What's roasting?

[thanks]

I thought that maybe there was already a thread like this, but after a little digging around I couldn't find any.

Since I find the world of home roasting so exciting, and seeing as how I'm very very new to this, I thought it'd be interesting to see what roasting equipment everyone was using, what they're roasting, what their target roast was, what they actually hit, and any other pieces of info you'd like to share such as settings, time of first crack, etc. Some followups on the roast quality in later posts would be very cool as well.

Behmor 1600
Honduras Organic Marcala -Cocosam Coop from SweetMaria's
4oz. roasted on the 1/2 pound setting with max time, P1 Profile.

I didn't keep a detailed log of this one, that will be for subsequent roasts. Hit the cool button a couple seconds after second crack started, and hit a nice FC+ roast which is what I was aiming for. We'll see how it tastes tomorrow. Bean color is not completely uniform, and there was a bit of chaff with a couple of beans that escaped during the roast.

 

[mouscacha]

You saw my other thread, so you got my roast there. Happy roasting! I'll be keeping tracking of this thread. I want to get everyone's info, too!

 

[thanks]

You saw my other thread, so you got my roast there. Happy roasting! I'll be keeping tracking of this thread. I want to get everyone's info, too!

Apparently we're the only ones here! C'mon guys, what's everyone roasting?

 

[Jasonian]

I roasted up some Brasil Moreninha Formosa "Raisin" and some Mexico Oaxaca SHB FTO a few days ago.

I change the profile a bit with the Mexican, and I'm quite happy with the results.

Roasted on my Turbo Crazy setup. (link if you don't know what a Turbo Crazy is: http://biobug.org/coffee/turbo-crazy/ )

I'll be roasting a lot of really awful (seriously.. 80% rejection rate, minimum) Peruvian Organic to break in my new 2.5K today or tomorrow. Should be fun.

 

[tsmba]

I roast something different each week. I probably have 3-4 different lots of Yrgacheffe, 3-4 Kenyans, and a half-dozen or more Centrals with a Colombian or two thrown in. Sometimes it seems I have a lot of peaberry beans, not because peaberry = a "better bean" (though some believe that is true).

 

[Thebigspendur]

I have a Gene Cafe. I usually buy 20lbs at a time usually 4 varieties and mix them up all the time. Right now I have some Kona tiny beans screen 11 Maui Moka and some Colombia Cauca and then a couple of decafe's.

 

[thanks]

I roasted up some Brasil Moreninha Formosa "Raisin" and some Mexico Oaxaca SHB FTO a few days ago.

I change the profile a bit with the Mexican, and I'm quite happy with the results.

Roasted on my Turbo Crazy setup. (link if you don't know what a Turbo Crazy is: http://biobug.org/coffee/turbo-crazy/ )

I'll be roasting a lot of really awful (seriously.. 80% rejection rate, minimum) Peruvian Organic to break in my new 2.5K today or tomorrow. Should be fun.

The Turbo Crazy looks great. I found it difficult to locate one of those popcorn machines though. The Behmor is advertised as a 1lb. roaster, but realistically it's a half lb. roaster, which I find to be an adequate amount for my personal consumption. I can't believe how evenly that TC roasts.

Did you get those beans through GCBC?

I roast something different each week. I probably have 3-4 different lots of Yrgacheffe, 3-4 Kenyans, and a half-dozen or more Centrals with a Colombian or two thrown in. Sometimes it seems I have a lot of peaberry beans, not because peaberry = a "better bean" (though some believe that is true).

I've not had a Kenyan, or Yirgacheffe. I don't own any either. Can you recommend any of the Kenyans that are currently on sale at Sweet Maria's?

I have a Gene Cafe. I usually buy 20lbs at a time usually 4 varieties and mix them up all the time. Right now I have some Kona tiny beans screen 11 Maui Moka and some Colombia Cauca and then a couple of decafe's.

20lbs is a good amount. I have about 12, including my 8lb sampler. I'm realizing pretty quick why they send you the 8lb sampler free with the roaster! I ruined my first three 4oz. roasts!

 

[thanks]

I am running down to the last of the Honduran beans already, as I've drank quite a bit of it today I'm proud to say it's a very good cup, and definitely the best black coffee I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. I in fact nailed a FC+ roast with this one, and I'm very pleased with the results. I have enough for tomorrow, but then after that It's gone so today I decided to roast a small 4oz. batch of my Colombian. My notes were more detailed this time around.

Behmor 1600
Colombia Finca Buenavista - Carlos Imbachi microlot
My goal with this was City+
4oz. 1/2lb setting, P4, D
15:00M start

5:30 into the roast and starting to gain some color
8:30 in starting to really turn brown, smell remains the same since beginning of roast
9:45 the beans have approached a uniform brown color, smell changes
12:05 first crack begins
Hit the + button twice
Too focused on when 1st crack ended with my ear to the roaster to note at what time 1st crack ended, but the cool button was hit 15 seconds after 1st crack ended.

