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Bourbon, yes. The thing to remember with bourbon is, the more "mainstream" mid-tier bourbons all have water added to them. Think Makers, Buffalo Trace, Bulleit, etc - that's why they are 80 proof. You move up a little and you get into the Cask Aged category where you'll find proofs like 90, 100, 110...whatever. These tend to be un-cut leaving the most dominant barrel flavors present. A good example of this for ~$50 is the Woodford Double Oaked bourbon. They purposely didn't cut it down because that would take away some of the barrel flavors that came from double barreling it, thus leaving the consumer with the ability to cut it to their tastes.

In my opinion, a cask-strength bourbon should only be given a couple drops of water to open up the flavors a little bit. Once you drop an ice cube in there, you've unleashed a good amount of water. It's also going to drop the drink's temp which will impact flavor (think of how it's good to slightly chill a red wine, but you don't want the wine over-chilled).

Fun facts on ice: If using ice, the sphere cubes are best because they have less surface area and melt slower. A good whiskey bar will use a single large sphere or square cube, and you should be able to see straight through it - that means the ice cube was built up slowly over the course of 12-24 hours, and it will melt slowly. If the cube is cloudy that means it was hastily frozen and will thaw just as quick (think of your kitchen's ice maker - it's quickly made ice, and it's cloudy).
Man, now I am really salivating. Those cask whiskeys sound so good. Funny story about that woodford. I was at the sonnealp in Vail and I saw my wifes cousin ordering a drink so I walked up and said I'll get it and have one too. He said woodford blah blah blah. I was like yeah, I mean shoot I had had woodford or whatever. Yeah not that woodford. I recall the shots being like 25 or so each. I figure it was that one?

I am not sure I can handle myself around that stuff. And I'll drink it every which way but in coffee. I'll mix it with coke, neat, splashed in a ten fidy, two ice cubes, old fashioned, whatever. Prefer neat, but not always.
 
Also...the Costa Rican coffee sale at bl....the Villa Sarchi Natural is a very good cup! I have ordered 30 lbs of it, and only have 10 left. Been drinking it for a month and a half and enjoy it very much. It isn't everyday cuz I like variety, but I would bet that 4 days out of the week, that is what's in the cup. Berries and brown sugar!!!
Yes, I forgot to mention that Costa Rican sale. The most expensive ones on bl are ok. I have also had 10 pounds or so of them. It's nice. Ultimately I prefer my Ethiopian, but this is a great coffee too. At 30 percent off it's a nobrainer if you like Costa Ricans. These Costa ricans are very close to yirgacheffe Arabica in taste.
 
I’ve been doing this method for the last 15 months or so. My recommendations are to use a pot with high sides (I just use a heavy stainless 8 quart pot) and an extra long whisk, because short ones get HOT!

Really you can roast whatever beans you want this way — I’m not sure any particular ones work better with a pot and open flame. I do a lot of Ethiopian and Rwandan beans, mostly because of personal preference.
This is kind of how they do it in ethiopia.
 
This is kind of how they do it in ethiopia.

The only caveat to this method is that it really does take some practice and experimentation to get your heat control down, and to know what stage you’re in. Originally I would stir briskly the whole time, until I realized I was introducing too much cool air. Now I keep the beans moving the whole time, but with a softer, folding motion (kind of like the LODO folks trying to stir the mash without forcing more O2 into solution).
 
I can do that, but honestly, If I sell it right now, I'm going to try to get more than it's worth, and you shouldn't bid. :) If that fails, I can list for sale on HBT and avoid ebay fees. :)
Oh no I will be taking the advice I have recently gathered from this thread. I will watch it for 6 months while the price comes down and then give you a low ball offer and settle somewhere between ;)
 
How long can you store green coffee beans in the ziplock bags they come in? I will probably roast it all in the next 3 weeks or so but just wondering if I should vacuum seal them or is that unnecessary. How do commercial roasters store their beans?
 
How long can you store green coffee beans in the ziplock bags they come in? I will probably roast it all in the next 3 weeks or so but just wondering if I should vacuum seal them or is that unnecessary. How do commercial roasters store their beans?
For a few week just leave them in the bag and keep them in a cool place so they don't dry out. If you look close the bag should have some tiny holes to allow the bean to breath.
 
