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

[TallDan]

Was out of town (Boston area) this week and just accepted that I would have crappy coffee the whole time. Got home and roasted that Kenya AA from GCC last night. Cappuccinos today are outstanding. I wasn't expecting much since the beans only had about 12 hours rest, but either because it's good or because I haven't had good coffee for several days, it's a great experience today.

 

[banesong]

Roasted 8oz of Peruvian last night, and 1# of Sumatran today. Have coffee for a week now! Darn teen getting into coffee.

View attachment 1445120961671.jpg

View attachment 1445120972204.jpg

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Bane, let us know how that Peru comes out - I haven't had one in a while but have been thinking about ordering one.

I'm trying to nail down a profile for a Guat so I've got 1.5 lbs roasted. It's been a very caffeinated last few days that's for sure

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I am pretty impressed with the coffees I got from homeroastcoffee.com, both the Brazilian and the Ethiopian are just as described and seem to be excellent quality. With lower costs than Sweet Maria's I will be using them more frequently. The Brazilian especially really hits my buttons

 

[UndeadFred]

I am just broke out a vacuum sealed bag of Yemen Ismali and will have Moka Java tomorrow.. Needed it. It has been a crappy week, month.. And year.. So I deserve it...

 

[banesong]

Bane, let us know how that Peru comes out - I haven't had one in a while but have been thinking about ordering one.

I'm trying to nail down a profile for a Guat so I've got 1.5 lbs roasted. It's been a very caffeinated last few days that's for sure

This is the third version that I have done. Some of the Peru has been decent, some of it palid. I have a neighbor that is a coffee trader, I have been giving him homebrew for green beans! The current batch, I have hope for; it is FTO, and the roast is on the light side. The taste I sneaked this morning was a bit lighter than expected.

 

[passedpawn]

I fired up my ghetto roaster on the driveway and roasted 5# yirgacheffe (1# batches). It's bagged now, will be brewing this week.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

I did a pound and a half of yirg last night (last of the bag) in my turbocrazy. I love that thing.

I recently added pid control by throwing together a tc4 esque setup from spare parts, and implementing the serial command interface that Artisan uses. I'd have bought a tc4 but I realized I had all the basic parts lying around. It works like a champ, and let's me avoid playing temp knob roulette.

 

[TrickyDick]

I did a pound and a half of yirg last night (last of the bag) in my turbocrazy. I love that thing.

I recently added pid control by throwing together a tc4 esque setup from spare parts, and implementing the serial command interface that Artisan uses. I'd have bought a tc4 but I realized I had all the basic parts lying around. It works like a champ, and let's me avoid playing temp knob roulette.

So details please! I find artisan nice, but I don't think I am grasping its full operational ability. I bought the somewhat pricey TC4 module to add PID functionality, but I don't really know how to implement it! I have a HotTop with USB port upgrade that directly interfaces with Artisan without using an Arduino/TC4. I have a couple Arduinos. I had been tinkering with one to try and build a dry cure chamber, but its sort of on hold at the moment. I think I fried some components with static, which seems unusual. At any rate, I thought of some other projects an bought a couple knock-off Arduino boards and Viola, the PID / TC4 project seemed to be the perfect way to use one.

How do you run it? How do you setup the Arduino/TC4? What about a sketch? Where do you get it all?

Thanks!

TD

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

So details please! I find artisan nice, but I don't think I am grasping its full operational ability. I bought the somewhat pricey TC4 module to add PID functionality, but I don't really know how to implement it! I have a HotTop with USB port upgrade that directly interfaces with Artisan without using an Arduino/TC4. I have a couple Arduinos. I had been tinkering with one to try and build a dry cure chamber, but its sort of on hold at the moment. I think I fried some components with static, which seems unusual. At any rate, I thought of some other projects an bought a couple knock-off Arduino boards and Viola, the PID / TC4 project seemed to be the perfect way to use one.

How do you run it? How do you setup the Arduino/TC4? What about a sketch? Where do you get it all?

Thanks!

