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

wps-hbt
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
jimyson said:
You know, I lost that big blueberry in my cup today. It was there during the grind, but I felt it dies down once brewed. I tried both with Aeropress and pout over.

I'm going to try this https://legacy.sweetmarias.com/library/node/9698

As for temps, I don't track them. I usually hit fc between 210-220 on B temp though.

I should also add that my last profile charged it after a 160F preheat.
Click to expand...

I read that Sweet Marias article you linked. Thanks for that. Just the type of info I'm looking for.
I can see that I'm going to have to go to 1/2 lb. roast to see if it makes a difference. I always have excellent voltage. It never drops under 120, so I figured I could get away with 1 lb. roasts. I can usually finish up FC in 17 minutes if I toggle between P5 and P4 to try to maintain 300-310 degrees. But for the sake of experimentation I will try 1/2 lb. roasts with the above outlined profile.
 
passedpawn said:
I never got all that berry stuff either. I thought maybe I didn't have the gene that lets me taste it or something like that. Then I got a bean from jammin that was touted to be a berry bomb. I'm telling you, it smelled just like blueberries before I even brewed it. And it tasted like them after I brewed it. Not every cup, but every few days there it was.

I also use the OXO grinder and brewer.
Click to expand...

I remember way back in this thread you were very pleased with your OXO equipment. It was good to know right when I was in the market.

I think we "met" a few years back in a rauchbier discussion, too.
 
Me too @inkleg, thankful for the knowledge, inspiration and sharing from passedpawn, jammin, harbortown, tricky, and talldan.

I'm not even taking any chances, it's konga or bust. My experience has been that in poor quality Ethiopians I sense fruit background overtones, that are muted and not well defined. On the more expensive ones or higher quality, the flavor is more prominent.
 
Well this is what I was doing this evening...



on the left is the Guatemala that is best described as a butterfinger in a cup, the next one in happens to be a worthy Colombian, next one is a costa Rica bean that promises hazelnut and almond scone, and the one on the very far right is the Ethiopia Gr 1 Dry process yirg. Dumerso. All of them were weighed out to 14 oz and took about 12 minutes a piece on average to be done.
 
applescrap said:
I'm not even taking any chances, it's konga or bust. My experience has been that in poor quality Ethiopians I sense fruit background overtones, that are muted and not well defined. On the more expensive ones or higher quality, the flavor is more prominent.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was buying those sale beans from Bodhi, and buying from Theta Ridge, but no matter how I roasted them they just weren't great. A lot of people buy those beans because they are cheaper, but is it really worth it to save $1 a pound?

Maybe because so many people are roasting into 2nd crack, it really doesn't matter all that much.

Anyways, a coworker of mine is pretty into coffee, so as a Friday treat he's bringing some SO Guat tomorrow for our drip machine. Should be...interesting.
 
Oh yeah, I was in Sedona this past weekend for an extended trip, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Page. Unbelievable. I had never been to that part of the country and it was amazing. If you haven't been there, I'd highly recommend it. I plan to return next summer for a mountain bike trip and maybe again to hike/camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Unfortunately, the coffee scene where I was is pretty lacking. Sedona had a couple shops, but I didn't spend hardly any time down town. Grand Canyon area has nothing other than gas station coffee, and Page has...nothing.

The altitude (5k-7k ft)out there was making me really tired and the hotel coffees weren't strong enough. Eventually at the Grand Canyon I found a restaurant that was serving espresso. I ordered two doubles. They weren't good, but man they went down easy and I was a new man.

It's almost sad - I've come to be too much of a coffee snob to drink sub-par coffee, but I can't quit roasting because I'll never pay for the good quality stuff!
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Oh yeah, I was in Sedona this past weekend for an extended trip, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Page. Unbelievable. I had never been to that part of the country and it was amazing. If you haven't been there, I'd highly recommend it. I plan to return next summer for a mountain bike trip and maybe again to hike/camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Unfortunately, the coffee scene where I was is pretty lacking. Sedona had a couple shops, but I didn't spend hardly any time down town. Grand Canyon area has nothing other than gas station coffee, and Page has...nothing.

