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Imma mix it up a bit here and talk about feelings. You know...like, the impact on caffeine on one's mind.

I thoroughly enjoy two things (like I'd assume most of you do): Coffee and alcohol. I drink coffee until about 3:30 PM each day (always have a cup at 3:00, otherwise I'm worthless in the evenings). Then around 6:30 PM I switch to whatever I'm feeling - lately it's been wine.

I'm a naturally anxious person, and the coffee definitely doesn't help calm my anxiety, but I tend to really enjoy chilling a bit with a glass of beer or wine each night - helps with the anxiety.

This makes me think - mixing the two (coffee and alcohol) are kind of like mixing uppers and downers in a way. Wonder if it can be bad for the body?

Anyone else have any thoughts about it? Experience?

I do love me some coffee stout.
 
So clearly you guys haven't heard of "bulletproof" coffee. Replace the almond milk with butter, remove the cocoa nibs and cinnamon. Some people swear by it, I've never tried it myself.
 
So clearly you guys haven't heard of "bulletproof" coffee. Replace the almond milk with butter, remove the cocoa nibs and cinnamon. Some people swear by it, I've never tried it myself.

Yeah, I've heard of it. I think the recipe starts like this:

-Proceed into kitchen
-Pull out your favorite coffee: Folgers or Maxwell House will do.
-etc
-etc
-etc.
 
The bloom! Love Tanzanian coffee.


Lately I have been on a guat/Tanzanian blend kick. I don't really care for single origin anymore, I prefer the flavors I get when I blend. My blends tend to be more complex (I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was initially) and I can balance things like body and acidity to fine tune the cup to my tastes. 2/3 guat and 1/3 Tanzanian seems to be the right mix for my tastes.
 
We did the bulletproof coffee thing here for a little. 1 tablespoon grass fed butter and 1 tablespoon coconut oil with 8-10 ounces coffee in a blender (It definitely does give you a mental kick). Actually tastes ok. Did feel a little like a waste of the yirg I was making it with.

Drinking a Honduras coffee now. Notes of strawberry, raspberry and milk chocolate. Pretty amazing.
 
My new thermometer & thermocouples came in lastnight so i updated the configuration of the HG/BM & ran a 1lb roast. Total roast time was 14min with 1C at about 12:00. I'll push it a little faster next time but the development looks good. I had to brew a cup in the Awropress right away:). Ok so far

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Probes from the inside view
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Ghetto bean cooling - thank goodness it's cold outside!
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I actually have 3 bread machines at the moment and this project is on my short list. Can you post links or describe how you mount the heat gun and the temp probes?
 
Oh, sure, wait until a week after I place an order to point out a tasty sounding coffee there.

Story of my life...

I actually have 3 bread machines at the moment and this project is on my short list. Can you post links or describe how you mount the heat gun and the temp probes?

The short side of the story is to direct wire the motor and bypass (and/or) cut out the the rest of unnecessary BS. Here is a good thread to point you in the right direction. Let me know if you get stuck as is certainly can get confusing your first time around:
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=528&rowstart=0

Ps - 1 tip; place your bean temp prob low in the dough pan so the hot air doesn't throw the readings off too much. I bought 1/8" thick probes and drilled 3/16" holes. Only pain is pulling them out when the roast is done so you can remove the pan & dump your roast into whatever cooling media you have
 
Story of my life...



The short side of the story is to direct wire the motor and bypass (and/or) cut out the the rest of unnecessary BS. Here is a good thread to point you in the right direction. Let me know if you get stuck as is certainly can get confusing your first time around:
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=528&rowstart=0

Ps - 1 tip; place your bean temp prob low in the dough pan so the hot air doesn't throw the readings off too much. I bought 1/8" thick probes and drilled 3/16" holes. Only pain is pulling them out when the roast is done so you can remove the pan & dump your roast into whatever cooling media you have


Many thanks! Looks like I have some reading to do.
 
