☕ Coffee ☕: Ingredients, Roasting, Grinding, Brewing, and Tasting

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Aristotelian said:
I have had fantastic results with Sweet Maria's Congo beans using heat gun/dog bowl. Possibly my favorite coffee I have roasted, although I haven't been at it long. I can't remember the profile off the top of my head, but typical for me is FC at 10 minutes/12:30 end of roast.
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I'll give that a try. When I roasted them I hit 1C at 11:25, so I definitely could go faster.
 
jammin said:
Ooof, I hate to be a Debbie downer but that milk looks awful. The rabbit hole is too deep for me to jump into on this one

Espresso is not a poor mans game there are no cheap tricks to bridge the gap to quality/expensive equipment
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Yeah I poured the milk under the foam in and then spooned all the foam I could on top. I really like the milk foam. I haven't learned to use the frother yet. Skim milk too, dont know what that does.

Any cheap frother tips?
 
applescrap said:
Any cheap frother tips?
Click to expand...

I think I've frothed a total of 5 times, the first of which ended with milk in cracks I didn't know existed (in my kitchen). So I'm not in a position to give advice...

But what I've read says that some machines can take a steam wand upgrade. The Gaggia, for instance can accept the Rancilio steam wand which is considerably better than the Gaggia. I don't know if your DeLonghi can be modified, but that may help. Some of those wands can be had for about $15.


It's going to be a long day. Like a, chug-as-much-coffee-as-you-can type of day. Ughhh.
 
It has been a while since I last posted which was when a started roasting on my whirlypop. Maybe a month or two? Anyway, I have learned that I really like lighter roasts and so far my favorite coffee that I have roasted has been a Burundi bean. I didn't write down the exact name but one of the descriptors was snapple juice. I roasted it just past 1C and it was unlike any coffee I have ever had; it was like chocolate covered blueberries, so so good. Does anyone have a favorite bean that is their go to for a light refreshing roast?
 
Limbrizik said:
Does anyone have a favorite bean that is their go to for a light refreshing roast?
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All of them!

I'd say Ethiopia and Burundi are my favorites, with Kenya and Guatemala close behind. What I like about Burundi beans is you get nice body and fruit/floral flavors.
 
Yeah I was surprised at how a light roast can still have so much body. It just seems counter intuitive, to me at least. The Nicaragua I'm drinking right now is good and all but I am craving something fruity even though it's like -8 here in MN.

Also, I need to share. I got a new hand burr grinder for christmas from my wonderful wife and it has been a very noticeable upgrade in quality from my whirly blade. https://handground.com/
 
I broke down and bought another Behmor for my Christmas present. Right now I'm roasting and drinking a very nice Honduran bean. I had my 2 Mobile AL nieces out here for a week and even they mentioned how good the coffee was(in spite of putting hazelnut creamer in it. There should be an emoji for a full body shudder)
 
Just roasted some of that Ethiopain Yirgacheffe Banko Dhadhato. Seemed to take a long time though the yellowing phase, then it got away from me in 1c and went right into 2c. Oily beans are much farther than I usually take my roasts. I'll use it for some cappuccinos this weekend, but don't have very high expectations for a botched roast. :(
 
passedpawn said:
Cat crap coffee this morning. Beans looked and tasted over-roasted. Ashy is what I get. Feck, I was hoping for something special and I got a cup of starbucks.

So much for the most expensive coffee in the world. Harrumph.
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Not sure i can blaim them for an over roast :). So whats starbucks excuse.
 
Limbrizik said:
Yeah I was surprised at how a light roast can still have so much body. It just seems counter intuitive, to me at least. The Nicaragua I'm drinking right now is good and all but I am craving something fruity even though it's like -8 here in MN.

Also, I need to share. I got a new hand burr grinder for christmas from my wonderful wife and it has been a very noticeable upgrade in quality from my whirly blade. https://handground.com/
Click to expand...


Been eyeing that grinder up. Looks legit. I have the javapresse which I like so far. I've also been discovering there is more to coffee than dark roasts.
 
I got stuck having to have Keurig today due to travels and a series of unfortunate events. Sometimes it's good to have it just to remind yourself how good you have it as a home roaster. Especially as a roaster who can brew properly.