The altitude (5k-7k ft)out there was making me really tired and the hotel coffees weren't strong enough. Eventually at the Grand Canyon I found a restaurant that was serving espresso. I ordered two doubles. They weren't good, but man they went down easy and I was a new man.

It's almost sad - I've come to be too much of a coffee snob to drink sub-par coffee, but I can't quit roasting because I'll never pay for the good quality stuff!
Click to expand...

The coffee scene here in Arizona is depressing. My good friend and I are hoping we can capitalize on that
 
It is good to know that the motor you have driving the bean agitation in your roaster has thermal protection, even when you took the computer board out. It is a little nerve racking when you have been roasting, and you want to do another batch and it won't turn on!
 
passedpawn said:
Sounds like you've got big plans (?)
Click to expand...
I have been wanting to open a roastery for a while. The more I have been thinking and researching the more feasible it is seeming. Starting with a home based model selling online and at farmers markers/local events my buddy and business partner intend to try and go after a "monthly subscription" to make repeat sales easier to build the business and let the business pay for expansion to a physical location
 
BrewinHooligan said:
I have been wanting to open a roastery for a while. The more I have been thinking and researching the more feasible it is seeming. Starting with a home based model selling online and at farmers markers/local events my buddy and business partner intend to try and go after a "monthly subscription" to make repeat sales easier to build the business and let the business pay for expansion to a physical location
Click to expand...

I dunno. I would do it the other way. Only sell to restaurants, as "craft coffee". I'm sure every restaurant would like to tout a local craft coffee artisinal roast on their menu. Maybe even a roast/origin specific to them. Business-wise, once your brand (or their own brand) was on the menu, you'd have a captured customer. There's a local dude that is doing exactly this. I'll see if I can dig up his site.

[edit]

Here it is, Lief.
http://www.tbo.com/news/business/re...mily-coffee-businesses-to-a-new-level/2342165
https://www.lief.coffee/
 
Last edited:
I've thought about this a lot - roasting for commercial vs. having a cafe. I spoke with a roaster about renting time on his roaster, and I've spoken to a few property owners about a place to roast out of as well. My idea has been to target commercial clients and advertise our brand heavily through their business.

If you look at La Colombe, they do this really well. Any place that sells their coffee uses their mugs, cups, sleeves, etc. Additionally, they'll always have a window sticker or banner that says, "Proudly serving La Colombe". It's great advertising for both parties, and if someone tries it at a restaurant they know right away where it came from, and can order it on their website. Talk about a low customer conversion cost.

My wife is very good at baking (veeeeery good), and I've got the coffee thing going. She wants to open a bakery/roastery, but that's just a lot of risk, and I don't want to be in the restaurant business. For both of us to give up salaried jobs and get into a business like that...man, that's risky. What's the potential profit? I've done the calculations for the roasting side, but it's really tough to say what the potential sales are. It's a lot of risk though.
 
anyone know if any of the green bean companies will have sales this week or next? I need to order more beans but will wait until Friday or Monday if any of them will have a sale.
 
That's a good question. I just started roasting so I'll have my eyes open for any sales, too.
 
IIRC, there were sales last year.

As with most sales around this time of year, though, it's usually not the best stuff that goes on sale, it's the stuff they want to get rid of.
 
I forgot to post this a few days ago. These are the Ethiopian beans from a few pages ago that I roasted for my wife.
Because, you know, everybody likes pics!
IMG_20171105_125255.jpg
 
Last year Sweet Marias offered 15% off with a coupon code they emailed out, valid the week of Cyber Monday beginning Monday. If I recall, it was good on ALL their beans. But they get swamped that week so turn around time is slow.

