Home Coffee Roasting

[MGLloyd]

I have been homeroasting for about 18 months now. I started off with a Caffe Rosto and just loved the results. In order to increase my throughput, I recently bought another Rosto, and now roast 9-11 oz. coffee per session. This allows me to roast more coffee at a sitting than the HotTop, the latest coffee roasting contender, that sells for $ 600.

The reason I got into homeroasting was not so much for my drip coffee, but to improve my espresso. If anyone here is into espresso, you will be surprised at the difference freshly-roasted coffee makes, when ground to order in a burr grinder just moments before pulling the shot. Of course, in order for me to get to that point, I have invested about $ 2000 in coffee/espresso toys.... I keep telling myself that the payback point is actually quite short, when you consider spending $ 5-8 per day on espresso drinks from the stand.

Regards,

Michael Lloyd

Mill Creek, Washington USA

PS: And I heartily second the earlier comments recommending www.coffeegeek.com as a resource.

[maggiethecat]

Speaking as the lucky recipient of some of guajolote's home roasted, I suggest that he get roasting and posting.

I have tasted lots of great coffee in my life. G.'s was up in the top five.

[guajolote]

Speaking as the lucky recipient of some of guajolote's home roasted, I suggest that he get roasting and posting.

I have tasted lots of great coffee in my life.  G.'s was up in the top five.

Is this a hint for Tuesday?

I have a new blend: 2/3 Columbian and 1/3 Guatemala Antigua

[MatthewB]

G.'s coffee rocks.

G'nite.

[Jason Perlow]

Here is a Green bean price list from MrCoffeeBean.com, otherwise known as Warner Fox, the same guy responsible for the marketing of the amazing product known as the Toast N Serve that we've been talking about for a week or two. I just recieved samples from Warner so Fat Guy and I have not had the opportunity to roast them yet, but Warner has assured me this stuff is as fresh as can be.

Warner has given me this price list for eG members who wish to order from him directly.

MR.COFFEE BEAN

GREEN BEAN WHOLESALE

PRICE LIST

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2003

Prices Subject to change without notice

CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICAN

COLOMBIAN SUPREMO FNC CAMPO ALLEGRA $3.50 LB.

GUATEMALAN ATITLAN ESTATE “SANTO THOMAS PACHAJ” $3.50 LB.

BRAZIL SERRO NEGRA $3.00 LB.

MEXICAN CHIAPAS KAUHUK $3.50 LB.

COSTA RICAN TRES RIOS $3.50 LB.

PERUVIAN CUZCO $3.50 LB.

VENEZUELAN $3.00 LB.

JAMAICAN BLUE MOUNTAIN WALLENFORD ESTATE $22.50 LB.

AFRICAN

ETHOPIAN SIDAMO $3.50 LB.

ETHOPIAN HARRAR $3.70 LB.

ETHOPIAN YRGACHEFFE $3.60 LB.

KENYA AA KIRINYAGO $4.75 LB.

ZIMBABWE AA $3.60 LB.

YEMEN MOCHA MATTARI $5.40 LB.

INDONESIA

CELEBES KALOSI $3.60 LB.

SUMATRA MANDHELING $3.50 LB.

INDIAN MONSOONED MALABAR $4.20 LB.

INDIAN MYSORE PLANTATION “A” $3.80 LB.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA $3.50 LB.

ORDER ON LINE OR TOLL FREE

1-800-241-7708

1-888-490-1212

6690 Jones Mill Court • Bldgs. A & B • Norcross, Georgia USA 30092

Phone 770-441-5900 • Fax 770-409-7259

e-mail: warner@mrcoffeebean.com • www.mrcoffeebean.com

[col klink]

G.'s coffee rocks.

G'nite.

I second Matthew's opinion. When I was in Chicago back in October, I was very lucky to have some!

[Varmint]

G.'s coffee rocks.

G'nite.

I second Matthew's opinion. When I was in Chicago back in October, I was very lucky to have some!

Yup. He brought down (and left me) lots of his coffee when he came down for the pig pickin'.

Fat Guy's coffee is pretty good, too -- particularly when he just throws 8 different varieties of leftover green beans into his roaster.

