Coffee roasting

[TDick]

I would not consider myself a coffee "snob" but it's hard to duplicate what I used to get when I lived in New Orleans.
Locals say it's the water but that's another discussion.

In looking at some of the youtube videos I saw this.
A lot of it the video is just crap but this group should be VERY interested in the $914 dollar cup.

[jonnys_spirit]

I've picked up an SR540 and a couple # of green guatemalan. Really looking forward to some small batch roast.

Cheers,
jonny

[nerdybrewer]

Peets prints the roasted date on each bag.
I also like Tony's for already roasted coffee.

We continue to use my old Fresh Roast 1, got a replacement chamber that while isn't exactly the same as the original it is close enough that we can get by. I've been getting all my green coffee from Deans Beans. I have used Sweet Marias in the past, also very good.

[Badmotivator]

I don't know how I missed this thread, Nerdy. I've been roasting my own coffee for about 12 years. I bought a Hottop roaster, for which I paid around $750. At the time I thought it was a silly extravagance, but it's still going strong. I figure I save at least a couple of bucks for every pound I roast for myself, and whaddya know, the thing has more than paid for itself.

Just for fun I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation. I have roasted around 1000 pounds in this roaster.

It's nice to know that it turned out well money-wise, but more importantly we get exactly the beans we like, just the way we like them, and they couldn't be fresher.

[Eire Whiskey]

Just what I want to do this morning, go to the shop and roast beans. LOL I'll be smelling like roasted beans, till I jump in the coffee roaster smell remover.

[bilgriss]

I roasted in popcorn poppers for years (Highly Recommend the original Poppery or equivalent 1500W popper) but slowly ran out of appropriate poppers. All the ones built these days are around 1100 watts and you can't get a full roast. I've tried the dogbowl and heatgun method, oven roasting, and cast iron pan on the Coleman stove. All work. But a couple of years ago I was gifted a Behmor 1600 plus, and now I do about one batch a week. That's about a $400 roaster, not as flexible as a good fluid bed roaster, really because of it's slow cool-down cycle, but after learning how to manipulate it, I get good roasts.

This is definitely another rabbit hole you can go down forever. The difference between fresh roasted coffee and a bag from the grocery is incredibly dramatic, and I save almost half on cost, which I figure will pay off the roaster pretty soon.

Well worth the time. Like most things, time and patience and quality don't come in a commercial package very frequently.

BadMo - I'm envious of your roaster, but that's just a little rich for me.

[jonnys_spirit]

What rabbit hole? (Honey Bourbon green coffee beans) Lol.

Cheers,
Jonny

[jonnys_spirit]

[user604]

I bought a Hottop basic almost three years ago. It was an expensive way to get started, but the machine has, or is very close to having, paid for itself.

Sadly, my supply of green coffee is running dangerously low with the Canada-US border closed; Sweetmaria's shipping charges to my package place in Washington State are normally $8.99 US for twenty pounds, or 90+ US to my Canadian address.

[JellybeanCorncob]

I bought a Hottop basic almost three years ago. It was an expensive way to get started, but the machine has, or is very close to having, paid for itself.

Sadly, my supply of green coffee is running dangerously low with the Canada-US border closed; Sweetmaria's shipping charges to my package place in Washington State are normally $8.99 US for twenty pounds, or 90+ US to my Canadian address.

I feel your frustration 604. I live around 35 minutes from Sweet Maria’s. I use to drive up 3 to 4 Times a year and pick my coffee up at there store front shop. That’s been closed since the plague Started. At least I can still get coffee shipped to me. I think Sweet Maria’s has great coffee, prices and business plan, but there must be a Canadian green coffee bean company that you can get your Beans from till the world opens up again?
Just a thought.

[user604]

I think Sweet Maria’s has great coffee, prices and business plan, but there must be a Canadian green coffee bean company that you can get your Beans from till the world opens up again?

Agreed! Nothing in Canada comes even close to Happy Mug/Bodhi Leaf/etc, let alone Sweet Maria's! Shipping costs up here are prohibitively high, plus most sellers are pretty opaque about the beans they sell. In light of the marginal cost difference, between roasted and un-roasted beans, I'll likely go back to buying from 49th Parallel or....

[jonnys_spirit]

I took six ounces of green Columbian beans and added approximately two shots of bourbon. Let it sit in a closed jar for a day - until the beans had soaked up all the bourbon and swollen up a good bit. Started the roast on low to medium heat and high air until they dried back out then up to higher heat until first crack.

I’ll do this again and dial in the roast a bit more but the bourbon comes through very well and makes a great drop for the morning cuppa!

Cheers,
j

[JellybeanCorncob]

I took six ounces of green Columbian beans and added approximately two shots of bourbon. Let it sit in a closed jar for a day - until the beans had soaked up all the bourbon and swollen up a good bit. Started the roast on low to medium heat and high air until they dried back out then up to higher heat until first crack.

I’ll do this again and dial in the roast a bit more but the bourbon comes through very well and makes a great drop for the morning cuppa!

Cheers,
j

Very interesting Jon. That might not go over very well with certain types of Roasters but is doable with an air popper.
Cheers mate!

[Dougmatt]

I took six ounces of green Columbian beans and added approximately two shots of bourbon. Let it sit in a closed jar for a day - until the beans had soaked up all the bourbon and swollen up a good bit. Started the roast on low to medium heat and high air until they dried back out then up to higher heat until first crack.

