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

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I do not have time to dig into this now, but I am digging deeply down rabbit holes for development information. Jammin miss you buddy hope you chime in here. My research has led me to countless home Barista threads and you are on a lot of them. It is clear that light roasting and development is still being reviewed and researched. I remain completely amazed that 3 minutes or more Beyond first crack. With the heat gun setup this would all but ruin any coffee unless of course you are looking for oily beans. I don't understand if my difficulty lies in the heat gun, or the dry process Ethiopian being different. Or it could just be my skills as a roaster aren't very good. But with Ethiopian if you lower the heat at first crack looking for development it can be very easy to stall the roast. Also if you drag it out a little long you can kiss the good Berry flavors goodbye. There is a point where you get berry and chocolate but without a quality roaster I think it's hard to hit that point every time. I sense a lot of beans are going into second crack and some are still in first. Not wanting to ruin the Ethiopian I've come to the habit of stopping before most beans or any get into second. However, the beans arent dry enough they will taste green.

I am going to leave it at this for now but I want to make another question or point. I saw a thread on hb and jammin I think you are on it, that mentioned pulling a roast light maybe even seconds after first crack and not tasting green. This is where I am at right now and what I have been rambling on about for a week now. If you don't dry those beans well enough and stop first crack early your Ethiopian will taste green. However depending on what temperature you are using, going to deep in the first crack to avoid this greenness can result in loss of the Jazzy flavors. I can't come out and say for certain yet but I think drying the beans properly gives you the best chance of stopping the coffee in a place where light Berry flavors exist without greenness. That same development percent and I'm going to throw out 8% as a number will ruin coffee if not properly dry. Welcome any and all thoughts and happy Friday.

Sorry, another thought is now I see why a temperature probe is needed. Joe Morocco and the head roaster of Mill City were posing a question to each other, what if you had to roast without any data? They knew they could and discuss it, but it almost seems like they wouldn't ever want to. Since I only roast with My Five Senses I feel like I'm bringing a lemon to a knife fight now. Haha, also I see the need for a really good roaster.
 
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Scrappy, I think you hit on the dilemma I've been concerned about as a heat gun roaster. I'm not doing Ethiopian, but the dilemma applies more broadly to whatever I'm roasting: Go too slow and dessicate the beans, or too fast and get a mixture of 1st and 2nd cracks simultaneously. Since I don't have the benefit of temp control and a rotating drum, I try to maintain a constant distance with the gun while stirring continuously to keep the beans consistently hot. I do small batches--1/4 lb. or so, to maintain better control. Tried 1/2 lb. once and it took too long--I baked them.

Not scientific but the best I can do with the tools I have.
 
Scrappy, I think you hit on the dilemma I've been concerned about as a heat gun roaster. I'm not doing Ethiopian, but the dilemma applies more broadly to whatever I'm roasting: Go too slow and dessicate the beans, or too fast and get a mixture of 1st and 2nd cracks simultaneously. Since I don't have the benefit of temp control and a rotating drum, I try to maintain a constant distance with the gun while stirring continuously to keep the beans consistently hot. I do small batches--1/4 lb. or so, to maintain better control. Tried 1/2 lb. once and it took too long--I baked them.

Not scientific but the best I can do with the tools I have.
One pound will roast in around 10 minutes on high, but with cold weather that increases. I think a bm could help?! The machine will help hold some heat too. Also I came across a two bowl method, anyone know about two bowl hg method? You can adjust the heat by raising and lowering the gun. But yeah I think there is some of that at play that you describe. If you love coffee and roasting it becomes clear why people upgrade to expensive and more dialed in machines. The plus side is that the hg is air roasting somewhat? Which I think is what gives the coffee a unique and good flavor. Man, cheers to roasting.
 
Speaking of popcorn poppers... has anyone looked into the Ikawa roasters? Expensive as hell for 60g roaster but admittedly I’d sure like to have one!

