Back in the warm confines of Maison du Pappers, ground some dark roast coffee, its brewing now, filling the kitchen with that wonderful aroma. Life is good. Two days of Maxwell House Instant and it feels like I just got out of prison.
☕ Coffee ☕: Ingredients, Roasting, Grinding, Brewing, and Tasting
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OP
OP
I'm on my 2nd large cup of deliciousness this morning. Roasted the beans a few days ago, oils are starting to show on the surface of the beans.
I used this clever dripper gadget for steeping the grounds. 4 minutes and into the cup. It's such a satisfying, smooth cup of coffee with tons of nutty flavor and no acrid bitterness. I could sip this all day.
I used this clever dripper gadget for steeping the grounds. 4 minutes and into the cup. It's such a satisfying, smooth cup of coffee with tons of nutty flavor and no acrid bitterness. I could sip this all day.
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Cool dripper. Do you use a filter in that?
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OP
OP
I do. There are gold metal (foil) reusable filters, but I don't have that. Paper filters are kinda nice so that you don't get any sediment in the coffee if you fine grind, which I do.
OP
OP
This morning's coffee was perfect for me in every way (steeped for 4 minutes in my Cleaver Dripper). But I'm going to do same beans in my French press tomorrow AM, so I'll reserve judgement till then.
The Aeropress is the most forgiving brewer Ive ever used. It not fussy about grind consistency or brew temp. I like to use the inverted method with a total of 2 minutes brew time. 14g grams coffee and top off aeropress - steep 2 minutes.
I like to get my Hario vac-pots out every so often but I don't like cleaning the cloth filters and the process is kinda involved.
French Press is my favorite brewing method and I own or have owned mostly everything that has hit the market.
I'm excited to try the Aeropress.
So what process do you use for French press? I use about 30g of coffee (4 round scoops) for my 4 cup. Water hits the grounds at ~200 and the timer starts. At 3.5 minutes I plunge slowly and that brings me right to 4 minutes then pour.
i use the standardized method of 7-8g of coffee per 5oz of brewing water. 4 minute steep. i have played around with weaker/stronger ratios and longer/shorter brewing times as well. I think the SCAA nailed it with this guidance.
Bensiff
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If you roast your own, the grinder is going to be the second most expensive piece of equipment. $300-$500 for a quality unit capable of consistently grinding from drip-Turkish. I prefer a good quality drip machine with paper filters as anything that leaves noticeable sediment seems muted in character to me.
HarborTownBrewing
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Man, it really depends on the bean, roast, and your preference. I always try each roast on the Press and Chemex and see which I prefer, and the flavors are always different. I'm partial to the press for many coffees, but I love the flavors of an Ethiopian or Guatemalan bean in pour over.
HarborTownBrewing
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Speaking of Christmas travels and coffee, I took a few beans back to my parents and inlaws. I have a bag I pack my grinder, beans, scale, and brewer of choice in - all of which my father in law thinks is unnecessary and humorous...until he tried the coffee.
What I found very interesting was how well water affects the flavor. The coffee I was making at one house with well water did not taste nearly as good as at another house with city water.
What I found very interesting was how well water affects the flavor. The coffee I was making at one house with well water did not taste nearly as good as at another house with city water.
Bigscience
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If you Aeropress, check out the recipes on the World Areopress Championships. Clearly you can get fussy with it.
http://worldaeropresschampionship.com/recipes/
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
http://worldaeropresschampionship.com/recipes/
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Here's my travel/camping gear. Both grinders are hand made from Orphan Espresso and produce a superb grind. The jet boil French press is a great too.
My baby girl and wife came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and this first night has been long. Needless to say say, I will be drinking A LOT of coffee today.
Some locally roasted beans here in Germany are making great espresso.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420520301.004437.jpg
Some locally roasted beans here in Germany are making great espresso.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420520301.004437.jpg
OP
OP
Well, enjoy that cup and congrats!
My first cup of coffee EVER was when the nurses in the hospital offered me one while waiting for my first son to make an appearance. I drank a few that night, and never stopped.
Rivenin
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Hello my fellow coffee addicts!
I've been interested for awhile to do this coffee roasting thing, so i put it on my christmas list... santa came through! with a popcorn roaster! which i wanted... so this works!
But the "Wrong" coffee roaster was purchased. While it worked, it still hit 2nd crack in under 4 minutes... the coffee was drinkable, but meh at best.
