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

[TrickyDick]

I hit 1C at 9:23 PM as best I can tell.
I hit 341F at 9:22:20 So I am guessing that I hit 1C around 345-350 ish? I was marking temp and time every 30 seconds until I hit 300 then quit until I hit 340 and marked that shortly after I hit the first crack. I need to be more attentive to the roasting process and mark when the cracks start - darn spring break kids at the neighbors were distracting!!

Keeping notes!!!

The beans were "peaberry" smallish beans, so I am not sure if these results will be worthwhile for larger sized beans.

I have cooled the beans and let rest till room temp and then sotring in a vented canister. If I can avoid using them, I will plan to try my first brew for this Friday morning, to allow 3 fulls days rest.
it is going to be killer to resist
TD

 

[jammin]

^thats good you wrote down what time/temp you hit 1C

I'll say this though, peaberry's are a devil of a bean to roast. They hit 1C early and easily and can transition to 2c at the drop of a hat if your drum temp is too high.

In short, PB's are terrible for learning on (although they can be delicious!). Don't get too frustrated with them if they misbehave and be sure to cut them some slack by easing up on the power heading into and through 1C.

 

[Bensiff]

I have cooled the beans and let rest till room temp and then sotring in a vented canister. If I can avoid using them, I will plan to try my first brew for this Friday morning, to allow 3 fulls days rest.
it is going to be killer to resist
TD

Pish posh, try your first batch tomorrow. Some do great quickly, some really want some rest. Knowing how the bean ages is not much different than trying your beers as they condition. Some are ready right off the bat, others need some time to fully mature. And sometimes you really need coffee and you know if you roast it, cool it, and brew it, even though it will be pretty rough from only being out of the roaster for 30 minutes it is still better than most coffees.

 

[jammin]

^im w/Ben - brew it up! I rarely "age" my coffee and it's always good

 

[TrickyDick]

Ok then! I used some Peet's coffee this morning, tomorrow I'll try the home roast.

By the way, I know there are plenty of ways to roast the beans, but in general, should you always want to get to the second crack?

Made first cup using aero press today in afternoon, Peet's again. Impressive, even when using beans ground in morning.

TD

 

[TallDan]

Roasted .5lb tonight. Some will be brewed tomorrow morning. Not ideal, but better than decaf
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426043173.985960.jpg

 

[jammin]

^nice looking roast, Dan. Looks like City range

 

[TallDan]

^nice looking roast, Dan. Looks like City range

Thanks!
If you're judging primarily on color, at least on my screen it looks a bit lighter in the picture than it does in person. I'm actually a bit unsure of what degree of roast I'm getting, I think it's mostly City+, but don't trust my own judgement. I should probably take 1/4lb and sacrifice it for educational purposes so that I'm more confident in what second crack sounds like and what the coffee looks like when it's into Vienna territory.

 

[jammin]

^i judge on bean structure. Your roast has tight seams and sharp edges with a slightly wrinkly skin - city/city+ sounds just about right to me.


Pro tip: find the "sweet spot" of your roaster and always stick with it. Each roaster behaves best with a specific amount (mass) of greens. My roaster loves 227 grams of coffee and I use a scale to weigh that out for each roast.

 

[maffew222]

Fully surprised that some of the best home-roasting info I've seen has come from a homebrewing forum. As a former professional roaster in a competitive CA Bay Area market, you guys/gals are on point. Though personally I think roasted coffee needs a couple days to degas and mellow out a bit, that's about the only thing I've been a stickler with. Keep up the good info!

 

[Bensiff]

Fully surprised that some of the best home-roasting info I've seen has come from a homebrewing forum. As a former professional roaster in a competitive CA Bay Area market, you guys/gals are on point. Though personally I think roasted coffee needs a couple days to degas and mellow out a bit, that's about the only thing I've been a stickler with. Keep up the good info!

I agree. But idealism won't stop me from drinking fresh roasted coffee if it's between that and the emergency coffee my wife keeps on hand for when I forget to roast

 

[Chuginator]

Fully surprised that some of the best home-roasting info I've seen has come from a homebrewing forum. As a former professional roaster in a competitive CA Bay Area market, you guys/gals are on point. Though personally I think roasted coffee needs a couple days to degas and mellow out a bit, that's about the only thing I've been a stickler with. Keep up the good info!

I'm not sure I'd be too surprised. Home brewers are an inventive and curious bunch; we yearn for experimentation and studying/modifying the processes.

 

[TallDan]

^i judge on bean structure. Your roast has tight seams and sharp edges with a slightly wrinkly skin - city/city+ sounds just about right to me.


Pro tip: find the "sweet spot" of your roaster and always stick with it. Each roaster behaves best with a specific amount (mass) of greens. My roaster loves 227 grams of coffee and I use a scale to weigh that out for each roast.

Even looking at the pictures from Sweet Maria's and others, I'm having a hard time picking out those details to judge degree of roast. So thanks, that helps me.

I don't know that I've really found the "sweet spot", but other than some of the first runs that I did 4oz batches, I've been sticking with 8oz (so, same as you) every time. This is really a decision based on practicality, a half pound is a good amount of coffee for me to consume while fresh without having to roast too frequently.

