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

[TrickyDick]

Too funny! My wife does not drink coffee so its just me. ditto on beer. I got like 10 kegs of sour beer from 2014-2016 never been tapped. Maybe needs to be dumped.

So in other news, my Baratza (I think been bought out by Behmor??) Vario grinder bean hopper broke (again) and they sold me their new design hopper which didn't fit and cost more. I kinda pissed about it. Last time it broke they sent a free one, this time they make me buy one that didn't fit or work at all, then I got to buy new upper burr holder to use it. then they say oh we have the old style hopper, well, why the heck not just sell me that one in the first place!! The website is wonky too and couldn't find the old style hopper. So in the end, I bought the new style hopper, the new burr holder, a new ceramic burr (One of my original burrs was chipped from factory but I use steel burrs now anyway, but maybe someday want to have a set of ceramic just in case) plus two of the old style hoppers since they eventually break. I figure I have a lifetime left on the parts. Around $100 for all those parts. Great grinder.

I gave my LHBS all my bottles - most new in box intended for bottling all those sour beers, but they never carbonate right in bottles so that is why i never used them. He runs a mill street roaster and he gave me a bunch of India Monsooned he called it. some greens and some he roasted. It was quite nice for someone who likes light roast. Smooth and not overly roasty, although he said he stopped about 15 sec into second crack. Was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

 

[corkybstewart]

Taste it before you dump it. I have one tap dedicated for sour/brett beers in one kegerator, this spring I'll brew some sort of wild ale, probably brett something or other to let sit for the 4 months I'll be traveling.

 

[TrickyDick]

 

[TrickyDick]

Look how small the beans are. Is often challenging to roast small beans. Need some advice

 

[ba-brewer]

Seem like I bought Sweet Marias Ethiopia DP Benti nenka twice, once in June and again just recently. I was assuming they are the same beans even though the current beans has a July arrival on the SM page but looking at the label they have different lot codes and descriptions. I have not roasted any of the latest purchase but I don't recall having issues with the previous beans falling thru the drum(I roast on a quest). If you are concerned about beans falling thru your drum give them spin without heat.

I still have some of the previous purchase and the beans look of similar size to the new purchase and they also seem about the same size of other Ethiopian beans I have on hand. They are for sure quite small compared to normal Central American beans.

I was planning to roast some of these beans in a couple days along with a different Ethiopian coffee but now I am thinking about doing the old and new lots to see if there is a difference.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

@TrickyDick Try keeping it a little slow so they don't rush into 1c early. I like to stretch out development on Ethiopians like this - it helps bring out sweetness and also prevents the small beans from going into 1c too soon.

Regarding potential for them to come out the front, I've had this before with the Bullet as well. Before your preheat, try pulling the drum toward the front of the roaster just to make sure the air gap is as minimal as possible. I believe there's a guide from Aillio on how to adjust the drum/spacing but it's been a while since I looked into it.

Hope this helps a bit, please do post your results.

 

[ba-brewer]

I roasted the Sweet Marias Ethiopia DP Benti nenka beans the other day. I did do both lots I have and tried to roast them the same way. I did the older beans first and it came into first crack at about 8min but it was very soft and did not really get going hard. I dropped after 1min15sec and it was still cracking. I thought maybe it was the age of the beans(had for over 6months) but the second or latest batch roasted about the same. The picture below is the roasted coffee, quite a bit of variation in color so possible the reason for the softer first crack.

I roasted 4 central american coffees and a different Ethiopian coffee prior and I was getting first crack at about 8:30 with the first few crackles of second crack about 12min when I dropped the beans. The Benti nenka beans were about 30seconds faster into first crack for the same roaster setting, dropped before second crack though.

 

[TrickyDick]

to me that is a crazy looking roast outcome. How did it taste?

 

[ba-brewer]

I have not tried it yet, I generally give my dry process coffees a few days rest before trying them. I roast 6 different coffees in a session and rotate through them so I have something new each day.

There can be some variation in dry process coffee but that is quite extreme. The fact that the coffee had a July arrival and still available probable says something.

 

[MajorJC]

I knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread...

Just placed an order from coffeebeancorral.com for local pickup. I had no idea there was a coffee broker just 22 minutes from my house.

February SAMPLER February Coffee Sample Pack
Colombia: Don Enrique Reserve, Narino Qty: 1/2 lb bag (sample)
Ethiopia Organic Sidamo Shantawene Natural G1 Qty: 1/2 lb bag (sample)
Mexico: La Laja Honey, Tlaltetela, Veracruz Qty: 1/2 lb bag (sample)
Java: Organic Taman Dadar, Kayumas Qty: 1/2 lb bag (sample)
Papua New Guinea: Organic Purosa A/X, Eastern Highlands Qty: 1/2 lb bag (sample)
$17.50

HAITIBUNDLE Haitian 3 Lb Bundle
Haiti High Elevation Blue Pine Qty: 1 lb bag
Haiti High Elevation Marre Blanc Qty: 1 lb bag
Haiti High Elevation Savanne Zombie Qty: 1 lb bag
$24.00

SubTotal: $41.50
Discounts: -$0.00
Tax: $3.32
Shipping: $0.00
Handling: $0.00
Grand Total: $44.82

 

[ba-brewer]

to me that is a crazy looking roast outcome. How did it taste?