Apple - I’m not sure what precisely you’re wanting to dig into on roast development but I do agree that 3 minutes development would be beyond anything I enjoy drinking even if it’s espresso. I used to do this back in the day but my tastes have changed a lot since then.
 
seem like a neat little toy rather than something useful.

its targeted at pro roasters for sampling. its gets praise for it repeatability & app interface to set roast curves. basically a paint by the numbers roast profiler. I've heard you can dial in the RoR in increments of 1* which is pretty awesome.

for me, i like the idea of having a batch done in less than 10 minutes from warm up to roast complete/cooled. i could spend less than an hour & 6+ different coffees roasted which would total 11oz of roasted coffee. you can also copy profiles from other users & get exactly the same result theoretically. So lets say all of us have one & TallDan nails a roast of a coffee we all went in on ... we could all enjoy the same cup. Hopefully this technology gets even better and the price comes down. I think at $500 it would be much more attractive.
 
its targeted at pro roasters for sampling. its gets praise for it repeatability & app interface to set roast curves. basically a paint by the numbers roast profiler. I've heard you can dial in the RoR in increments of 1* which is pretty awesome.

for me, i like the idea of having a batch done in less than 10 minutes from warm up to roast complete/cooled. i could spend less than an hour & 6+ different coffees roasted which would total 11oz of roasted coffee. you can also copy profiles from other users & get exactly the same result theoretically. So lets say all of us have one & TallDan nails a roast of a coffee we all went in on ... we could all enjoy the same cup. Hopefully this technology gets even better and the price comes down. I think at $500 it would be much more attractive.
Well, that's true. I was thinking along the lines of my current roasting habits, and the fact that it takes me about a half hour to roast a half pound of coffee, including cleanup. (with a break while cooling).

I like the programability/repeatability, and that would take some of the pain out of the small batch size. It would make roasting a daily thing instead of every few days thing though.
 
I've really been down some rabbit holes on coffee the last few days.

Everything I knew about making espresso at home was wrong and/or i got lazy/sloppy on: Doses were too big, portafilter basket too small, tamping too heavy, not grinding fine enough.

Really on the fence about a new roaster too: On one hand, I made decent coffee with the behmor, but on the other hand, the quest m3, hottop 2k+ and aillio bullet each offer so much more in their own ways.
 
I’m just jealous of you having an espresso machine @TallDan and the others here. It’s on my list to get but I want to buy the right one for our usage and budget. It may be a while though.
 
I’m just jealous of you having an espresso machine @TallDan and the others here. It’s on my list to get but I want to buy the right one for our usage and budget. It may be a while though.
Do it. The budget part is hard, as they all seem really expensive. Seems crazy to say, but I got my PIDed Silvia 10.5 years ago, and my only real regret is not increasing my budget back then and getting a HX or double boiler.
 
Do it. The budget part is hard, as they all seem really expensive. Seems crazy to say, but I got my PIDed Silvia 10.5 years ago, and my only real regret is not increasing my budget back then and getting a HX or double boiler.

Which model espresso machine do you have. I’m not familiar with the PIDed Silvia.
 
^grind appears too coarse but your distribution looks excellent! nice, even pour. i went and pulled a shot after watching that vid
Thing is, that was on the finest setting on my rocky, which is what leads me to believe it's the dose, not the grind. That or I need to figure out some issues with the rocky. There will be some more playing tomorrow, but that was the only shot I pulled that was that even. I won't post the other videos. :)
Which model espresso machine do you have. I’m not familiar with the PIDed Silvia.
Rancilio "Miss Silvia" with a PID controller (much like those used in RIMS controllers) added for temp management. Mine is an older model with an older PID that is mounted off to the side, but this would be the updated version:

http://www.hitechespresso.com/the-original-pid-silvia-from-hitechespre
 
How many pounds did you roast in yours while you had it?
Going off my logs, which sucked the first couple years, this is what I came up with. It might be a little short because it assumes 8oz loads and sometimes I did 12oz.

After I bought it: No idea. Can't find logs.

2016: 76 lbs

2017: 145 lbs

2018 (jan to June): 56 lbs

So I would guess I probably did 300 to 350 lbs when I had it.
 
Thing is, that was on the finest setting on my rocky, which is what leads me to believe it's the dose, not the grind

an espresso grinder should be able to choke a machine at it's finest setting. how old are the burrs, are they still sharp? the baratza sette gets great reviews. if i were building a budget kit, i would build it around that grinder. i really like how you can single dose with it right into the portafilter with little to no retention. i'd probably pair it with that Breville that everyone talks about. i hear stories about people buying these things from Kohls for ridiculous low prices & with some easy mods you can get that machine to punch way about it's class & do things similar to a Slayer or La Marzocco GS/3.

you make a valid point about dose though. people often overlook adjusting that rather than adjusting grind. if you enough head space left in the basket - do it up!
 
