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

[HarborTownBrewing]

Someone shared with me a cup of the Starbucks Reserve African blend; it was pretty decent. He likes it a lot, I can see why. Had a bit of cocoa and the slightest hint of blueberry. That said, I'm very interested in how they got the blueberry flavor since those beans tend to be tough to find and expensive.

Not something I'd pay for - I'd get Intelli or La Colombe first, but not bad. I know Starbucks gets a bad wrap, but they are kind of the Sam Adams of the coffee world.

 

[TallDan]

Someone shared with me a cup of the Starbucks Reserve African blend; it was pretty decent. He likes it a lot, I can see why. Had a bit of cocoa and the slightest hint of blueberry. That said, I'm very interested in how they got the blueberry flavor since those beans tend to be tough to find and expensive.

Not something I'd pay for - I'd get Intelli or La Colombe first, but not bad. I know Starbucks gets a bad wrap, but they are kind of the Sam Adams of the coffee world.

I assume you've seen what's coming to Michigan Ave:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...unces-big-reserve-roastery-on-michigan-avenue

 

[passedpawn]

Someone shared with me a cup of the Starbucks Reserve African blend; it was pretty decent. He likes it a lot, I can see why. Had a bit of cocoa and the slightest hint of blueberry. That said, I'm very interested in how they got the blueberry flavor since those beans tend to be tough to find and expensive.

Not something I'd pay for - I'd get Intelli or La Colombe first, but not bad. I know Starbucks gets a bad wrap, but they are kind of the Sam Adams of the coffee world.

I've had Starbucks that was awesome, and I've had their signature burnt offerings. I've lately found that my own palate changes day to day, so I'm reluctant to blame Starbucks completely.

I really like roasting, so even if the best coffee bar opened next door, I'd still roast my own. Nothing better than getting out on the driveway on a cool Sunday morning and roasting, the smoke and the sound of 1st crack leaving my roaster, and the awesome smell of coffee everywhere.

 

[jammin]

Royal Coffee (one of the largest importers) has started a new program called Crown Jewels. They select top grade coffee, roast it, cup it and offer it in 22lb boxes along with their notes (including 2 roast profiles.

As an example, a box of this Ethiopian is $132 ($6/lb) + $15 shipping. Check out the notes as they are not only interestin but educational. This looks like one of the better opportunities for a group buy here. I'm guessing it would be about $40 shipped to get $5lbs of this to your door and share the cost evenly.
https://www.royalcoffee.com/products/cj1036/

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I assume you've seen what's coming to Michigan Ave:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...unces-big-reserve-roastery-on-michigan-avenue

Wow, no I missed that release. That's an interesting place to house a facility like that, as roasting does not smell the greatest and there are a LOT of people in that area, as well as a lot of condos of wealthy people with political sway.

Chicago has an interesting roasting scene going on right now. There was a horrible roaster called Bowtruss who had been expanding a little peculiarly. Roasters don't tend to just pop up overnight, and then pop up, up, up with various locations rapidly (at least not here). I believe they had about 10 locations in the city. But they have gone belly-up (for a number of reasons - most of which seem to be financial) and have left a bit of a void here. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...ues-bow-truss-phil-tadros-in-contract-dispute

Marcus Lemonis (from The Profit) was set to invest in their business. It fell through. Now everyone's sueing everyone. But more interestingly, I recently read that Marcus is planning to open coffee shops in Chicago in old Bowtruss spaces. Given that, and his past experience in coffee roasting facilities, he seems to know of a way to make money in the business.

I've got an urge to get into the business, but it's really tough to walk away from a salary with benefits for something where I'd be working a ton more and likely taking a pay cut. But no matter how many times I turn away from the idea, I can't stop thinking about opening a roastery.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Have you guys ever done a coffee addition to a lighter beer?

I'm brewing a birthday beer for myself (for a change) and kind of have a hybrid - WLP yeast, pils/wheat, and a lot of citrusy hops, plus coriander. Okay, it's more a kitchen sink beer. But it's what I've been craving.

I have tasted some session IPAs with coffee additions, and I thought they were good. I am halfway tempted to add some coffee at bottling, just to make it a little muddier...why not. Maybe a good Ethiopian or Kenyan to boost the citrus flavors and add a little acidity.