I tried the coffees and I think the older beans were better. It had a decent fruit punch and herbal tea like aroma (geisha coffee like), the herbal tea was the predominant flavor when hot shifting to a light chocolate as it cooled. The new beans were similar but more muted and less fruit, it had the same chocolate flavor as it cooled. Both had decent body and only a slight touch of acid.

I am pretty sure I didn't mix up which beans were which but I sort of wonder if I did.

 

[TrickyDick]

@TrickyDick Try keeping it a little slow so they don't rush into 1c early. I like to stretch out development on Ethiopians like this - it helps bring out sweetness and also prevents the small beans from going into 1c too soon.

Regarding potential for them to come out the front, I've had this before with the Bullet as well. Before your preheat, try pulling the drum toward the front of the roaster just to make sure the air gap is as minimal as possible. I believe there's a guide from Aillio on how to adjust the drum/spacing but it's been a while since I looked into it.

Hope this helps a bit, please do post your results.

Haven't roasted any in a while. Will post results. Drum spacing sounds like no fun. I always get some beans that fall out of the drum somehow.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Haven't roasted any in a while. Will post results. Drum spacing sounds like no fun. I always get some beans that fall out of the drum somehow.

Yeah it sounds like a bigger pain than it is. I need to do a deep clean and probably will adjust mine a bit. If I ever get around to it I'll post the process here for the Bullet guys.

 

[MajorJC]

I picked up my order yesterday from coffeebeancorral.com and roasted my first batch of coffee beans.

They sell what they call seasoning beans that are cheaper than the other beans. I bought a 3# bag of these seasoning beans to practice with.
My new SR800 roaster seemed to do a good job of roasting the beans. I then poured them in a canning jar to off-gas for a day. This morning I ground some up and SWMBO and I had our first cups of home roasted coffee. She said it was better than Waffle House, which is high praise for her because she has always said that Waffle House made the best coffee. I was surprised at how easy it was to roast coffee at home. The roaster I bought came with two sample packs, and I had already bought another sample pack, along with some individual samples based on what I thought I'd like using their Coffee Bean Matrix which lets you filter their selection of coffees based on different flavor attributes.

 

[TrickyDick]

Tell me about your roaster there. Electric I assume? Max capacity? Cost? How do you control the roast or is it automatic? Are there settings you can adjust?
TD

 

[MajorJC]

Tell me about your roaster there.

Instead of me trying to explain this roster, since I've only used it twice now. Let me link to a YouTube video where somebody else made a beginner's guide for it.
Details and cost: Fresh Roast SR800 Roaster <--follow link.




My second roast details.

 

[Ruint]

Awesome @major JC. Good to hear your first roasting session turned out so good. You have a lot of fantastic coffee tastings in your future! Definitely try the coffees you roast at different finishing levels, meaning some light (city) and then some darker levels (city+, city++). That is with every coffee too, as you might like African coffees at a lighter roast, and Latin American coffees a little darker. Welcome, any way you choose, to flavorful coffee. Look forward to hearing more of you journey!!

 

[TrickyDick]

I love it he lighter roasts especially the Ethiopian dry process stuff with the fruit flavors and bit of acidity. Occasionally mix it up with darker American beans with chocolate flavors. A local guy had some monsooned dark roast that he gave me to try and was so smooth compared to other dark roasts. Would be good for blends too.
So much to explore.

TD

 

[pshankstar]

Ok bullet users! Yes I'm talking to you @Ruint and @HarborTownBrewing but I'm not sure who else here has one. I believe I will be able to pull the trigger on one myself next month or early April! Woohoo!

With that said, do you Bullet users have any advice or suggestions on things to order along with the roaster? I know I will need to buy some cheap beans to season the drum. I see Sweet Maria's sells some of the items for it such as the plug, filters, baskets, bowls, tool kit, etc... Would you say any of those items are a necessity? Is there any particular cleaning solutions or supplies worth getting too? I plan to do my research over the coming weeks but figured there's no harm asking friends here what they would suggest. Thanks in advance!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

@pshankstar whoa whoa whoa, I thought we had an unofficial deal that you'd be taking my Bullet someday! To go alongside my previous grinder and Behmor...