The coffee came out of the Keurig clear; I have no idea how it turned Brown in my cup. Voodoo. Some seriously weak stuff though
 
Welp, I finally pulled the trigger on a gas roaster. It's on the water right now and should be in port soon. Looking forward to the learning process and a new challenge.

Here are a couple pics from the factory of the batch mine is in - i wonder which one I'll get:D
x3acnd.jpg


33tnhaw.jpg
 
TallDan said:
Pretty sure the answer is "more than i'd be looking to spend", but have to ask anyway: Asking price?
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yeah i hate to talk to most people about my roasting hobby because they think Im an idiot for buying some of the equipment i have. its funny how you don't hear many boat or RV owners get called idiots though (and those things TANK instantly in value and cost a lot to upkeep).

Anywho - I'm asking $1k for the package deal. New price for the entire kit (includes some spendy/high quality instrumentation) would be close to $1,900. You can't even get one new right now if you want though because they are out of stock.
 
passedpawn said:
What's the max batch size?
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300g. I solely run 227g/8oz batches as they evenly use up bags of greens I buy from Sweet Maria's etc.


edit:

I feel it's worth mentioning that this kit is plug & play ready to connect with Artisan (which is free) and really enhances your ability to gain insight & real-time feedback during the roast. Artisan displays RoR (Rate of Rise) of the bean temp & roaster temp. I can tell you right now that when roaster temp is around 440*, you will be nearly flat-lining the rate of rise on the bean temp. This type of feature is really neat because you can adjust fan speed and amperage to the elements to control this quickly and steer the roast in the direction you want it to go.

My other favorite thing about the Quest M3 is that it is classified as a light commercial roaster and built as such. This means you don't have any stupid safety features that interfere/impede your ability to use the roaster as you want and the machine is built more rugged. I used to HATE waiting for my old Hottop to go through it's cool down phase and warm back up before I start another batch. It was total drag and made roasting sessions much longer than necessary. It is so nice to drop a roast and charge another while the previous batch is cooling. It also eleviates major frustrations when you miss the mark on time or temp the Hottop decides your too stupid to know whats going on and goes into safety mode. Now don't get me wrong - the Hottop is FANTASTIC roaster fully capable and producing top tier coffee.
 
jammin said:
Anywho - I'm asking $1k for the package deal. New price for the entire kit (includes some spendy/high quality instrumentation) would be close to $1,900. You can't even get one new right now if you want though because they are out of stock.
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For less than the price of a new hottop it seems like a deal. I'd be lying if i said it wasn't tempting.
 
jammin said:
Welp, I finally pulled the trigger on a gas roaster. It's on the water right now and should be in port soon. Looking forward to the learning process and a new challenge.

Here are a couple pics from the factory of the batch mine is in - i wonder which one I'll get:D
x3acnd.jpg


33tnhaw.jpg
Click to expand...

I am seriously so happy for you.
 
jammin said:
yeah i hate to talk to most people about my roasting hobby because they think Im an idiot for buying some of the equipment i have. its funny how you don't hear many boat or RV owners get called idiots though (and those things TANK instantly in value and cost a lot to upkeep).
Click to expand...


Key point.
 
jammin said:
yeah i hate to talk to most people about my roasting hobby because they think Im an idiot for buying some of the equipment i have. its funny how you don't hear many boat or RV owners get called idiots though (and those things TANK instantly in value and cost a lot to upkeep).
Click to expand...

Going back to this one, I call almost all RV owners idiots. A lot of boat owners too.
 
I prefer to buy things used when they have little room to depreciate. Guitars, cars, speakers, tools, etc etc. Thought the same about buying a used roaster but not quite there yet.

Jammin I can't wait to hear about your new rig. I'm sure there will be a learning curve but be sure to keep us posted.
 
Something about roasting over a grill seems yucky imo. It seems like gas or drippings or other things could flavor the coffee. I am willing to admit I could be totally wrong though. I've really fallen in love with air roasted coffee. All you taste is the coffee, none of the burnt chaff or build up on the drum. I don't know about home roasting equipment and it would seem it would be much easier to clean a home drum then a commercial drum. But in my opinion all I can smell from most commercial coffee anymore is off scents that built up on the drum and makes its way into the coffee. Or am I completely wrong and it's not build up on the drum that I'm smelling but just cheap Bad Coffee?
 
applescrap said:
But in my opinion all I can smell from most commercial coffee anymore is off scents that built up on the drum and makes its way into the coffee. Or am I completely wrong and it's not build up on the drum that I'm smelling but just cheap Bad Coffee?
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What you are smelling in commercial coffee is simply the scent of burnt, from taking really cheap, crap beans and roasting them dark to hide the natural characteristics which aren't worth exhibiting (because they are so cheap).