Anyone ever do this with a lighter beer? And the real question, do you think it would have coffee flavors after 3 weeks in the bottle?

 

[jammin]

Had to bring this over to the next page! Great write up. Cool to hear about Australians exporting their coffee culture. They are doing big things Down Under.

Alright, here's a quick overview of a trip I recently took - related to coffee.

Berlin: Berlin's an interesting city - very "hip" and young. That said, of all the places I visited they had the most...refreshing coffee scene. Lots of coffee shops offering loads of different things. It's easy to get a brewed cup of coffee here, as it is throughout Germany (to a degree). But it was also easy to find 3rd Wave places which were brewing with V60's, Aeropresses, and Chemex's based on the coffee's you selected. At one place I got a bean from Rwanda, my wife from Columbia. Mine was made in V60, the Columbian in an Aeropress after the barista's talked over which ones they liked for which coffees.

I got talking with the barista's at one place and learned they had moved to Berlin from Australia, and were trying to bring some of their Australian coffee viewpoints with them to Germany. I soaked up as much brewed coffee as I could while I was there, because I knew I wasn't going to find it anywhere else I was going.

Italy: With that, my next stop was Italy, in the Naples area. Just about every shop serves either Kimbo or Illy brand coffee, always in espresso. Not that great, either. I tried many shots, and many cappucino's, and nothing really stood out anywhere. Considering the Italians talk a big game about espresso and make some of the best espresso equipment, the coffee scene here is just sort of...boring. I don't believe I had a single cup that tasted unlike any others.

Greece: I spent a few days in Athens, at a nice but conservative hotel - nothing fancy. Having no ideas what the Greek coffee culture is, I got to the room and found a hot water kettle (good sign!) accompanied by packages of instant coffee (oh, the humanity!). At that moment I think I got a good idea of their coffee culture...they don't focus on it too much.

Again, lots of Illy and Kimbo, but I did find a couple places doing pour over in Chemex and V60 with "fresh roasted beans". It'd been about 9 days since I had a good cup of brewed coffee, so I jumped at the chance to get some fresh beans in a V60. Unfortunately, you can have all the tools, but it doesn't work if you don't know how to use it. They used the V60, but also used water which I'd estimate was only heated to 175...bad. So, again, not the greatest.

At one time I tried to order a "Drip Coffee"...she didn't understand. So then I asked for an "American Coffee" but they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. She said, "I can make Greek coffee" and I said, "what's that?" "It's Greek, I don't know!" So I tried it. What they did was put coffee grinds into a frothing pitcher, added water, and used a steam wand to heat it up. Then poured it all into a mug - like a poor man's Turkish Coffee. It was absolutely disgusting. In fairness to Greece, I have read that this is the improper way to do it.

Istanbul: I had a stop in Istanbul and found a fancy little Turkish Coffee shop in the airport, so I tried Turkish coffee for the first time. I didn't care for it, but I'm sure that's just me as I have many friends who enjoy the style. The beans were super lightly roasted, so I was really optimistic I'd get some fruit flavors and acidity, but it just tasted muddy.

Anyways, just some interesting thoughts on the different cultures and availability. When I got home, I brewed some Kenyan that was about 3 weeks old but it tasted SOOOOO good.

 

[TrickyDick]

Royal Coffee (one of the largest importers) has started a new program called Crown Jewels. They select top grade coffee, roast it, cup it and offer it in 22lb boxes along with their notes (including 2 roast profiles.

As an example, a box of this Ethiopian is $132 ($6/lb) + $15 shipping. Check out the notes as they are not only interestin but educational. This looks like one of the better opportunities for a group buy here. I'm guessing it would be about $40 shipped to get $5lbs of this to your door and share the cost evenly.
https://www.royalcoffee.com/products/cj1036/

I'd be willing to go in for up to 5#.

TD.

 

[TrickyDick]

Definitely melted the hose on our house vacuum cooling coffee in the behmor.

Seems like the additional air volume in the bucket would mean cool enough air to not melt the hose though. Tempted to give this method a try if I start roasting somewhere conducive to it.

I replaced the hose with metal flex hose. Difficult to match the size to the vac connections.

TD

 

[jammin]

I'd be willing to go in for up to 5#.

TD.

Awesome - then we just need 1 more to get the order filled. I'll take the heavy end of 7lbs unless someone wants 2 or 3 pretty bad.

