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

[Rivenin]

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 246938

congrats!!

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.

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.

 

[PJoyce85]

Congratulations!

congrats!

Thanks, guys!

 

[rekoob]

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.

 

[HoppyDaze]

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 246938

Congrats buddy!

 

[Bensiff]

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 246938

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.

 

[PJoyce85]

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.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

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*

 

[Rivenin]

What do you roast on?

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Sorry forgot that info: Behmor 1600 Plus, P2.

 

[Bensiff]

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.

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]

Sorry forgot that info: Behmor 1600 Plus, P2.

My first thought is it is a power issue. Perhaps the second time you had something else drawing on the same circuit.

 

[jammin]

^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

 

[passedpawn]

^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

haha.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

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?

 

[PJoyce85]

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.

Haha I had the exact same thought.

 

[jammin]

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.

 

[passedpawn]

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.

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]

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.

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?

 

[jammin]

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.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

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.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Quick follow-up regarding the funny noises and prolonged roast times:
-Ran the roaster on Saturday for a cleaning cycle, and no noises.
-Sunday I was going to roast, so I started it up (before I put the beans in) to see if it would make the noise, and it did. I turned it off, tried again, and it did it again.
-I turned it off again, then went and dimmed the lights a bit in the kitchen (mood lighting for the roast session, of course). When I tried the roaster again, it didn't make strange noises.
-I turned off the roaster, brought the lights back up, and started it again and it did not make the noise.
-So eventually I started my roast, it didn't make a noise, and the roast hit 1C at about 13:00, which is right around where I had been before I was having this issue.

I don't know if I have fuzzy power or what the deal is. And for the life of me, I can't find my Kill-A-Watt! Something tells me it's buried under a bunch of cat toys...

Ultimately though, I got a pretty good looking roast, which I had struggled with the last few times. Excited to try it later this week.

 

[Bensiff]

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.

I don't understand the 3rd wave and hipster comment? Anyway, precharged the roaster by running it up to 400 degrees before turning it off and adding the beans. Got 1C to start right around 9.5 minutes, so will see what kind of difference that'll make.

 

[jammin]

3rd wave coffee is characterized by roasters such as Stumptown and Intelligentsia. They are known for their ultra light and fast roasts. This can create a very acidic cup and is a stark contrast to the popular dark roast sold by Starbucks.

These 3rd wave cafes are generally packed with hipsters and neck beards that talk about coffee like a wine snob but I digress ..


Anyhow - curious to hear how your roast turns out. 9.5min is not a bad time to 1C. I suspect you'll notice a more diverse spectrum of flavors in the cup and a more vibrant acidity. Probably more sweetness as well

 

[ChefRex]

Quick follow-up regarding the funny noises and prolonged roast times:
-Ran the roaster on Saturday for a cleaning cycle, and no noises.
-Sunday I was going to roast, so I started it up (before I put the beans in) to see if it would make the noise, and it did. I turned it off, tried again, and it did it again.
-I turned it off again, then went and dimmed the lights a bit in the kitchen (mood lighting for the roast session, of course). When I tried the roaster again, it didn't make strange noises.
-I turned off the roaster, brought the lights back up, and started it again and it did not make the noise.
-So eventually I started my roast, it didn't make a noise, and the roast hit 1C at about 13:00, which is right around where I had been before I was having this issue.

I don't know if I have fuzzy power or what the deal is. And for the life of me, I can't find my Kill-A-Watt! Something tells me it's buried under a bunch of cat toys...

Ultimately though, I got a pretty good looking roast, which I had struggled with the last few times. Excited to try it later this week.

Could you try another circuit? Preferably one that is isolated.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Could you try another circuit? Preferably one that is isolated.

I was thinking about that this morning, actually. I'll have to look at my circuit panel and see what I have available.

I've just about gone through the 8 lbs of green beans that came with the roaster, in addition to other beans I've roasted that I had from before. I've come to the conclusion that I need to get a few pounds of the same exact bean and try roasting it different ways so I can get a better handle on how the roaster responds to different tweaks.

 

[TallDan]

I was thinking about that this morning, actually. I'll have to look at my circuit panel and see what I have available.

I've just about gone through the 8 lbs of green beans that came with the roaster, in addition to other beans I've roasted that I had from before. I've come to the conclusion that I need to get a few pounds of the same exact bean and try roasting it different ways so I can get a better handle on how the roaster responds to different tweaks.

Maybe you and I should each roast a half pound of the same bean on the same settings and same day, then send 1/4lb to each other. Could be an interesting experiment anyway.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Maybe you and I should each roast a half pound of the same bean on the same settings and same day, then send 1/4lb to each other. Could be an interesting experiment anyway.

I'd be up for that, absolutely. You're in Gurnee I see, I'm near Wrigley, so I don't think shipping would be too bad.

When I get home I'll look at which beans I have left from my Roastmasters order and will let you know!

 

[Bensiff]

3rd wave coffee is characterized by roasters such as Stumptown and Intelligentsia. They are known for their ultra light and fast roasts. This can create a very acidic cup and is a stark contrast to the popular dark roast sold by Starbucks.

These 3rd wave cafes are generally packed with hipsters and neck beards that talk about coffee like a wine snob but I digress ..


Anyhow - curious to hear how your roast turns out. 9.5min is not a bad time to 1C. I suspect you'll notice a more diverse spectrum of flavors in the cup and a more vibrant acidity. Probably more sweetness as well

Ah. Since Charles Bronson and I are on the same page when it comes to hipsters I now know to avoid these so called 3rd wave coffee cafes, less I be asked to review someone's freshly typed screen play.

 

[Bigscience]

Funny, because I scored some stump town green beans from a friend who knows somebody and I must say I don't like them. I've tried from City+ to Fully City+ and I can't seem to get them where I think they are good. I got 5 lbs so I'll keep trying different profiles and setting to see if I can get them dialed in. Maybe I need to be wearing skinny jeans and a trucker hat when I roast?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Bensiff]

@jammin. Yeah that certainly made a difference. Didn't really think it would be much; but, a definite brighter cleaner cup. Sharper acidity and more define flavors. Like it went from a low frequency sine wave to high frequency.