Just about any roaster who's roasting commercially uses Drum roasters. The difference being the ones producing good coffee aren't burning them, and they are buying good beans.
 
applescrap said:
Something about roasting over a grill seems yucky imo. It seems like gas or drippings or other things could flavor the coffee. I am willing to admit I could be totally wrong though. I've really fallen in love with air roasted coffee. All you taste is the coffee, none of the burnt chaff or build up on the drum. I don't know about home roasting equipment and it would seem it would be much easier to clean a home drum then a commercial drum. But in my opinion all I can smell from most commercial coffee anymore is off scents that built up on the drum and makes its way into the coffee. Or am I completely wrong and it's not build up on the drum that I'm smelling but just cheap Bad Coffee?
Click to expand...

Roasting over coals would probably result in some odd flavors. But a drum on a rotisserie over gas flame (with shield to keep the flames from hitting the drum) would work fine I think. With a little temperature feedback, it can't be too far off from what the pros do. Anyway, at some point I might give it a try. First I need to find a gas grill :)
 
passedpawn said:
Roasting over coals would probably result in some odd flavors. But a drum on a rotisserie over gas flame (with shield to keep the flames from hitting the drum) would work fine I think. With a little temperature feedback, it can't be too far off from what the pros do. Anyway, at some point I might give it a try. First I need to find a gas grill :)
Click to expand...

^I bet you could can find a cheap little gas grill on craigslist that has sat in some old lady's backyard and had about 2 packs of hot dogs cooked on it's entire life haha. i'm sure whatever that's in there could be washed out & burnt off too.
Get yourself a thermometer probe that is positioned somewhere near the lower part of the drum and I bet you'd have GREAT control over the roast! Set a little timer on one of the wings of the grill and pretty soon you'd know at how many minutes you turn down the temp. to your learned set points.



coffee used to be roasted over coals way back in the day :eek:

here is a 16 cylinder, coal fired roaster. i too wonder what that must have tasted like. i'm guessing something like this cheap store bought junk i'm stuck with for the 3 weeks while I play the waiting game. My Quest M3 is heading north to Canada this morning. Hopefully it doesn't get beat up along the way

image298.jpg


image314.jpg
 
Sooo.... found this collecting dust in the back of my pantry....:pipe:

2wnrait.jpg


...this may very well be converted to a roaster by this weekend. i don't have a heat gun or any way to monitor temp. Might swing by the local harbor freight and get this dialed in. probably sell it in a month once the new roaster is in place
 
jammin said:
^I bet you could can find a cheap little gas grill on craigslist that has sat in some old lady's backyard and had about 2 packs of hot dogs cooked on it's entire life haha. i'm sure whatever that's in there could be washed out & burnt off too.
Get yourself a thermometer probe that is positioned somewhere near the lower part of the drum and I bet you'd have GREAT control over the roast! Set a little timer on one of the wings of the grill and pretty soon you'd know at how many minutes you turn down the temp. to your learned set points.



coffee used to be roasted over coals way back in the day :eek:

here is a 16 cylinder, coal fired roaster. i too wonder what that must have tasted like. i'm guessing something like this cheap store bought junk i'm stuck with for the 3 weeks while I play the waiting game. My Quest M3 is heading north to Canada this morning. Hopefully it doesn't get beat up along the way

image298.jpg


image314.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool pics, and I would be curious what the inside of them looked liked. I wonder what one could chip out with a screwdriver? Or maybe they were glistening clean. Idk.

Glad to hear you got the m3 sold quick.
 
applescrap said:
Glad to hear you got the m3 sold quick.
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Thanks, Apples - I'll be a nervous nelly until it shows up in good condition though. ETA is Monday barring customs interfering. The buyer seems like a cool guy who is a pro roaster. He works on a Probat L12. He bought the QM3 to profile/sample new coffees.



jammin said:
found this collecting dust in the back of my pantry....may very well be converted to a roaster by this weekend..
Click to expand...

here is the finished product complete with a tidy plastic removal around the heat gun area. I attached a couple other pics to show the clean rewiring job and removal of extra parts. I'd like to add an on/off toggle switch if the store has one when I stop in for a heat gun & digital thermometer. As is, it spins at full speed when plugged in; which is just fine with me:

2eq5slw.jpg


28ldlc.jpg


6xyzom.jpg





I'd like to pass this off to someone who wants a nice roasting kit when my new machine gets in. This HG/BM will probably be good for 12oz batches (or more at the cost of control/max quality) and will include a bean temp probe and an adjustable Heat Gun. It will be a hot rod little kit for cheap... tempting to keep around as a backup for myself.
 