How long can you store green coffee beans in the ziplock bags they come in? I will probably roast it all in the next 3 weeks or so but just wondering if I should vacuum seal them or is that unnecessary. How do commercial roasters store their beans?

Ziplock bags at pantry temp is how all of my green coffee is stored.
 
Vac Seal + refrigeration is worth every bit of the minimum effort required.
This makes perfect sense for so many reasons and now I am worried about where mine are stored. Also would be nice to have them ready to go in individual bags.

Poke holes in them?
 
I vacuum sealed my first big order but they don’t usually last me long. I think I go through 2 lbs a week and I order about 6 lbs every 2 weeks so that I always have a fresh supply.
 
For a few week just leave them in the bag and keep them in a cool place so they don't dry out. If you look close the bag should have some tiny holes to allow the bean to breath.

If green needs to be stored where it can breathe, would those coffee bags with valves be a good way to keep it? I have been buying 5 lbs or so at a time and I don't go through it very fast, I tend to keep it for a few months.

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If green needs to be stored where it can breathe, would those coffee bags with valves be a good way to keep it? I have been buying 5 lbs or so at a time and I don't go through it very fast, I tend to keep it for a few months.

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I would think a valve would only allow air flow in one direction. If you look at the plastic bags from sweet maria's and burman's there are small pin holes. Part of it is to keep the proper amount of moisture in the beans. I believe you want the humidity around 65%, or a little less than what cigars are stored at.

They do sell coffee in grain pro bags which I believed are a sealed bag so maybe breathing and constant humidity is not required once the right balance is achieved.
I have put beans in jars and vacuumed sealed them and they were just fine a year later. Jars were too bulky so I now just keep them in a igloo cooler in the original zip locks along with a humidity buffer thing.
 
You pulled the trigger on the CL Mill City?
Yep.
That's just mean. You're Going to have to give more information than just a sexy picture!
Well, if you think they look good in pictures, they're even better in person!

Went to go check it out today. Brought some of the of the Legacy Farms beans with me as a test roast (in hindsight, not the best beans for the purpose). It all works, seems to be in good shape as far as I could tell, and the seller came down a couple hundred on price. So it has a temporary home in the corner of my dining room while I figure out where it will live long term.
 

congrats. i think you made a great decision & i look forward to hearing about your journey.

I have to ask though; does it have those ridiculous 5mm probes? And was a Phidget 1048 included? ----> are you familiar with what settings to use in Artisan? (and have you updated this software assuming you have/use it?)
 
congrats. i think you made a great decision & i look forward to hearing about your journey.

I have to ask though; does it have those ridiculous 5mm probes? And was a Phidget 1048 included? ----> are you familiar with what settings to use in Artisan? (and have you updated this software assuming you have/use it?)
5mm probes, so I will probably be looking to replace them. Phidget included. Not real familiar with artisan, but it seemed like I at least got the probes reading temperature without too much effort.
 
Have you guys seen the new Behmor (not the black 1600)? I can't seem to find a link from Vimeo to share here....
 
Have you guys seen the new Behmor (not the black 1600)? I can't seem to find a link from Vimeo to share here....

The “connected” roaster? Looks like the 1600 but has WiFi and an app with minimal control on the roaster. I saw something from behmor that said it was delayed indefinitely due to problems.

Their firmware updates for the behmor brewer are also a mess right now. I suspect that this could be related.
 
Have you guys seen the new Behmor (not the black 1600)? I can't seem to find a link from Vimeo to share here....

They are having some issues with the Vimeo link right now, it says "Private Video". I think it got "leaked" one way or another, but they are formally releasing it tomorrow at the expo in Boston.

It's basically an Aillio Bullet. It will have a faster motor and will be 110 volt; not sure how it's powered yet; it uses Artisan. Pricing to be released tomorrow as well. They are talking about it being ready in early to mid 2020, so still a ways out.

King of industrial-chic.

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Sure is. As I recall it is going to have a 1 kg capacity as well.