Going off my logs, which sucked the first couple years, this is what I came up with. It might be a little short because it assumes 8oz loads and sometimes I did 12oz.

After I bought it: No idea. Can't find logs.

2016: 76 lbs

2017: 145 lbs

2018 (jan to June): 56 lbs

So I would guess I probably did 300 to 350 lbs when I had it.
That's a lot of coffee.
an espresso grinder should be able to choke a machine at it's finest setting. how old are the burrs, are they still sharp? the baratza sette gets great reviews. if i were building a budget kit, i would build it around that grinder. i really like how you can single dose with it right into the portafilter with little to no retention. i'd probably pair it with that Breville that everyone talks about. i hear stories about people buying these things from Kohls for ridiculous low prices & with some easy mods you can get that machine to punch way about it's class & do things similar to a Slayer or La Marzocco GS/3.

you make a valid point about dose though. people often overlook adjusting that rather than adjusting grind. if you enough head space left in the basket - do it up!
Brand new burrs, less than a month of use. I just came here to post that the result of this messing around in the last few days is going to be a new grinder. I sent messages on h-b about a used macap m7d and mazzer super jolly, but I think I might be more likely to go with the sette or vario in the end. Big question is going to be whether or not to keep the rocky for chemex/french press/technivorm and use the new one just for espresso, or try to get one to do it all.
 
I put the steel malkoening burrs in my Vario. It does great for espresso (never even tried the ceramic burrs but I'm guessing they'd be much better). I use it mostly for pour over in the Chemex; it can grind really well for the able kone, but it's not as great of a grind for the paper Chemex filters as I had gotten out of the Baratza Encore. I'm guessing if I messed with the calibration a bit I could get it right but it's just fine the way it is now.

I had my heart set on the Sette but after talking to Baratza it just didn't sound like a good multi purpose grinder. People seem to love it as a single purpose espresso grinder but it's not great for Chemex or French press grinds.
 
I put the steel malkoening burrs in my Vario. It does great for espresso (never even tried the ceramic burrs but I'm guessing they'd be much better). I use it mostly for pour over in the Chemex; it can grind really well for the able kone, but it's not as great of a grind for the paper Chemex filters as I had gotten out of the Baratza Encore. I'm guessing if I messed with the calibration a bit I could get it right but it's just fine the way it is now.

I had my heart set on the Sette but after talking to Baratza it just didn't sound like a good multi purpose grinder. People seem to love it as a single purpose espresso grinder but it's not great for Chemex or French press grinds.
I have much less to complain about with the rocky for chemex than for espresso. That leads me more toward a dedicated espresso grinder. However, something as large as the SJ or m7d isn't going to be a great fit on my countertop, and would probably have to live on the other side of the kitchen from the silvia, which would be pretty inconvenient. The baratza grinders would fit without an issue. Based on reviews online, I'm led to believe that the sette 270, vario (ceramic), forte (ceramic), and SJ are all in the same ballpark for espresso, which would seem to make the vario a clear winner for versatility and price. The used m7d would be a clear step up for espresso, but nobody even talks about using it for any other brewing method.
 
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It seems a little crazy, but I think the only worthwhile upgrade over the baratzas for me might be the lynn weber/kafatek/versalab (IIRC, jammin, you have one of those?). Everything else is a combination of size and price that isn't what I want. Kafatek looks to be the winner there. Given that I can't even get on a wait list for one right now, I think it's going to be a baratza at least for a while.
 
Kenyan peaberry nyeri othaya kimoimini (sp) from burmans. And Brazilian serra velha. The pb is rounded and the Brazilian is flatter with more chocolate brown. The kenyan went 1037 with 15 % development. The Brazilian with 8 % and 1430 roast time. I heard 1c end and it has some char smells really good. Where I should have slowed the braz. down at the end the kenyan went straight through full temp. Kenyan greens. Man had to screenshot and enlarge to get fit.
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