How late is too late to roast? I roasted at 8:30 the other night. Think I pissed neighbor off, doh. Hey man, I need my coffee. Its cold here the only ones outside were probably me and him and nobody keeps their windows open. I trusted the setup, probably too much. I am now using the thick hg cord in my entertainment center pinched with the lower door and voilla it rests beautifully on the bm for a hands free operation. Four batches in a row, boom 1c at 10 min and finish after 145ish more. 12 min is 2c. I went outside at 10mins unchecked cause it was cold, and it was snapping like a dutiful little soldier. Full power, solid 1c that died off on cue and after a little silence, I stopped the roast at 1145ish. I have not experimented with heat adjusting lately, because I like the robust first crack. Granted I don't know anything, but am experimenting with keeping a good solid first crack going. Assuming this kind of technique could be totally different on a drum or different setup.

I brought it to work and my friends and I drank it and we all agreed it was some of the best coffee we had ever had. There seems to be something about the Ethiopian beans imo. I have liked them more than any other ones. This was the Nitsu_ruz from bodhileaf.
 
jammin said:
Thanks, Apples - I'll be a nervous nelly until it shows up in good condition though. ETA is Monday barring customs interfering. The buyer seems like a cool guy who is a pro roaster. He works on a Probat L12. He bought the QM3 to profile/sample new coffees.





here is the finished product complete with a tidy plastic removal around the heat gun area. I attached a couple other pics to show the clean rewiring job and removal of extra parts. I'd like to add an on/off toggle switch if the store has one when I stop in for a heat gun & digital thermometer. As is, it spins at full speed when plugged in; which is just fine with me:

2eq5slw.jpg


28ldlc.jpg


6xyzom.jpg





I'd like to pass this off to someone who wants a nice roasting kit when my new machine gets in. This HG/BM will probably be good for 12oz batches (or more at the cost of control/max quality) and will include a bean temp probe and an adjustable Heat Gun. It will be a hot rod little kit for cheap... tempting to keep around as a backup for myself.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for helping take my coffee to a new level jammin.


Perfect use for the quest no?!

I am curious what you will think of the Harbor Freight heat gun. Mine smelt so bad I just couldn't keep it. The Home Depot had the same smell but it burned off quickly. I accidentally left my Harbor Freight one running when I went to Home Depot to buy the other one and it was still going when i got back, which is impressive. But it still did have that smell. It's time for me to get a thermometer. Any tips on Drilling?
 
^soooo i got a little antsy and drove to Lowe's and showed up 9 minutes before they closed

I bought the same HG I used back in 2011 when stationed in Baghdad and a BBQ thermometer. I want to say it corresponded with a 5/32" drill bit. I am going to relocate the insertion point lower and closer to the side to accommodate smaller batches and avoid the stirring arm.

My first batch was 12oz and I started the HG off @ about 80% power.... oops. Hit 1C at 6:30 which is way too fast for the dense Guat beans I was roasting. I had completely forgotten & underestimated the power of an HG/BM kit so I bumped my 2nd roast up to a full pound which gave much better results. I did this roast @ 67% power and cut that in half as soon as 1C made it's 1st snap: 10:00 1C & 11:15 finish. I'm sure this roaster could handle 1.5lbs with ease and possibly more with augmented stirring fins.

Here is a shot of the 2nd roast. Keep in mind this is a 1lb charge of 4 different types of beans (didn't want to use up my best stuff while learning).

3bp7s.jpg


20k9n3o.jpg
 
^^i have a second one i use for cinnamon roll and pizza dough. In college I used to buy 50 pound bulk bags of flour and make bread. Now I only use it for dough, but man I would appreciate some tips on bread making in it, because all the bread I made sucked. On the topic of quantity, I wish I would have bought 20 pounds when those Ethiopians went on sale.
 

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