[MGLloyd]

I have recently started a new roasting technique to supplant my Caffe Rostos. Details can be found on coffeegeek.com in the home roasting talk forum, but I am using a heat gun and a stainless steel bowl. Using this technique, which has to be done outside, I am getting a tremendous throughput of roasted coffee. Excellent quality results that cannot be told from coffee done in the Rostos.

[suzilightning]

just nitices that Kenneth Davids has a new revised edition of Home Coffee Roasting: Romance & Revival coming out this month......

hmmmm maybe i should suggest it for purchase at work

[MGLloyd]

just nitices that Kenneth Davids has a new revised edition of Home Coffee Roasting: Romance & Revival coming out this month......

hmmmm maybe i should suggest it for purchase at work

The new second edition has been discussed on alt.coffee over the past few weeks. The consensus is, if you already have the first edition, don't bother to buy the second. There is not enough new information to warrant purchase.

If you don't have the first edition, than the second edition is a wonderful introduction to coffee roasting.

[tommy]

i'm getting ready to jump into this.

am i to understand that green beans are pretty much available only by mail order???

[Fat Guy]

Any store that roasts coffee has green beans. Depending on the way the operation is managed, it can be easier or harder to get those beans. At Fairway, for example, there are green beans available right at the coffee counter, but only one variety (basic Colombian supremo). However, if you call in the morning when the coffee manager is there, you can ask him to set aside a batch of any kind of green bean for you and you can pick it up later that day.

[slkinsey]

I encourage you to try Sweet Marias for roasting supplies and green beans. They have reasonable prices and are a good resource.

[Jason Perlow]

I encourage you to try Sweet Marias for roasting supplies and green beans. They have reasonable prices and are a good resource.

If those are reasonable prices, then I'd have to say the prices from MrCoffeebean.com that I posted are really good, then. Most of those are $3.50 a pound.

[Fat Guy]

I'll use mail order if there's a legitimate price or quality advantage, but when you live in the New York Metro area that's a rare thing: you can pretty much get the best of anything here, and the shipping costs tend to eat up whatever price advantage mail order might seem to offer. When I started doing this, I was getting my beans from CoffeeProject.com, but now I just get them from Fairway. If you live outside of a metro area and/or don't have access to shops that do a lot of roasting, however, that MrCoffeeBean guy's prices are great. Jason shared several samples of those green beans with me and they're good.

[MGLloyd]

Another possible source of green beans available locally, depending on where you are, is Costco. Many of the Seattle-area Costcos now have an inhouse coffee roasting setup. If the roasting people are not too busy, they will often put green beans in a bag for you and sell them at the same price as the roasted coffee ($ 3/pound). At any one time, the Costco by my house has Sumatra Mandheling, Costa Rican, Columbian and a House Blend. Due to personal preference, I usually just buy the Sumatra.

These are good quality beans, bought from the same coffee wholesalers as used by Sweet Marias, Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee and the like.

[Fat Guy]

Apropos of this discussion, a mailer came from The Coffee Project ( http://coffeeproject.com/ ) today. Among other bits of information, it mentions that the new Hearthware roaster will be available in December.

The most interesting thing, however, has to do with shipping: apparently The Coffee Project is now shipping not just from California but also from depots in New York and Wisconsin. Moreover, they're offering free shipping on your next order (or at least my next order; I assume this is an offer to existing customers, but I'm not sure). This could be a very attractive way to buy a large stock of beans, especially if the offer applies to the bulk orders (again I'm not sure). I'm going to check it out. If I can get the 20 pound sack of monsooned Malabar at $2.75/lb with free shipping, I may just make that purchase.

[phaelon56]

The prices at Sweet Maria's are indeed higher but I use them particularly for the variety of beans available, many of which you won't find elsewhere. Just as differing batches of grapes (both source and vintage) make for significant differences in wine (e.g. not all California Merlots are equal), there are generic commodity arabica beans of a particular variety (e.g. Colombian, Mexican Altura, Guatemala Antigua etc) and then there are estate grown. In many cases, the estate grown beans of particular lots or those from specific co-ops may have some distinct qualitative differences.