I know they worked on the Connected model for a while, and it was supposed to be the next "big" thing for the company. Joe Behm has been very upfront about the issues they've had with it, from government certifications to issues with cloud response times, and it sounds like they canned it until the technology can catch up enough to be cloud-compatible. It was probably a horrible decision to make it cloud dependent.

The shift they took in introducing this instead was probably the best decision they could have made, and probably what they should have done all along rather than the Connected. Obviously no one will know until they've messed around with it, but they took it back to basics and made a roaster that won't rely on cloud technology (bad idea for the Connected) and intense NEMA certs (I think it was NEMA that slowed down other models).

I'm REALLY interested to see where their pricing puts this. I am going to guess $2,300 but I wouldn't be surprised to see it priced anywhere between $2-$3k.
 
@TallDan that looks pretty sweet! Did the seller say why he was getting rid of it? I'm curious if he was upsizing or downsizing.

Upsizing, but some of what they told me didn’t quite make sense. It sounds like they’re trying to start a roasting business as a side gig, but haven’t got it off of the ground yet. Somehow, they determined that the roaster doesn’t have the capacity they need though. They don’t have a replacement roaster yet, so not sure how that works. They’re also in a garden apartment/condo in the city, so my best guess is that neighbors complained and they can’t really roast in any volume there.
 
Working on my heatgun roasting method and trying to think of ways to more efficiently air-cool beans right after roasting. Dumping back and forth between 2 pans takes a while to get them cooled down and I think the roast creeps up while the beans remain hot. I've been stopping right at the beginning of second crack, shooting for something around full city, but end up with it more like Vienna. I was watching a few YouTube videos on heatgun roasting yesterday and one of them gave me an idea: a downdraft box to draw air from above and cool the beans. The YT guy used an old hat box with a colander mounted atop and he attached a shop vac. He dumped the hot beans in the colander, powered the vac and stirred the beans with a whisk while it drew air down through them.

I made my version from a pop carton. Will try it next time I roast.

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Working on my heatgun roasting method and trying to think of ways to more efficiently air-cool beans right after roasting. Dumping back and forth between 2 pans takes a while to get them cooled down and I think the roast creeps up while the beans remain hot. I've been stopping right at the beginning of second crack, shooting for something around full city, but end up with it more like Vienna. I was watching a few YouTube videos on heatgun roasting yesterday and one of them gave me an idea: a downdraft box to draw air from above and cool the beans. The YT guy used an old hat box with a colander mounted atop and he attached a shop vac. He dumped the hot beans in the colander, powered the vac and stirred the beans with a whisk while it drew air down through them.

I made my version from a pop carton. Will try it next time I roast.

View attachment 621600
I use that same colander with the smaller one on top. I hold them together with my left hand while hitting it with blower in right. Easy and quick. Then I use battery operated blower to clean chaff and gun. It's a tricky fish you are well on your way. I am sure there is a pic on this thread somewhere of that.
 
Super interested in the details on the new Behmor roaster. Yeah, I just bought a roaster, but still interested. :)

Speaking of buying things...

After the last one was DOA, but supposed to be good, then got lost by USPS on the return to the seller, I somehow decided that it made sense to try again. I bought an "untested" behmor brewer on ebay for $20 (+$13 shipping). Seems to work just fine! Updated firmware, ran calibration, and am doing a test brew right now.
Working on my heatgun roasting method and trying to think of ways to more efficiently air-cool beans right after roasting. Dumping back and forth between 2 pans takes a while to get them cooled down and I think the roast creeps up while the beans remain hot. I've been stopping right at the beginning of second crack, shooting for something around full city, but end up with it more like Vienna. I was watching a few YouTube videos on heatgun roasting yesterday and one of them gave me an idea: a downdraft box to draw air from above and cool the beans. The YT guy used an old hat box with a colander mounted atop and he attached a shop vac. He dumped the hot beans in the colander, powered the vac and stirred the beans with a whisk while it drew air down through them.

I made my version from a pop carton. Will try it next time I roast.

View attachment 621600
I've seen it done with a plastic bucket instead of the box. It should work pretty well. You could also just use a big fan instead of the shop vac. The cooling tray for the Mill City is just a relatively small fan below a flat bottom colander.
 
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