So instead of trying to return it or getting a different popcorn roaster i spent the next day or two reading on the interwebs... low and behold, there was a solution to this with the same exact issues i had with the same roaster... TOO DAMN HOT!
So, people were using a 4/3" all aluminum reducer and a 3cup flour sifter and calling it good! (incase anything got too hot, you could pull it away from the heat source a bit to keep things climbing, but slower...)
this worked!
However, i wasn't a fan of the amount of chaff i was getting... so my mind kicked in and designed mark1 chaff collector... a dollar tree cake pan, $4 ikea strainer and a $4 4" all aluminum duct from home depot (cut with my angle grinder)
Thought i would say HELLO! and start up some nonsence here as well!
here is my roaster in all it's glory! future mods are planned, but it's roasting VERY well already
I've been interested for awhile to do this coffee roasting thing, so i put it on my christmas list... santa came through! with a popcorn roaster! which i wanted... so this works!
But the "Wrong" coffee roaster was purchased. While it worked, it still hit 2nd crack in under 4 minutes... the coffee was drinkable, but meh at best.
So instead of trying to return it or getting a different popcorn roaster i spent the next day or two reading on the interwebs... low and behold, there was a solution to this with the same exact issues i had with the same roaster... TOO DAMN HOT!
So, people were using a 4/3" all aluminum reducer and a 3cup flour sifter and calling it good! (incase anything got too hot, you could pull it away from the heat source a bit to keep things climbing, but slower...)
this worked!
However, i wasn't a fan of the amount of chaff i was getting... so my mind kicked in and designed mark1 chaff collector... a dollar tree cake pan, $4 ikea strainer and a $4 4" all aluminum duct from home depot (cut with my angle grinder)
Thought i would say HELLO! and start up some nonsence here as well!
here is my roaster in all it's glory! future mods are planned, but it's roasting VERY well already
Thanks!
I don't know if an espresso and one cup are going to do it for the day, but we'll see.
Congratulations!
OP
OP
That thing at the top collects the chaff? That's pretty cool.
I set my roasted beans on a fan and the fan blows the chaff away. The pan is full of holes. Maybe I should post some more pics.
I'm sitting here drinking my home roasted at this moment.
Rivenin
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congrats!!
Yep! collects all the chaff.
I'd do that with the fan at the end of the roast, but with popcorn poppers and their fans, it just blows right out of the top. I roast in my kitchen and the wife wouldn't be happy with the stuff flying around
haha. Enjoyed some espresso this morning, though! while i'm getting lunch together for work, i get 4 shots of espresso going and have a nice beverage on the way to work.
Congrats on the new addition PJoyce85.
Great idea for the chaff catcher. I attempted to do the reducer with sifter on one of mine but wasn't getting an even roast. Was prob me, I kept bending the sifter inside to get the beans to stop jamming and it just didn't work out.
I have two other poppers with the slots on the sides of the chamber and one works great, the other works okay.
I keep thinking about building a roaster and might give it a go this summer.
Great idea for the chaff catcher. I attempted to do the reducer with sifter on one of mine but wasn't getting an even roast. Was prob me, I kept bending the sifter inside to get the beans to stop jamming and it just didn't work out.
I have two other poppers with the slots on the sides of the chamber and one works great, the other works okay.
I keep thinking about building a roaster and might give it a go this summer.
HoppyDaze
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Congrats buddy!
Bensiff
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Congrats, and trust me, when they say you need water to survive, it's a lie. You will do fine with coffee and beer to keep you going the first few nights while your wife needs rest.
Thanks Rekoob, Hoppy and Bensiff.
Luckily, I got my Aeropress holiday gift set today from Seattle Coffee Gear which included 2 Bodum double walled mugs and a pound of Velton's Twilight Blend.
So, I just use a little extra of the hot water from making the baby's bottle in the Aeropress for my cup. That thing is awesome. And the Twilight Blend is delicious.
Luckily, I got my Aeropress holiday gift set today from Seattle Coffee Gear which included 2 Bodum double walled mugs and a pound of Velton's Twilight Blend.
So, I just use a little extra of the hot water from making the baby's bottle in the Aeropress for my cup. That thing is awesome. And the Twilight Blend is delicious.
HarborTownBrewing
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I roasted another half pound of the Guatemalan I had. The first half pound was absolutely phenomenal - the best I've probably ever roasted. So this time I tried to replicate the roast and do exactly what I did before. What I noticed was the roast took a good extra minute or minute and a half to hit 1C and for the bean to be finished, compared to the first roast.