I've also been sticking to the same roaster settings on the behmor for almost all of the roasting i've done. (1/2 P2 B) That said, i think this works because most of the coffee that I've roasted has been similar types. (Except the decaf)

I agree. But idealism won't stop me from drinking fresh roasted coffee if it's between that and the emergency coffee my wife keeps on hand for when I forget to roast

That's my situation today. I've been trying to keep my supply such that I can give all beans a 48 hour rest before brewing, but yesterday morning i realized that I didn't have enough coffee for today, so I roasted last night. (Giving away 1/4lb to my sister over the weekend threw me off.) Today's coffee is about 25% Colombian that was roasted Saturday, and 75% Guatemalan roasted last night. Honestly, it's not very good, coming across as astringent, I'm guessing that will settle down over the next day or so.

 

[jdubdvdt]

Figured some of you would be interested in some budget roasting options.

https://www.sweetmarias.com/instructions.php

I will probably do that soon enough, but I am currently enjoying spending $20/lb

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Ok then! I used some Peet's coffee this morning, tomorrow I'll try the home roast.

By the way, I know there are plenty of ways to roast the beans, but in general, should you always want to get to the second crack?

Made first cup using aero press today in afternoon, Peet's again. Impressive, even when using beans ground in morning.

TD

Should we always want to get to 2c? Of course not! I think??

It depends. Depends on the bean, your mood, and the cycle of the moon. Sometimes I really want a darker columbian taken to 2c, other times I want a light roast ethiopian.

Lately I've been taking my guatemalan about 3 pops in to 2c because it was tasting a little green.

 

[jammin]

I haven't roasted to 2C in years.

I aim to hit 1C in 8-9min and stretch another 1-3min depending on the coffee.

Dense, acidic beans get a longer stretch while softer/dry process beans get a short stretch.

 

[TrickyDick]

Swapped the ceramic burrs on my Vario last night to steel burrs. What a PITA! Also, the non-tooth side of the steel and ceramic burrs aren't milled the same. There is a rim which is higher on the steel burr. The effect I think is going to be that coffee grounds will fill the crack in over time between the bottom of the burr and the burr retainer/base spilling old grounds into the bin over time. It's probably a 1-1.5 mm gap, maybe 2 mm. The rim is visibly higher on the steel burr set than the ceramic burr.

Also, the hopper now needs to be manual held while grinding because otherwise it loosens itself and the safety switch contact shuts off the motor.

Question to those ordering from sweet maria, how do you know when they get new coffee without having to check their page daily?

 

[jammin]

^TD - call baratza or get on YouTube about your burr install. Your hopper shouldn't behave like that - nor do you want to fight it every day. Baratza customer service is top shelf - don't hesitate to get a hold of them.


I follow SM's on Facebook so they show up in my feed. I also check their page almost every day out of boredom when surfing the web. Unfortunately (fortunately?) they don't have an email update list about new beans.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Interesting thing about SM's I noticed last night: if you are going to the "Green Coffee" tab at the top, and looking for a specific country, they don't always have a link to all countries they have in stock.

Last night I was looking for some Ethiopian, but there was no "Ethiopian" choice under the African area. But they still had 4 or so Ethiopian coffees if you navigated to it another way. I see this morning they now have an Ethiopian choice. I kind of felt like I was ordering off the secret menu last night

I roasted up a bunch of Brazil to make Irish Coffees with this weekend, using Buena Vista's recipe. If you haven't tried this before, give it a go. The Irish coffee is good, but with home-roasted coffee...it's faaaaantastic. Here is the recipe: http://www.thebuenavista.com/home/irishcoffee.html

 

[Mexibilly]

My favorite is Sumatra, fresh ground in my wife's Vitamix. Strong and dark, like my wife

 

[TrickyDick]

Thanks! I am now following SM on FB.

Turns out the burrs are just fine and supposed to be different like that. I'm waiting to hear back on the hopper issue. Not sure what kind of warranty they have, mine is at least 5 yrs old.
TD

 

[TrickyDick]

Here is my latest roast of the peaberry beans

 

[TallDan]

Here is my latest roast of the peaberry beans

That's a REAL light roast.

 

[Chuginator]

That's a REAL light roast.

LOL!! I thought my internet connection was slow and I was waiting for the picture to load to see just how light it was. Wow... LONG day.

 

[TrickyDick]

That's a REAL light roast.

technical difficulties...

pics to follow. Sometimes I really hate computers.....

 

[passedpawn]

technical difficulties...

pics to follow. Sometimes I really hate computers.....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/homebrewtalk-tips-tricks.html

browse down to "How to post pics". I just posted this to the front page

 

[TrickyDick]

Ok here are some pics.
I used 227g charge with charge temp 275.
Spent 18:00 before eject. I did a graph too
Here it is
The temp is the displayed temp on roaster.
It was hard to hear cracks on those peaberry beans. Seems like they began at 9:15. Never heard a second crack begin.

View attachment 1426288649528.jpg

View attachment 1426288661500.jpg

View attachment 1426288674211.jpg

View attachment 1426288685125.jpg

View attachment 1426288809936.jpg

 

[passedpawn]

Your camera flash makes it look too light, but the later pics look great!

 

[TrickyDick]

Seemed strange as a NooB that it stalled at 360 for so long, and I heard minimal cracking, though the beans have definitely cracked.

I guess time will tell how this turns out...

Brewed a few cups with that AeroPress and I must say that I am very impressed.

TD

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Peaberry beans are soooo hard to hear crack. They are really tough to learn with.

My first batch ever was a ethiopian yirg peaberry, on a whirly pop out on my grill above a busy street. I never heard 1c; lucky for me that coffee somehow turned out fantastic and got me committed.