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

[pshankstar]

I’m curious does anyone have any suggestions on charging/preheating temperatures for various beans? African, Central American, South American, Island, etc…

For example African beans I’m guessing the hotter the better. Hit them hard and fast to roast quickly while keeping the fruity notes they may have. Maybe Island beans you would want a lower charge/preheat temperature and gradually rise the temp.

Maybe I'm off base but wanted to ask if people have different temp ranges they preheat with or not. If they do can you share the details and why you do this?
Thanks in advance!

 

[TrickyDick]

I’ve been enjoying all the great third wave coffee from that local shop so much that I haven’t roasted in months!!

The bullet takes getting used to. The 1C sounds are muted compared to my first roaster ( hot top). I dislike their proprietary roast software and inventory and even their social network setup. I’d prefer to go back to artisan which I believe is supposed to be supported now but not sure.

Does new bullet come with a exhaust nozzle for connecting some tubing or pipe? I recall needing to order that from a 3D printing company.

I found was easier to control roast using 1 lb rather than 1 kg

TD

 

[pshankstar]

I’ve been enjoying all the great third wave coffee from that local shop so much that I haven’t roasted in months!!

The bullet takes getting used to. The 1C sounds are muted compared to my first roaster ( hot top). I dislike their proprietary roast software and inventory and even their social network setup. I’d prefer to go back to artisan which I believe is supposed to be supported now but not sure.

Does new bullet come with a exhaust nozzle for connecting some tubing or pipe? I recall needing to order that from a 3D printing company.

I found was easier to control roast using 1 lb rather than 1 kg

TD

Thursday night I was roasting 760g of greens in each batch. No matter which bean I roasted 1C was very muted. The previous roast sessions I could hear 1C very easily. Granted they were all different beans so that proves each bean has different sounding 1C.

I’m not sure about artisan and the bullet. I’ve only had it for less than a month and only used their software. Just like anything else I’m sure both have pros and cons but I don’t know.

I believe they offer the files to 3D print the exhaust vent and some other items but it doesn’t come with it. For the cost I would think they should include those items. Maybe it’s the old man in me getting angry. Haha

 

[Ruint]

LMAO @pshankstar !! You're still a pup!! You even 40 yet????
I have not found that changing my preheats helps any one bean more than another. It will change your roast times and put a variable of how the bean's progression occurs. I have mostly stuck to batch size, when changing preheats. The more the batch weighs, the hotter the temp, as you need to bleed heat thru more mass. I'm sure you could attempt to learn that technique, but it might be costly. No guarantee that, say, all Ethiopians will do better at this preheat temp, at this weight. It's the ability of how you can manipulate the phase of roasting you are in, IMO, that will have the best effect on any bean, from anywhere.

 

[TrickyDick]

If you have muted 1C this is what I learned.
When I began roasting I had been led to believe green beans don’t go bad, but living in FL need to keep them at comfortable room temp and humidity. I had amassed such a huge supply and then I learned they do indeed get stale and difficult to detect 1C. What I then did was put them into Mylar bags with an oxygen absorbing packet and the. Vacuum sealed them (Shinbo brand can do it but not the food saver brands). Then I froze them. 1 pound per pack or as close as I could get.

When I would roast them I would do one or two batches of fresh greens first then one pack from freezer. I’d take it out of freezer for the preheat. What I found was that this oxygen absorber and freezing process somewhat rejuvenated the beans and I could hear 1C again!

Currently I’ve been working so hard and stressed from that all I want to do once I get home is play video games and forget about everything. When I get the chance I do intend to freeze all my beans this way even fresh ones unless I plan to roast them within a week or two.

I bought a Cheap stethoscope and used a silicone type gasket for triclamp fittings cut to fit and glued to the end to protect the diaphragm from the heat and get a good seal and I put that to the charging port and listen once I think I’m getting close to 1C. Helps a little bit.