My two coworkers and I drink coffee at 1pm almost every day. My friend now roasts, thanks passedpawn and hbt coffee crew. (Pp brought me to the light... kind of an interesting question who first introduced you to the possibilities of roaststing?). He loves coffee, well beyond me. Reads about it, wants to understand how different processes taste better. Everyone that knows me knows that I drink diet rockstar or diet pepsi, and sure drip coffee, but I dont love it. I do love esspresso though. Its been fun, a coffe club, we drink it, argue about it, argue about s..t, and drink more. We are all in agreement about what we think are the better greenage, but enjoy variety.

My friend went to/sc route. Said he doesnt hear a loud good 1c.?! Said he hears it go fairly sharp psst, psst. Any thoughts? One beans he said 15 min to 1c. another 30 min. One was sumatran and the other was semi washed sulawesi. Said the semiwashed had more mucilage(sp.). He says he likes how clean my beans are, and they are cleaner looking. I don't know what if anything that means. I wonder if cooling them with blower in collanders helps clean them as they fly. Latest attempts, i tried cutting power at start of solid 1c. and let spin 1 more minute. First little cracks at 936 then solid at 10min. Let it spin another minute. Second batch was cracking at 930 when I went outside and cooled it right away. My hands free is real complicated. The chaf is darker from this method for some reason but it is still not burning i think. This is the etiopian that spun an extra minute. Its time to get a thermometer. Ok bye

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Taking 15 to 30 mins to get to 1c is baking them, and I'm not sure you'd even get a Crack at that point. May need to reduce the amount of beans he's using.
 
My friend went to/sc route. Said he doesnt hear a loud good 1c.?! Said he hears it go fairly sharp psst, psst. Any thoughts? One beans he said 15 min to 1c. another 30 min. One was sumatran and the other was semi washed sulawesi. Said the semiwashed had more mucilage(sp.).

30 minutes is way too long! I agree, batch size could be an issue. Does the TO need to be modded to bypass thermostat control?

Personally I am getting great results with the heat gun method. Might be good to start with something simple.
 
I was about 12 months overdue for cleaning the guts of the Behmor. The wires were so dusty they looked like pipe cleaners.

How in the heck did you get it that clean? If i had a behmor i would be running to get a screwdriver. What does the inside look like? That would need cleaned to no?
 
Here's the picture of the dark chaff, its like a bad movie. The curse of the dark chaff. Sorry for digressions, i don't think its burnt, just dark. Got 5 pounds of sweet maria yirga dry today. Man that bodhileaf drima zede is well over 8 per pound. On sale it was 6.70. This weeks sale is a kenyan for 3.99 a pound.

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How in the heck did you get it that clean? If i had a behmor i would be running to get a screwdriver. What does the inside look like? That would need cleaned to no?

Honestly I just used a little Shop Vac I got for Christmas for my roaster. It got rid of everything all on its own.

Yes,the inside of the roaster is a different story. I clean that thoroughly with simple green every 5 or 7 roasts and do a roast without any beans to burn off any residue.
 
I'm so exhausted and have so much going on outside of work the next week that I broke out the coffee maker. I don't think I could have managed to pour the Chemex or plunge the Press, so it was the best I could do.

And I liked it. There was just something glorious about continuous, steaming hot refills. Sure, it wasn't quite as good as the Chemex; but it hit the spot!
 
I'm so exhausted and have so much going on outside of work the next week that I broke out the coffee maker. I don't think I could have managed to pour the Chemex or plunge the Press, so it was the best I could do.

And I liked it. There was just something glorious about continuous, steaming hot refills. Sure, it wasn't quite as good as the Chemex; but it hit the spot!

You could try sitting your Chemex in a hot water bath. Just a thought.
 
@harbortown I have been cold brewing lately for same reasons. I really really like it. Like two reallys worth, that much. The light roast ethiopian is like drinking blueberry scone flavored coffee. I microwave it to warm or crush it cold.

I really want the auto drip oxo passedpawn mentioned.
 
@harbortown I have been cold brewing lately for same reasons. I really really like it. Like two reallys worth, that much. The light roast ethiopian is like drinking blueberry scone flavored coffee. I microwave it to warm or crush it cold.

I really want the auto drip oxo passedpawn mentioned.