I got an email from Burmans which said the following; not sure what it means exactly by "Awesome coffee specials"
Black Friday to Cyber Monday Deals: Nov 24th to 27th Only:
*$4.99 shipping on coffee orders and accessory orders (requires coupon use)
*Free 1/2 pound of Hawaiian Fancy Kau Typica on Roaster Purchases
*Awesome coffee specials
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Last year Sweet Marias offered 15% off with a coupon code they emailed out, valid the week of Cyber Monday beginning Monday. If I recall, it was good on ALL their beans. But they get swamped that week so turn around time is slow.

I got an email from Burmans which said the following; not sure what it means exactly by "Awesome coffee specials"
Black Friday to Cyber Monday Deals: Nov 24th to 27th Only:
*$4.99 shipping on coffee orders and accessory orders (requires coupon use)
*Free 1/2 pound of Hawaiian Fancy Kau Typica on Roaster Purchases
*Awesome coffee specials
Click to expand...

15% is good and I can live with a slow turn around time, just hope it's not a month slow.
 
zpack said:
15% is good and I can live with a slow turn around time, just hope it's not a month slow.
Click to expand...

No, we're talking like 5-7 days for them to package it.

The last two years I have done a Christmas Blend, and bought those 15% off beans Cyber Monday. By the time I get them though, I hardly have time to run them through a few profiles and figure out the blend, but I was still able to have them ready by Dec. 12/13ish.

This year I bought my blend from SM's when they had their 20% off sale for their 20th anniversary. I haven't gotten around to roasting them yet, buuuuut I'll be able to get on it right after Thanksgiving.
 
Right now I'm not roasting on anything fancy. The business plan would include purchasing a roster and we are still figuring it all out. Since we both work full time jobs and this would have to start out as a side job/home based business there are still a lot of variables and things to consider. There are also a lot of smaller companies that provide coffee for their employees around here I would consider marketing to, but I want to target a more "high end" quality minded consumer that isn't going to be as cost conscious and be more excited to try the latest and greatest.
 
Hope it works out for you Hooligan; be sure to keep us up to date.

My state is not business friendly, especially for small business. Unless you are ready to go full-time here, it's a huge investment to do anything because they don't allow coffee under Cottage Food laws.
 
@passedpawn, cool idea and I hope you share how the different roasts came out.

@htb, brewinhooligan I thought about this too. I even figured out how many pounds of coffee a day I needed to sell to make money. I love the idea of borrowing a roaster and I think that's what I came to. Whatever you use you can't sell coffee that isn't made. And I know that people get in trouble with this with beer. I don't know anything about business and I don't have any great business smarts but I know that I wanted coffee anywhere anytime at the drop of a hat endless supply. I looked at a cheap commercial Brew setup once and it was like 15 or 20 barrels or something like that. They said they would sell it to me and that they have in fact bought and sold the same set up many times as people go bankrupt. You need to go big imo, beer or coffee. My plan was to hit the pavement with my wife selling coffee anywhere everywhere to anyone. Online offline, restaurants, coffee shops, people on the street, friends, family, you name it. The problem is I just don't see a way to make over 50,000 in the long run and doing all that is too much work. Figured out a long time ago I could easily make $50,000 a year selling breakfast burritos. Then I realized that one day I would wake up and be a burrito maker and not only do I not want to be a burrito maker, that if I don't make the burritos I don't make money. Same with a restaurant I just don't want to work that hard. If you really love coffee. And you and your family put all you have into it, I know you'll do great.

Bodhi is doing 30% off all coffee use code save 30. Do you want coffee I'm interested in is the nitsubruz and geisha. If you have any familiarity please share. I might buy a bunch of cheap coffee for my wife and what I drink on my way to work. Then at work I drink the konga.
 
applescrap said:
I might buy a bunch of cheap coffee for my wife and what I drink on my way to work. Then at work I drink the konga.
Click to expand...

That's no way to treat your wife!!!! ;) haha.

Funny about the burritos. There is a guy who moved to the middle of no where, Nebraska, I believe, and started a repair shop for semi-trucks. The guy ended up having the only shop within something like 200 miles, and ended up building a gold mine of a business where he was bringing in well over six figures, in a place where living expenses were minimal. The guy had a dirty job that some people would look down on, but he was perfectly fine with other's perceptions because he was able to make so much.