I’ll do this again and dial in the roast a bit more but the bourbon comes through very well and makes a great drop for the morning cuppa!

Cheers,
j

I was shocked to get this far into this thread before anyone mentioned bourbon infused beans. No need to waste the bourbon! Try putting your oak used to age your bourbon into your bean containers OR if you have a fresh dump barrel, fill it with beans. Excellent!

Discovered this at the Starbucks roastery store in Seattle awhile back.: https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2 ... -roastery/

Edit: should have noted that you do this with Green beans pre-roasting. If you are using the oak sticks, do small batches and shake them. Couple times a day to get beans in touch with the oak.

[jonnys_spirit]

I used well aged bourbon feints

+1 - Don't do this with any kind of flame roaster!

Cheers,
jonny

[Dougmatt]

Nice! I have some rum feints I may give a try to,,,,

[Bushman]

This renewed old post has me doing research on roasting coffee beans. All I need is another hobby!

[Ben]

It's a good hobby, something to look forward to every morning! I would say it saves money in the long run, but unless your going to do all your roasting in a cast iron skillet the equipment cost kills whatever savings there might be. Having properly fresh coffee for espresso every single day makes it completely worthwhile.

[higgins]

My son bought me a small coffee roaster for Christmas 20+ years ago and I've been roasting my own since.

It was a 4 oz hot air roaster and it burned out in < 6 months. The free replacement burned out in 8 months, but the original warranty had expired so was not covered. I then heard about the HGDB method - heat gun, ss dog bowl, wooden spoon to manually stir while heating. I've roasted for the last 10+ years using the HGBM method - a cheap heat gun and a yard sale breadmaker for stirring. I made a wire rack on it to support a heat gun. I used to roast outside because of the smoke, but now I do it in my wood shop and use the dust collection system to suck up the smoke. DON'T USE A SHOP VAC - THE HEAT WILL RUIN IT.

I can do 20 oz greens (yielding 16 oz roasted) and get 4 roasts out of 5 lbs of greens, which typically will run around $30. So my roasted coffee is about $7.50 for a full pound, much less than store prices for lower quality coffee. I generally roast just into 2nd crack.

Great idea on infusing greens in bourbon - I'm going to give it a try, and with rum as well.

[Ben]

I got into the semi automated process with an sr500, learned to program it with a laptop, and make roughly 4 oz at a time, roast every 3 days. Its rewarding for sure, the sr500 has held up a lot better than the air poppers I used to consume (roughly every 2 months).

[jonnys_spirit]

We use an SR540 (had it for a couple years now and no issues) - my SO mostly keeps us in stock with fresh coffee. I just try to throw a spanner into the works by macerating the beans in bourbon feints "and stuff"

Cheers!
-j

[JellybeanCorncob]

Most people I’ve talked with that haven’t roasted coffee say they like dark roast. Beans so dark they’re oily. At that point all you get is a cup of charcoal water. Large chain coffee shops mostly roast there beans dark. One reason is that cheap dark roast coffee tastes the same as Expensive beans when roasted so dark. When roasting your own beans you can experience the bean flavor at different roast profiles. And beans from different regions when roasted to certain levels can bring out flavor profiles. From sugary, nutty or coco flavors to Berry, Carmel, Citrus or even fruit flavors. There is even a flavor wheel similar to the whiskey wheels. You can get started for as cheep as the price of a pound of green coffee if you have a iron skillet or a wok. Or a popcorn popper. The only problem I see if you start roasting your own coffee is that you may get called a “coffee snob”.

[bilgriss]

All true.
Coffee is kinda like music, in the sense that most people drink or listen to what they are told is good. Not that there isn't good stuff that makes it into the the top 40 mixes sometimes, but the vast majority of really interesting music lives outside of that sphere. We live in a world where "branding" and mass market analysis drives consumer behavior. The really big coffee chains sought to differentiate themselves from mass marketed coffee (Charbucky brand names withheld to prevent ensuing riot) by developing brand recognition, and the thought at the time was they'd roast darker and "bolder" than everyone else so they would be recognizable by brand.

Although in fact some coffees really do taste better with a deep roast, many don't. It's always interesting when I buy new beans to figure out that nuance and where a particular coffee shines.

Right now I'm roasting a naturally processed Ethiopian bean that almost doubles in size during the roast. Pretty wild. It is really easy to take into a dark roast, and it isn't bad there, but it really shines at about full city. Longest first crack I can recall, and the second starts while the first is stopping, so it's easy to miss.

[Ben]

What Starbucks really does right is consistency, You can go to a Starbucks in pretty much any country and get exactly what you expect when you order something. That, combined with a mass market flavor palette they built a winning brand. It definitely isn't the best thing in the world, but you know what to expect and sometimes that's better than the corner café who may or may not have any talent. I go to the corner café anyway...

I have been working with wet hulled process stuff for a little while, I really enjoy how much less mess I get out of it and the new flavors. I am going to try a pan roast on some today... its cool out and the grill has a burner

[jonnys_spirit]

Charbux is the truth!

I’m doing another likker soaked bean today. This time with a shot of well aged honey shine for some floral character and just 3oz of beans (something from a sampler pack) since they swell up nice once they soak up the likker.

Cheers!
-j