I will have a glass of this please :tank:
 
@harbortown I have been cold brewing lately for same reasons. I really really like it. Like two reallys worth, that much. The light roast ethiopian is like drinking blueberry scone flavored coffee. I microwave it to warm or crush it cold.

I really want the auto drip oxo passedpawn mentioned.

Whoa whoa whoa,which Ethiopian are you drinking and getting blueberry flavors from?

I mean, it has to be the most sought after coffee - a blueberry bomb Ethiopian. Hard to find a good one
 
Alright, alright, i was throwing berries around indiscriminately last night after a couple beers, so it could be more rasberry than blueberry. But there is some blueberry in bodhileaf drima zede. Its also 8 + a pound. So thats why I got 5 pounds when they had that sale. Hope the sm etiopian is as good. Either way the cold press significantly exaggerates the berry flavors making the berry bomb, much more than my cheap drip. After soaking for 36 hours good things occur.
 
@harbortown I have been cold brewing lately for same reasons. I really really like it. Like two reallys worth, that much. The light roast ethiopian is like drinking blueberry scone flavored coffee. I microwave it to warm or crush it cold.

I really want the auto drip oxo passedpawn mentioned.

One of my brothers (he's in Calif) bought that dripper and the oxo grinder and love them. I haven't gotten him into roasting yet, but it's right around the corner I'm sure :)
 
Brazilian this morning is much better than yesterday. It's possible that it changed in one day, but I suspect something else.

I find that the same coffee can taste totally different a day later. Might have to do with my mouth more than the coffee.
 
Brazilian this morning is much better than yesterday. It's possible that it changed in one day, but I suspect something else.

I find that the same coffee can taste totally different a day later. Might have to do with my mouth more than the coffee.

I find the same thing with beer as well. What you've had to eat will certainly do that, but even with a fresh palate (no better time than first thing in the morning) and a well controlled brew process I'll notice different flavors different days.
 
I roasted some El Sal earlier this week and when I hit the button to stop the roast and begin cooling cycle,I apparently didn't press it. I had already taken it to the edge of 2c so by the time I realized my mistake it looked like I had walked into a Jimmy Hendrix concert. So much smoke,I thought it was on fire. When I got the beans out they were oily already.

But my parents liked it. Ugh.
 
Whoa whoa whoa,which Ethiopian are you drinking and getting blueberry flavors from?

I mean, it has to be the most sought after coffee - a blueberry bomb Ethiopian. Hard to find a good one

Ethiopian Harrar used to be the b.berry bomb staple before the ECX (Ethiopian Coffee Exchange) was implemented. Many US Roasters/importers had dedicated years of hard work directly with the growers to improve the coffee grown in specific regions that they could then directly purchase. These single origin, estate type partnerships produced some insanely good coffee annually. Once the ECX went into play, all lots harvested were brought to large warehouses and mixed together and transparency was badly hurt. Although things have gotten much better the old system never seemed to have quite recovered.

The Sidamo region is typically known for washed coffee, but occasionally you can find a nice berry forward DP from there.

When the last Ethiopian went up at the GCBC the cupping notes stated Blueberry. I have 5lbs that I'm hoping to roast soon - fingers crossed for a Blueberry bomb - it's been a loonnggg time since I've had a true one.
 
That's some good history on it Jammin. Ive roasted one blueberry bomb. A Harrar.only had purchased a pound of it and it went quickly. Despite descriptions I've never found one as good
 
One of my brothers (he's in Calif) bought that dripper and the oxo grinder and love them. I haven't gotten him into roasting yet, but it's right around the corner I'm sure :)

I, too have the OXO drip and grinder on passedpawns endorsements about a year ago. Love them both. I'm also a Behmor guy.
 
Brazilian this morning is much better than yesterday. It's possible that it changed in one day, but I suspect something else.

I find that the same coffee can taste totally different a day later. Might have to do with my mouth more than the coffee.

I find this happening a lot.
 
What was once fun is now frustrating, as jammin pointed out before. I need a thermometer. Have been stopping heat once 1c. gets going after initial cracks and letting it coast a minute. It is really light like tea but great flavor
 
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