Typically the best and least abundant of particular crops goe to the highest bidders and make their way to some smaller specialty roasters and also to folks like Sweet Maria's. The big guys like Starbucks have to buy in such large quantities that they must take a wider variety of quality levels in a particular bean in order to get the amount they need. Some people speculate that this is one of the reasons for Starbucks "signature roast" style. The dark roast tends to mask the subtleties and nuances of flavor. For example, one will still taste the difference between Guatemalan, Ethiopian and Sumatran but the subtleties that will make allow one to discern between better and lesser grades of the same bean are masked by the dark roast. The good news for large roasters and bean purveyors is consistency - they can offer specific varietals year in and year out and the consumer will get what they expect when ordering a cup.

Are straight estate varietals (i.e. not batches that are blended from the same varietal bean but of multiple provenances) better? In theory, yes and I think that often they are but I won't claim that we can all taste the difference easily (I especially wont claim that I can). I do know that the flexibility and potential one has for making a killer espresso blend at home is greatly improved by having a good variety of quality beans.

[BobL]

Hi everyone. I haven't posted for a while but had to delurk to join this discussion. I've been roasting for about a year and a half. I use an Alpenrost and until recently have had great luck with the drum roaster. It's beginning to lose some of the heat so I'll be getting something else. Maybe another Alp. I like the 1/2 lb capacity alot 'cause I don't have great amounts of time to roast every night.

I bought beans through Sweet Maria's. They have a great selection, but mostly I get my beans from Mayorgacoffe.com.

There's nothing like fresh roasted coffee.

[phaelon56]

I use an Alpenrost and until recently have had great luck with the drum roaster. It's beginning to lose some of the heat so I'll be getting something else.

I love my Alp too. The drum roasted taste is great. It is tough to hear the cracks but I seem to do okay on roast tiem by just semelling the smoke and also listening to the cracks. I haven't really scorched a single batch and was at a bit lighter roast level than I wanted another time but apart from that no problems.

You are aware of how sensitive the Alp is to ambient temperature? I've been advised that it's a big issue - if you're roasting outdoors, in a garage or in front of an open window where temps are cooler, that may be causing the lower heat levels.

Sooner than later I wil upgrade to a Hot Top rather than get another Alp (althouh I've been happy with mine).

[BobL]

You are aware of how sensitive the Alp is to ambient temperature? I've been advised that it's a big issue - if you're roasting outdoors, in a garage or in front of an open window where temps are cooler, that may be causing the lower heat levels.

I raost inside, in my private little cigar room, with the exhaust fan at full blast so I don't worry much about ambient temperature.

Sooner than later I wil upgrade to a Hot Top rather than get another Alp (althouh I've been happy with mine).

I was looking at one of them also, but the budget director wants me to get a hot air popcorn popper instead.

[melkor]

Over the weekend I finished up another version of my gas grill roaster. It's maybe $10 worth of parts tossed together and stuck on the rotisserie in the grill. The current version holds about 1 1/2 lbs of unroasted beans and it finally got a latch that is easy to open and close. I think I'm about out of ideas for this design, maybe it's time to work on a cooling system. I'll post some pics if anyone is interested.

[MGLloyd]

Over the weekend I finished up another version of my gas grill roaster. It's maybe $10 worth of parts tossed together and stuck on the rotisserie in the grill. The current version holds about 1 1/2 lbs of unroasted beans and it finally got a latch that is easy to open and close. I think I'm about out of ideas for this design, maybe it's time to work on a cooling system. I'll post some pics if anyone is interested.

Post! Post! Post!

[melkor]

A pair of mesh pensil cups, some angle iron, a bunch of rivets, a hinge, and a clasp for something or other.

The side burners on the grill are on high, the ones under the drum are on medium.

This is a batch of Kenya Thunguri from Sweet Marias roasted this morning just a bit into second crack - 19 minutes or so. I'm cooling the beans by dumping them from one collander to another. The next coffee related project is to build a cooling system.

[slkinsey]

Couldn't you cool them quickly by blowing them with a vacuum cleaner or even a blow dryer on the "cool" setting?