So I've tried it, and it isn't nearly as good as the first roast I did. I don't know what happened - maybe the flavor wasn't as good because of the extended time it took to get to 1C.
BUT, I'm more curious as to why it took so long for me to get to 1C. I don't have my notes on me right now, but I think it took about 15:00 to get to 1C (1/2 lb batch), whereas I believe the first batch hit 1C at about 13:50. Any ideas?????
*Bean and roaster temps should have been comparable between the roasts, possibly just a few degrees different from the room temp changing*
So I've tried it, and it isn't nearly as good as the first roast I did. I don't know what happened - maybe the flavor wasn't as good because of the extended time it took to get to 1C.
BUT, I'm more curious as to why it took so long for me to get to 1C. I don't have my notes on me right now, but I think it took about 15:00 to get to 1C (1/2 lb batch), whereas I believe the first batch hit 1C at about 13:50. Any ideas?????
*Bean and roaster temps should have been comparable between the roasts, possibly just a few degrees different from the room temp changing*
HarborTownBrewing
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Sorry forgot that info: Behmor 1600 Plus, P2.
Bensiff
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Boiling water to sterilize? I told my mom and wife Id use starsan to sanitize the bottles. They went ballistic, apparently only boiling water works in their minds eye.
Bensiff
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My first thought is it is a power issue. Perhaps the second time you had something else drawing on the same circuit.
^i advised people to get a variac to run their behmor off of a long time ago. Stack it with a kill-a-watt and your results will get better and more consistent
OP
OP
haha.
HarborTownBrewing
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Power issue is a good thought. I just remembered that the last time I did a roast, the roaster sounded like it was working hard the first three minutes or so. Just roasted again and it did the same thing. This time it took 14 mins to get to 1C, but in the past I normally got there between 12:20 - 13:00.
I'm wondering if it's a power issue or an issue with the unit. I have a kill a watt I could try next time. Is there a number you look to hit on that, or just look for consistency?
I'm wondering if it's a power issue or an issue with the unit. I have a kill a watt I could try next time. Is there a number you look to hit on that, or just look for consistency?
The kill-a-watt tells you what your line voltage is.
A variac controls current and is adjustable by turning a knob.
Plug the KAW into the variac - then you can read the KAW and adjust the line voltage to your roaster.
This works amazingly well.
BTW - 14 minutes to 1C is baked not roasted. You'd be surprised what you can get out of your coffee with a proper profile.
A variac controls current and is adjustable by turning a knob.
Plug the KAW into the variac - then you can read the KAW and adjust the line voltage to your roaster.
This works amazingly well.
BTW - 14 minutes to 1C is baked not roasted. You'd be surprised what you can get out of your coffee with a proper profile.
OP
OP
Variac is an auto-transformer (one winding, no secondary, basically a rheostat inductor). The wiper adjusts voltage, not current.
I have a Kill-A-Watt, but to get into its use seems ridiculous here. Come on.
Bensiff
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Interesting. My gene cafe takes around 14.5-15 minutes to roast, so 1C around 14 minutes. It used to go a bit faster as it would get up to 482 degrees. Now a days it doesn't go much past 460, perhaps it needs a new element. Anyway, what would you say is the difference between coffee that is roasted faster and how fast are you talking?
Well, w/o too 3rd wave and hipster - faster roasts accentuate the terroir of the coffee and highlight acidity.
Slower roasts mute the flavor profile and boost melanoidins.
Too be brief, slow roasts are boring and flat. Of course, ymmv.
Personally, i generally aim for a 8.5/min 1C. I'll the stretch the roast anywhere from 1-3min depending on the bean and what it needs to be its best.
Slower roasts mute the flavor profile and boost melanoidins.
Too be brief, slow roasts are boring and flat. Of course, ymmv.
Personally, i generally aim for a 8.5/min 1C. I'll the stretch the roast anywhere from 1-3min depending on the bean and what it needs to be its best.
HarborTownBrewing
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Yeahhh...definitely not spending the money on a variac. Not yet, at least (the wife...she no like spending money).
I don't know, but I just wonder what's up with the roaster and/or electric. Everything was running fine until the last couple roasts, and now it's taking too long.
I don't know, but I just wonder what's up with the roaster and/or electric. Everything was running fine until the last couple roasts, and now it's taking too long.
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