TD

 

[bleme]

My mom has been volunteering at a charity thrift store and they were just gifted a brand new Magister Stella Professional PID Espresso Machine. She asked me how much she should sell it for. Well, I know that the most she is going to get for it in THAT store is about $200 but I think she can do significantly better listing it online. Anyone here know anything about Magister?

 

[TallDan]

Don’t know much about them specifically, but it’s an e61 HX machine. If I saw one for $200, I’d probably buy it even if I couldn’t test it and someone told me it didn’t work.

I’d definitely list it online, at least on FB and CL. If it’s really brand new, you should be able to get 75% of retail or more.

 

[bleme]

She told me it was new but I see some wear on some of the labels and it doesn’t look like the current Stella model.

 

[TrickyDick]

View attachment 814669Trying my hand at 2lbs batches. I promised some friends some coffee as an excuse to roast more this week.

Nice DIY "bean chute" It throws them everywhere. I made one with sheet metal. It should come with one.

 

[TrickyDick]

Other advice on learning the bullet:

Change one thing at a time. Until you feel you got a handle on things, stick with same charge weight/mass on every roast (if possible).
Then begin fiddling with the variables, like preheat temp, preheat time, and other variables.
I HAVE noticed that if I roast three batches back to back to back, that by the time the third roast is going, that the heat soak into the roaster is definitely noticeable and seems to me to make the roast behave differently. I guess that itself is also a variable to consider. If I roast two fresh beans, and the third past crop (from my freezer), I'll usually save the one from the freezer for the last since It typically is perhaps not completely warmed to room temp by the time I'm ready to roast it.

Planning to roast today after several months hiatus.
TD

 

[pshankstar]

Other advice on learning the bullet:

Change one thing at a time. Until you feel you got a handle on things, stick with same charge weight/mass on every roast (if possible).
Then begin fiddling with the variables, like preheat temp, preheat time, and other variables.
I HAVE noticed that if I roast three batches back to back to back, that by the time the third roast is going, that the heat soak into the roaster is definitely noticeable and seems to me to make the roast behave differently. I guess that itself is also a variable to consider. If I roast two fresh beans, and the third past crop (from my freezer), I'll usually save the one from the freezer for the last since It typically is perhaps not completely warmed to room temp by the time I'm ready to roast it.

Planning to roast today after several months hiatus.
TD

I was just reading about this somewhere else. It’s good to know it’s a real thing. I guess looking back each roast does seem to go a little faster after a few batches.

 

[TrickyDick]

Finally roasted my coffee. I also did my mylar bagging with oxygen absorbing packet in #1lb packs of my latest beans: about 19 pounds worth, the oldest was like a YEAR old and I had only roasted one pound form the 5 pound bag! Hopefully I will be more consistent in my roasting habits the rest of the year.

Really hating the Roast World and RoastTime. Need to get back to using Artisan one of these days.

TD

 

[pshankstar]

@TrickyDick I just upgraded to Roastime 4.3.2 and plan to roast Friday night. Hopefully I don’t regret the upgrade! What issues are you experiencing? You have the Bullet too, right? Also have you checked and/or upgraded your firmware on the roaster too?

I just pulled the trigger on these beans from Burman today. My neighbor bought some beans from Hawaii for me to roast for him and I. I’ll report back how the Hawaiian beans roast and taste. Since we are splitting that bag I’ll probably roast in half pound batches to stretch it out.

 

[MaxStout]

I just got back from a week vacation in Kauai, so getting a kick...

Yes, I visited Kauai Coffee Co., and took the farm tour. Very interesting, first coffee plantation tour for me. What was interesting is the fact that the location is outside the "normal" bounds of coffee-growing. The coffee is grown at elevations of 800' and below, there is no shade (the plantation was converted from an old sugar cane farm with no trees). The latitude is about 22 degrees N, so just on the boundary of that "equator belt" for coffee. But they do have that nice, volcanic soil, so that helps. It's on the south (leeward) side of the island, and annual rainfall is fairly low. They have to run drip lines all over the farm. They irrigate with about 5 gallons of water per tree per day. They grow some 40 varieties that have been brought in from all over the world, all Arabica.

