I've been home roasting for about six years using Sweet Maria's offerings. I will order the 5# bag of Moka Kadir or Espresso Monkey blend and the 8 lb sampler and the combination qualifies for flat rate shipping. The beans are of the highest quality - well sorted, no trash or partial beans. The espresso blends are usually roasted just a few seconds into second crack and the single origins are generally roasted as recommended. Last nights roast was a Sumatra Lintong Tano Batak from the last sampler roasted to FC++. I use a stove top roaster (Back To Basics) and roast 1 to 1.5 lbs at a time using a gas stove and 650 cfm hood vented to the outside. I have found that I get a more even roast with these weights as opposed to less than one pound roast. I roast in the evening and the time to roast a single origin is usually one beer and espresso 1.5 to 2 beers. That gas cooktops puts off a lot of heat! I step outside to cool the beans down by transferring them from colander to colander in front of a floor fan. It is amazing how much chaff is produced. My espresso setup is a Mazzer Mini grinder and Quick Mill Vetrano machine from Chris's Coffee Service. The equipment's been bullet since it's purchase in 2007 and the combination of good equipment and beans has produced a lot of great coffee.