Said box of coffee to help build hype

 

[TallDan]

Awesome - then we just need 1 more to get the order filled. I'll take the heavy end of 7lbs unless someone wants 2 or 3 pretty bad.

Said box of coffee to help build hype

ok, count me in

 

[jammin]

^order is locked in and will be shipping via UPS on Monday.

There is a new shipment of Ethiopian incoming which should be posted on their site in a month.

 

[applescrap]

i've had starbucks that was awesome, and i've had their signature burnt offerings. I've lately found that my own palate changes day to day, so i'm reluctant to blame starbucks completely.

I really like roasting, so even if the best coffee bar opened next door, i'd still roast my own. Nothing better than getting out on the driveway on a cool sunday morning and roasting, the smoke and the sound of 1st crack leaving my roaster, and the awesome smell of coffee everywhere.

+1

 

[applescrap]

^order is locked in and will be shipping via UPS on Monday.

There is a new shipment of Ethiopian incoming which should be posted on their site in a month.

Hey wait a minute, im just coming in here
No can't wait to hear about it and pics too!

 

[TrickyDick]

Ordered one of this. Based on description couldn't pass up. Where the heck is this stuff grown? Is it a dense high grown bean? Need to Wikipedia this or something, Never had a bean from here before.

https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/bali-dry-process-bangli-kintamani-5384

Edit- Indonesia island about 1500m, suspect probably dense beans. Any profile tips or roasting tips for an Indonesian bean? This will be my first.

TD

 

[BrewinHooligan]

A good friend of my wife approached her yesterday with an opportunity to take over a bakery in a really high end area. One thing they don't offer that her friend wants to add: coffee... My afternoon has been spent browsing the Buckeye roasters site eyeballing their roasters. I know the shops area would produce great foot traffic and is in an ideal location. My biggest concerns are trying to figure what size roaster I would need and finding a bean supplier that can provide consistent quality and at the quantity I would need. Thinking I could start with a 5lb roaster and upgrade from there if sales took off. Probably jumping the gun a little, but this is something I've thought about for a while but never really thought would be a possibility but this might actually work

 

[jammin]

A good friend of my wife approached her yesterday with an opportunity to take over a bakery in a really high end area. One thing they don't offer that her friend wants to add: coffee... My afternoon has been spent browsing the Buckeye roasters site eyeballing their roasters. I know the shops area would produce great foot traffic and is in an ideal location. My biggest concerns are trying to figure what size roaster I would need and finding a bean supplier that can provide consistent quality and at the quantity I would need. Thinking I could start with a 5lb roaster and upgrade from there if sales took off. Probably jumping the gun a little, but this is something I've thought about for a while but never really thought would be a possibility but this might actually work

A few thoughts on starting a roastery/

- get the biggest roaster you can afford. They hold their value insanely well and there is a great contract market for cafes/roasters that fall short on demand

- be prepared for a diverse customer base. "I'll have a latte with 6 shots" & then proceed to tell how epic they are. And the opposite and totally bitchy.

- coffee won't be hard to source. exceptional beans are a waste on your money making crowd.

- ^that said, it's a great time to diverge from the norm and take advantage of the specialty niche market. There is a new shop in town that has the market corned in high end coffee. They do well but have the location to match

 

[BrewinHooligan]

A few thoughts on starting a roastery/



- get the biggest roaster you can afford. They hold their value insanely well and there is a great contract market for cafes/roasters that fall short on demand



- be prepared for a diverse customer base. "I'll have a latte with 6 shots" & then proceed to tell how epic they are. And the opposite and totally bitchy.



- coffee won't be hard to source. exceptional beans are a waste on your money making crowd.



- ^that said, it's a great time to diverge from the norm and take advantage of the specialty niche market. There is a new shop in town that has the market corned in high end coffee. They do well but have the location to match

Just the man I was hoping would chime in and I will take all of this to heart. I know this location is very good and in a high end area, right next door to the only nail salon in the area and also a flower shop. I'm just not sure if there are any Starbucks or anything else around but I will be researching that this week. I guess I will be less concerned about the high end quality of the beans as long as they aren't junk but I would like them to be consistent. I think the nail salon would be excellent for driving in traffic for the coffee.