Their coffee is pretty good, and they have a sampling room. They roast med and dark, no light roasts, and I'm assuming their coffee is not conducive to light roasts. None of the coffees I tried would be characterized as being "bright" or acidic, for obvious reasons. But if you like a warm cup of coffee, they have it. They have barrel-aged beans, aged in rum barrels from a nearby distillery. Would've bought some, but it was $45 for a 10oz. bag of roasted.

I bought a bag of med roasted beans to bring home. They didn't have any green for sale, or I would've bought some.

@pshankstar, I'm curious to know how your Kauai beans turn out.

 

[pshankstar]

@MaxStout I assume they aged their beans after roasting in the rum barrels? Did you ask any details on that process? How long they aged them for? I agree that’s a steep price, but given most of us are home brewers too we could probably do something similar with what we have available.

I would be curious to soak some oak chips in some spirit and then take those oak chips and age them with the beans to replicate that barrel aged process. I would try this first with some beans that are not $16/pound.

If my memory serves me correctly @HarborTownBrewing mentioned a tablespoon or so of spirits mixed with some green beans then roasting those beans. Or maybe it was soaking them afterwards.

I’ll definitely report back on the Hawaiian beans after I roast some.

 

[MaxStout]

@MaxStout I assume they aged their beans after roasting in the rum barrels? Did you ask any details on that process? How long they aged them for? I agree that’s a steep price, but given most of us are home brewers too we could probably do something similar with what we have available.

I would be curious to soak some oak chips in some spirit and then take those oak chips and age them with the beans to replicate that barrel aged process. I would try this first with some beans that are not $16/pound.

If my memory serves me correctly @HarborTownBrewing mentioned a tablespoon or so of spirits mixed with some green beans then roasting those beans. Or maybe it was soaking them afterwards.

I’ll definitely report back on the Hawaiian beans after I roast some.

Edit: I had it bass-ackwards. They barrel-age green, then roast. The tour guide said they roast the beans before loading into the barrels.

They keep the barrels horizontal and roll them a few times a day to distribute them inside. I think she said they keep them in the barrels for about 3 weeks. She made a point to state that "there is no alcohol" in the beans. I didn't get the chance to inquire further, but assume they air out the barrels to allow alcohol to evaporate before loading the beans. Maybe there is some legal issue or the coffee co. doesn't want the PR concerns of alcohol in their coffee.

I'll be interested to hear how your oak chip process works out.

Another thought: if one had a used bourbon barrel, infuse some coffee beans in it first, then take out the beans and use the barrel to make a coffee/bourbon aged beer.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Right you are! I put 1 tbsp of bourbon in a mason jar with 1 Lb of coffee beans, let rest for 5 days, then roast. Move the beans around as you pass them the first few days to encourage even soaking.

You do have to hit them with more heat given the moisture you've added. My recipe gives a fairly strong bourbon flavor, my wife doesn't care for it unless it's brewed 50/50 with other non-bourbon beans. On the other hand I work with a guy who loves it full on and drinks a LOT of my bourbon aged coffee.

 

[MaxStout]

A couple pics from the tour.

The tour guide mentioned that with the crazy weather this winter (think of where those atmospheric rivers came from), the coffee trees bloomed early. They are anticipating having to harvest late summer, rather than late fall. They're not sure how that will impact harvest this year. But Kauai being the biggest coffee farm in the U.S., that could affect the market.

 

[MaxStout]

A couple more pics.

The receiving facility where the harvesters are unloaded and the beans processed. They cull out the debris, then wash all their beans. You can't see in the pic, but somewhere behind that building are the roasters. I didn't get a chance to take a pic of those as the tour bus turned off to the left. The second pic is the harvester machines.