When the beans were coasting I heard a small crack, which has me worried that somehow 1st crack wasn't fully finished, even though it had been about 15 seconds at least since I've heard a crack, and before that there was a large gap between cracks. Hopefully it's at least a City roast, as I'd hate to have ruined these beans. Proof is in the cup tomorrow morning, I guess. So far the resting period is quite frustrating to me, seeing as how I'm new I have to wait a day to find out if I've ruined a batch or not.

 

[ph33nyx]

Just roasted up a Tanizian Hope Peaberry last night to a city + (yumm).

 

[Jim]

Still roasting with my loaner Gene'. Sometimes I win, sometimes the Gene does.... The garage was 98 degrees yesterday- it helped.

 

[StillShaving]

I have 20+ lbs of various green beans ready to go with my new behmor.
Recently dark roasted some Guatemala Huehuetenango & Salvador Santa Rita and will be drinking it soon. Next I am going to try some decaf to see how that works.

 

[thanks]

Since I'm doing small 4oz. batches, and this next coffee has a longer than average suggested resting period, I decided to roast some aged 07 Lintong Peaberry Sumatra. Meant to roast into a FC+, but went probably slightly too long into 2nd crack. Could be FC++ to a very light Vienna. I'm not too worried about it, personally.

 

[thanks]

The Colombian Carlos Imbachi lot turned out great, and seems to fit all the criteria of a City+ roast. I will say, however, that this coffee is a little too acidic/sweet for me. More than one cup a day, and I pay for it later in the evening. I will try it at a FC-FC+ next time even though Tom recommends C - C+. I do like the flavor of this coffee, but it appears I'm already finding that I like the deeper, mellower coffees. After this aged Lintong is almost gone I'll probably roast some Bali Kintamani seeing as how it has low acidity.

 

[thanks]

The 4oz. batch of aged Lintong was roasted too long. I didn't care for it's almost pure roast taste. This coffee has been a good lesson in peaberry's, and beans lacking in density in general. They just roll right from 1st to 2nd crack without a moment's notice. I couldn't tell when 1st crack ended and 2nd began.

Anyway, instead of the Bali coffee I figured I'd roast some Brazil Cerrado DP Fazenda Aurea. I went for a FC roast, and nailed it. So far, this coffee is really something amazing. Creamy body, smooth and sweet flavor, with what I find to be a strong chocolate component. Almost no acidity with a fairly straightforward taste, but hard to beat for it's price and drinkability. This was also my first dry-process coffee roast in the Behmor, and it set off my smoke alarm! I didn't even enter second crack, and there was a little bit of smoke coming out. Chaff everywhere, this coffee was a definite pain to deal with when roasting. It seems silly to me to pass on a large range of (most likely some of the best coffees I'll ever try) just because of their processing method, but then again, so is starting a chaff fire for the sake of a roast darker than city.

Are all dry process coffees like this in the Behmor? I really enjoyed this one immensely, but it likely isn't worth the headache.


I couldn't help myself and ordered another pound anyway.

 

[RayH]

Ok, you're roasting bean. When I saw the thread, I thought it would be meat. My bad.

 

[KenS]

I've been stuck on Mexican Chiappas for several months. I do slip in some "Raisin" or a little Guatemalan or some other bean I have setting around, but my main coffee is the Chiappas. Some day I may get out of my rut, but I'm enjoying it for the time being..
Ken.

 

[thanks]

I've been stuck on Mexican Chiappas for several months. I do slip in some "Raisin" or a little Guatemalan or some other bean I have setting around, but my main coffee is the Chiappas. Some day I may get out of my rut, but I'm enjoying it for the time being..
Ken.

I'd hardly call it a rut if you're enjoying it!

I, on the other hand, may have gone slightly overboard with green bean purchases the past week. I just received about six pounds of Brazilian coffee from Sweet Maria's, I should be getting ten pounds of Brazil Moreninha Formosa tomorrow, then I have five pounds of Brazil Sul De Minas on the way, and I'm on the wait list for ten pounds of Amaro Gayo Natural from the East coast container. That's enough coffee to last me a year, so I'm done for a long time.

Who am I kidding?

Anyway, with a 4oz. test batch of Brazil joao de campos I discovered that if a bean's elevation was higher than 1000, then P4 in the Behmor is not even enough time to get through first crack! No more P4, unless in smaller than the setting batch sizes.

 

[Cole19]

I really really want to try fresh roasting, I have a popcorn popper, grinder and french press. But I just cannot justify twenty more dollars on green coffee when I just bought fifty dollars worth of tea. = (

 

[mouscacha]

Well, green coffee lasts a few months before going bad...

 

[Scotto]

I'm drinking some Ethiopia Amaro Gayo natural, which is one of the best cups I have had this year. Berries, cocoa, and cream - complex and delicious.

I also bought some beans from roastmasters.com to try out, and am happy so far. The guys who own this place run one of my favorite coffee shops/roasting establishments on the East Coast, Willoughbees coffee. They sell green beans and equipment as well as their normal retail store for roasted coffee, so you can get the same beans roasted and green to test your skillz against them.