I did see that Buckeye roasters sells machines to make your own K-cups. As much as I dislike Kuerigs, it's something I would probably have to seriously consider adding to the lineup as well with as popular as they are. I refuse to use them, but that's all my wife will use. She also claims she can't tell a difference between folgers and what I roast so she isn't allowed to drink my coffee. Lol

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Edit- Indonesia island about 1500m, suspect probably dense beans. Any profile tips or roasting tips for an Indonesian bean? This will be my first.

TD

I have found that they tend to be somewhat inconsistent from island to island, lot to lot. They'll have differing moisture content and take heat differently.

While I usually use one particular roast profile for African beans, and another for Central Americans, what I've found is that with Indonesian beans I tend to have to try a couple different profiles to see what works best for the lot I bought.

I like the complexity Indo's have, but I don't like spending 1-1.5 lbs trying to figure out how to roast each bag I buy to it's best, so I tend to stay away for the most part.

 

[jammin]

Coffee shipped - should be here Wednesday. Hope to have to it delivered to the group by Saturday.

 

[TrickyDick]

A good friend of my wife approached her yesterday with an opportunity to take over a bakery in a really high end area. One thing they don't offer that her friend wants to add: coffee... My afternoon has been spent browsing the Buckeye roasters site eyeballing their roasters. I know the shops area would produce great foot traffic and is in an ideal location. My biggest concerns are trying to figure what size roaster I would need and finding a bean supplier that can provide consistent quality and at the quantity I would need. Thinking I could start with a 5lb roaster and upgrade from there if sales took off. Probably jumping the gun a little, but this is something I've thought about for a while but never really thought would be a possibility but this might actually work

Should look into the new book from authors of "roast" magazine. It is supposed to cover topics encountered by folks who are doing/have done what you are considering.

 

[TallDan]

Coffee shipped - should be here Wednesday. Hope to have to it delivered to the group by Saturday.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Should look into the new book from authors of "roast" magazine. It is supposed to cover topics encountered by folks who are doing/have done what you are considering.

Sounds like time/money well spent. Do you remember the title or author(s) name(s)?

 

[TrickyDick]

Sounds like time/money well spent. Do you remember the title or author(s) name(s)?

It's called the book of roast. Google roast magazine and you should be able to find it. As with all things coffee, it's kinda pricey for a book.

 

[jammin]

aww yeah

I'm happy to hook someone up with the extra 2lbs if wanted - $22 shipped.

 

[TallDan]

woot!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

At work I brewed some brand new Burundi I just got the other day. It's full of flavor, has this dark cherry body with this grape like sweetness - everything you'd hope for in a Burundi. I made some in the V60 and literally everyone got up from their desk as I walked past, and someone came out of their office because they smelled it.

When I make whatever cheap-o coffee I'm down to as a last resort, no one notices it. Funny how the quality of coffee has such a big sensory difference.

 

[jammin]

i couldn't resist brewing a cup of the Shilcho. Aeropress 16:1 ratio. 2min steep. Tastes like one of those caramels you get in the bulk food section that are square with the clear wrapper. Very clean profile. Low acidity. I'd say don't be afraid to roast this one fairly fast and keep your overall time low. i bet this would make an INCREDIBLE espresso

This is the one profile I managed to save but this batch is on it's way to another member. I think this was the best roast of group last night and almost saved a few grams for myself to try:

 

[TrickyDick]

Thanks for sharing!
I roasted a Kenya tonight, only hit 12% weight loss. Didn't want to overroast it, and its so difficult to hear 1C on the new roaster without ending up smelling like smoke for several hours or until I shower! Frustrating!
TD

So I brewed a cup in the Clever last night after maybe 2 hours resting. I didn't think that it was underroasted or overly sour. Definitely needs some rest time, and not a dumper. Maybe need to take those weight loss parameters with a grain of salt. Did a 50:50 blend with the last of my drima zede beans for today's coffee. It's actually pretty tasty.

 

[jammin]

some folks mentioned the Shilcho info page is gone so here is a link to the PDF:
https://www.royalcoffee.com/wp-cont...thiopiaShilchoBedameSpecialPrepCrownJewel.pdf


Also - a couple new Colombian Geishas recently posted on their site; $22.53/lb. The temptation is strong:
https://www.royalcoffee.com/products/cj1106/