Kind of similar, in a way.

Personally, I have no interest in the restaurant business unless it's a real small gig, more in supply than the full service. People put hundreds of thousands into these restaurants, countless hours. And everyone knows that many fail. We rarely hear about restaurant entrepreneurs who strike it rich.
 
Anyone with a Behmor ever modify your exhaust rig?

After 6 roasts last night and 4 roasts the night before, my lungs are taking a beating from roasting in a room with no airflow. It looked like a Crosby Stills Nash and Young concert in there most of last night.

I found this idea and just bought the supplies to try it. http://coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/homeroast/446104

I'll probably rig it up in the next week. If anyone else has better ideas, I'm all ears!
 
One of my main drivers with home roasting was to use it to raise money by selling fresh roasted beans and donating all profit to a foundation setup for my niece. This is done on a really small scale and is only to give me a chance to help a little. This week, I’ve offered for sale (11) 6 oz bags of Colombia Nariño Fiesta for $10 each with $7.50 of that being donated. This is my first run and looking forward to more. It’s a little pricey but all for a good cause. I’m expecting these to sell to family and friends and friends of friends. That should really be all I will be able to keep up with. Again, the goal is to help raise a little money while I also get to enjoy the craft for myself.

Thought I would share with you all. Cheers!!

IMG_0624.jpg
 
I just saw this message from Red Beard. Guessing it's the same as bodhi coffee but I may give it a try.

** Take 40% off for Black Friday **
Use "BF40" at checkout.

They also are offering free shipping on orders over 49 dollars.
 
I am not sure how shipping works but it seems 5 pounds is one level and 16 pounds is the next? Anyways ordered 12 pounds from bl. Tried to get the more expensive minus geisha. Didnt get kenyan, boo, boo. I know. Should have upped to 16 pounds but I am going to order konga when I get paid. Happy Thanksgiving
 
SleepyCreekBrews said:
I took the bait after reading some of this thread the past couple days. I ordered 4 pounds from Burman and plan to use the HG/DB method....hope the dog doesn’t mind
Click to expand...
Welcome to the rabbit hole. It's a lot of fun.

I just returned from Thanksgiving dinner were I gave coffee the cats and I roasted to family and friends. It seemed to be a big hit.
 
@SleepyCreekBrews - welcome and great choice of starter kit. Dog bowl method is a lot of fun and works good. Set up a fan to blow chaff away (as you roast) or it’ll get all over you. Don’t be afraid to get that heat get fairly close for the first 6-7 minutes or so. 6” away might be a good place to start. Weigh the same amount of beans for every roast too.
 
Haha, I must have been drinking, I ordered a kenyan the other day. I think you still have time on the bl 30 percent sale. It's a no-brainer, imo, if you want anything other than the blueberries that we've been passing around. If nothing else get the nitzu ruz from 8.24 to 5 and some change. That's a good coffee for sure. Definitely not a blueberry bomb but it is absolutely a quality ethiopian iirc.
 
I had 15 pounds worth of coffee in my cart from Red Beard but I just couldn't pull the trigger. I've got so much coffee right now, I need to get rid of what I have. I'd be buying this to roast in 4 or 5 months.
 

Similar threads

T
Brewing darker beers with corn roasted in a home coffee roaster?
Replies
6
Views
829
cmac62
cmac62
beersk
Domestic Ingredients
2
Replies
54
Views
2K
beersk
beersk
hoppyhoppyhippo
How Brewing Gave My Restaurant Amazing Cold Brew
Replies
1
Views
744
IMGator
I
madscientist451
Barley Coffee Beer
Replies
2
Views
1K
madscientist451
madscientist451
Nick Poggetti
Clone Beer Coffee & Cigarettes - Cloning Cellarmaker's Smoked Porter with Coffee
Replies
5
Views
3K
janeront
J
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top