In all seriousness the Bullet is an amazing roaster and I've never regretted purchasing it. In terms of "extras", I don't really think you need to get anything additional. The package should come with everything you need - those parts sweet Maria's sells are for if you break or wear out something that originally came with it. For instance, I purchased a new chaff filter eventually because after probably about 750 lbs I was really struggling to get my filter clean.

So yeah that leaves you with buying seasoning beans. I just purchased the cheapest beans available when I placed my next Burman order, so I think it was their $3.99 Brazil and it did the job. Doesn't need to be labeled as a "seasoning bean" like some distributors do. Other than that, you don't need much extra - I clean mine with simple green and have a shop vac handy to handle the loose chaff.

There is as steep a learning curve as you want it to be with the Bullet (like any fully manual roaster). I have gotten perhaps a little comfortable with the same few profiles and haven't experimented a ton, but there are resources out there where very qualified people share what they are doing. These would be worth reading (fb pages, Aillio forum, reddit, etc).

Happy to share more if you have any questions or hesitations. I've been a big fan of the product and their support in the five years I've had mine.

 

[pshankstar]

@pshankstar whoa whoa whoa, I thought we had an unofficial deal that you'd be taking my Bullet someday! To go alongside my previous grinder and Behmor...

In all seriousness the Bullet is an amazing roaster and I've never regretted purchasing it. In terms of "extras", I don't really think you need to get anything additional. The package should come with everything you need - those parts sweet Maria's sells are for if you break or wear out something that originally came with it. For instance, I purchased a new chaff filter eventually because after probably about 750 lbs I was really struggling to get my filter clean.

So yeah that leaves you with buying seasoning beans. I just purchased the cheapest beans available when I placed my next Burman order, so I think it was their $3.99 Brazil and it did the job. Doesn't need to be labeled as a "seasoning bean" like some distributors do. Other than that, you don't need much extra - I clean mine with simple green and have a shop vac handy to handle the loose chaff.

There is as steep a learning curve as you want it to be with the Bullet (like any fully manual roaster). I have gotten perhaps a little comfortable with the same few profiles and haven't experimented a ton, but there are resources out there where very qualified people share what they are doing. These would be worth reading (fb pages, Aillio forum, reddit, etc).

Happy to share more if you have any questions or hesitations. I've been a big fan of the product and their support in the five years I've had mine.

Haha you’re right, the unofficial agreement looks to come to an end. It’s nothing personal it’s not you but me. I’ve been eyeing the bullet a few years now & with some new changes I’m in a spot to drop the money on it. Plus I’m looking forward to being able to roast more coffee each time. It will save a lot of time when I want to roast some extra coffee for the kids teachers for gifts and gifts for friends and family.
Thank you bud for the insight! That’s very helpful to know. I was curious about the filters, so it’s nice to know they last a while.

 

[pshankstar]

Well that happened sooner than I expected! I ordered the Bullet today along with some new coffee to roast! Woohoo!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Congrats @pshankstar ! You're going to love it.

 

[passedpawn]

One day for sure! ... in the meantime, still doing this

 

[pshankstar]

Has anyone bought coffee bags with valves of Aliexpress, Alibaba, etc? Or anything else? I was thinking of buying a smaller amount like a thousand which would last me a lifetime. Or would sell some off to others here if interested. I’ve bought some from Amazon but I was thinking this would be a much cheaper alternative if it’s worth it.

I’m just curious if anyone has had any experience with these platforms good or bad.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Cheapest valve bags I've seen without a minimum order is Burman. I usually order a hundred from them whenever I place my order. Price went up a little but I think it's still only about $.40/bag

 

[pshankstar]

Cheapest valve bags I've seen without a minimum order is Burman. I usually order a hundred from them whenever I place my order. Price went up a little but I think it's still only about $.40/bag

I had no idea! Thank you! I will definitely keep that in mind when I order from them next time.

 

[MajorJC]

This morning I roasted 1/2 pound of MEXICO ORGANIC CIRSA FTO Chiapas

I kept waiting for first crack to end, but the popping sound never slowed down. I think it moved into second crack as first crack was still going. Is this possible?
I was shooting for a medium roast, but I think this went more into the medium-dark range. What do y'all think?
This is a Mexican coffee from the 2021/2022 harvest year. Coffeebeancorral.com sells this "past crop" for $5.00/lb, so I thought I'd give it a try, but I'm wondering if being older made it roast faster than the current harvest year beans.

 

[ba-brewer]

@MajorJC it is possible to go from first crack into second crack without a quiet time, coming into first crack too hot can do that.

Old beans can roast different sometime they will can have a softer first crack which makes it harder to hear if your roaster is noisy.

 

[pshankstar]

@mashpaddled & @Lax coach are you two still enjoying your Aillio Bullet? In my research I see you two bought one a few years ago. Mine should be here tomorrow. I hope I have time to season the drum this weekend and maybe roast my first batch too.