good to see her get involved for a change even if it was to criticize. Sometimes when I hit a clunker, I just say "that is the grocery store stuff you got on sale that I told you not to buy" which always gets a knife edged glare from her aimed my way as she knows I am poking her in the ribs just to get a rise out of her

Most times she just thinks I am nuts when I start dancing around the kitchen after the first sip of coffee in the morning, congratulating myself on what a wonderful job of roasting/blending I did....

I hit two home runs and struck out once this week on my blending. All of the single origin roasts that I blended from are between very nice and wowzers. This week I've put together an espresso blend that is to die for and a pour over blend that makes me happy dance with every sip. Not too bad I don't think

 

[HydroWVU]

I roasted two half pound roasts yesterday.

I have started playing with the roasting profiles a little bit instead of sticking straight to P1 on the behmor.

First up was Costa Rica El Espino Yellow Honey Caturra from RoastMasters... I just followed the recommendations on the bag, I used P2 and stopped it just into second crack. About 20 mins. Mick, I wish the Behmor had the temp control that your hot top has, or at least display the temp.



Second was Sumatra Wahana Natural Process also from RoastMasters. I used P3, also just into second crack, about 19 minutes.



@still-shaving Your last roast looked quite good.

Blends: I haven't done any serious blends yet... Just mixing my half pound left overs. They mostly been pretty good. I want to make my own mocha java, but need to order hen beans.

I roast very much by sight, smell, and sound. I have had pretty consistent results, but I tended to change up my beans quite often and when I buy, I only buy in pound batches.

John

 

[Mick]

Mick, I wish the Behmor had the temp control that your hot top has, or at least display the temp.

All I have is the single probe in the roasting chamber (the factory one). This reads the temp inside the chamber not the temp of the beans. The position of it is such that the beans sort of go over the probe as the basket rotates but it is at best a "guesstimate" for what is going in. I think it is mostly for the 3 safety features of the roaster which are:

1: You can't restart a subsequent roast until the reading in the roast chamber has cooled down to under 160º I have modified the roaster with an interrupt button that will "fool" the computer into thinking the temp is 0 (zero) and restart at any temp. So far I've restarted at 250º and at 300º. I've noticed a difference in the roast when the beans are introduced to a much hotter chamber.

2: The roaster will dump beans if you do not tell it you are watching it when it reaches 410º (you have to push any button so it knows a human is nearby)

3: The roaster has a max temp of 428º and that is it. Once that temp is reached the beans are dumped into the cooling tray whether you want them there or not. I can "fool" it by shutting off the heater and turning the fan on full when it gets a little over 410º to allow the bean temp to continue to rise but eventually it hits the safety temp and dumps but I can go strong Vienna or beyond if I am lucky.

So far I think it is a nice home roaster for 1/2 lb roasts. Not sure if it will be my last roaster but for the foreseeable future I think this one will be the last one I get.

I do have an Arduino uno and a TC4 shield for it but the TC4 is a kit (bag of ICs and a circuit board). Once I have the time to put it together I will have data logging capability with ET (environmental temp) and BT (bean mass temp) recording which will take this roasting game into overtime

Blends: I haven't done any serious blends yet... Just mixing my half pound left overs. They mostly been pretty good. I want to make my own mocha java, but need to order hen beans.

I roast very much by sight, smell, and sound. I have had pretty consistent results, but I tended to change up my beans quite often and when I buy, I only buy in pound batches.

John

I have been blending coffees for as long as I have been drinking coffee. Could not stand any of the grocery store major brands so I mixed and matched mad scientist style to come up with a drinkable cup. In fact the grocery store blending I have used for the past decade or more was so nice it kept me out of specialty coffee until I stumbled on the roaster at a bargain basement price

I am luck in that there is a very serious local specialty roasting house here in town. They have 20+ single origins in stock all the time as well as 9 different espresso blends. I am like a kid in a candy store when I go in for green beans. I can hardly make up my mind what I want to take home and ALWAYS get 10-15 lbs of green when I go there