 

[MaxStout]

I only brought back one bag (we were traveling light--carryon only), so I got this. Makes a nice cuppa when using a Clever Drip maker. Nice, slightly roasty, some fruit flavors, very mellow.

 

[TrickyDick]

Somewhere I have a sample bag of Hawaiian Koka Maui? I forget exactly, but its supposed to be great. I never attempted to roast because the beans are smaller than unpopped popcorn kernels, Maybe around the size of a lentil or a little bigger. Smaller than those next to the dime.

@pshankstar I hate that I have to have a complicated password for the roast time. I hate the inventory system. I dislike the non-predictive ROR curve. I hate that the firmware update is wonky - failed on me the last time. I contacted for support and insisted on my serial number which I didn't know. Haven't updated to the latest, but I should try. I really want to switch to the Artisan, which has predictive data for your roast curve. I have had poor success following others roasting profiles. I think I know why too. I have one of the first roasters, I think maybe first possibly second batch (S/N 391). I have the US 220v model knowing that should provide ability for more power, but apparently it needs their newer power board, which as far as I know is not available. I told them to contact me when I could buy it but they either scrapped those plans or else never contacted me. The Roast World community "forum" is super wonky to browse or find relevant information, like a kindergarten playground, its total chaos.

All that said, I do enjoy the larger capacity, but dislike the software and the user forum and the lack of transparency about the power output plans. I only roast 1# at a time now (unless its my last pouch and happens to be more than 1 pound but less than 2).

I'm sort of wondering if I'd have been better off with a 120v but not really sure.

TD

 

[TrickyDick]

BTW, Been getting flip and crash curves, with ROR declining and then as approached 1C flips upwards and then crashes. Sometimes the flip is more of a volcanic eruption than than a flip... Wondering if my US 240V setup behaves much differently than the 120V in trying to follow others profile curves and setttings...

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

@TrickyDick do you have images of your roast curves that you could post here? Maybe we could lend a hand with the issues you've been experiencing.

Cleaned up my deck and enjoying about 4 minutes of solitude before the toddler awakes. Beautiful morning here!

 

[passedpawn]

Just started reading this thread and I will admit that I did not go thru all 180 plus pages. I am thinking of giving this a try. From what I have gathered it can be done on a stove top with a pan and medium heat. Am I oversimplifying it? I am already way too deep into my brew hardware to ask for a roasting machine, and to be honest, I like the idea of doing it all myself instead of letting a machine do it, if that makes sense. LOL. Anyway, what advise, if any, would you all give a new roaster? RR

This has probably already been answered, but the easiest way is with a whirlypop popcorn maker. You'll see posts of mine in the genesis of this thread talking about that. I've built lots of stuff after that, but to this date that was the best. One day I'll buy a fancy gizmo.

It'll be smokey, so if you have a wife, do it when she's not around, and open the windows. You'll be in heaven though, it'll smell awesome.

 

[MaxStout]

Cover your smoke detectors, too. Or roast in the garage or on the patio.

Look into "heat gun & dog bowl" method. Lots of Youtube videos on it. Serious. Works great.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Another option for smoke control, for a while I used the roast in the bathroom with the exhaust fan running and that worked pretty well.

 

[redrocker652002]

Thanks guys. One of the folk here sold me his used Behmore 1600 plus Done two roasts. The second one was yesterday. Went for a darker roast and yea, the smoke was pretty big, but is smelled pretty cool. My wife just ordered some coffee that her and my daughter might like, while my son and I like the darker roasts. Easy so far, just gotta watch is into second crack. LOL Rock On!!!!!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

@redrocker652002 it wasn't that @pshankstar guy was it??!!?!

 

[redrocker652002]

@redrocker652002 it wasn't that @pshankstar guy was it??!!?!

LOL. yea, should I be concerned? He included a box of Mike and Ikes, so he cannot be that bad. LOL

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Haha not at all, he's a pretty decent dude. I was actually the original owner of your roaster. That thing has been awesome over the years, and I hope it continues to work well for you!