TD

I'm cutting tile right now, but I'll be sure to post something this evening, after I'm done getting silicosis.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

So details please! I find artisan nice, but I don't think I am grasping its full operational ability. I bought the somewhat pricey TC4 module to add PID functionality, but I don't really know how to implement it! I have a HotTop with USB port upgrade that directly interfaces with Artisan without using an Arduino/TC4.

Awesome, I took a quick look around the interwebs and it looks like the newer hottops have direct USB communication support for heater control, and the older ones do a sort of Artisan -> TC4 -> Hottop bunny hop:
http://artisan-roasterscope.blogspot.de/2013/02/controlling-hottop.html

I have a couple Arduinos. I had been tinkering with one to try and build a dry cure chamber, but its sort of on hold at the moment. I think I fried some components with static, which seems unusual. At any rate, I thought of some other projects an bought a couple knock-off Arduino boards and Viola, the PID / TC4 project seemed to be the perfect way to use one.

How do you run it? How do you setup the Arduino/TC4? What about a sketch? Where do you get it all?

Thanks!

TD

I run it by selecting TC4 in the device selection window and clicking the 'control button' check box. From there, by clicking on the control box in the upper right hand corner of Artisan, I can either enable the SV slider or use the ramp/soak function.

To build this thing I used an old Uno I had lying around, a pair of MAX6675 TC amplifiers (it's an old amp, but I've had them for ages) (http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAX6675-Mod...924042?hash=item5d517a3d0a:g:DFgAAOSw~1FUVKpW), and a Teledyne SSR (This is all just junk I had lying around in my electronics bins). I'm also going to add an DS18B20 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/111687749572?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82) for ambient temp readings when I have a few minutes.

Layout wise, 1 of the TCs goes into my expansion ring, 1 into the 'floor' of the stir crazy. I gutted my turbo oven, separated the fan and heater functions, and wired the heater to an SSR. At the moment the fan is just 'on' all the time, so I'm pondering wiring the fan to a proportional output SSR and PWM'ing it as an experiment.

The heater SSR is driven by the Arduino, using fast pwm (https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/SecretsOfArduinoPWM) + the awesome arudino PID library (https://github.com/br3ttb/Arduino-PID-Library/).

Again this is all my ghetto-tastic set-up to emulate the very handy TC4 and the Aartisan_QPID sketch which you can use. (http://www.homeroasters.org/php/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=3322&getfile=5270)

I'll be happy to clean up my sketch, and post it later this week (it's pre-alpha right now), if anyone is interested in it.

Cheers!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I've been toying around with a couple Guatemalan roasts. I had some lighter roasts that were a little acidic/fruit forward about 3-5 days after the roast, but after 7 days now they are tasting creamy with no acidity or fruit flavor. It tastes alright, but I don't believe it's how they should be tasting at all.

Anyone have any ideas on why the dramatic flavor change may occur over the course of a few days?

Nothing has changed in my brewing process, and I have cleaned out my grinder before each batch.

 

[TrickyDick]

Awesome, I took a quick look around the interwebs and it looks like the newer hottops have direct USB communication support for heater control, and the older ones do a sort of Artisan -> TC4 -> Hottop bunny hop:
http://artisan-roasterscope.blogspot.de/2013/02/controlling-hottop.html



I run it by selecting TC4 in the device selection window and clicking the 'control button' check box. From there, by clicking on the control box in the upper right hand corner of Artisan, I can either enable the SV slider or use the ramp/soak function.

To build this thing I used an old Uno I had lying around, a pair of MAX6675 TC amplifiers (it's an old amp, but I've had them for ages) (http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAX6675-Mod...924042?hash=item5d517a3d0a:g:DFgAAOSw~1FUVKpW), and a Teledyne SSR (This is all just junk I had lying around in my electronics bins). I'm also going to add an DS18B20 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/111687749572?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82) for ambient temp readings when I have a few minutes.

Layout wise, 1 of the TCs goes into my expansion ring, 1 into the 'floor' of the stir crazy. I gutted my turbo oven, separated the fan and heater functions, and wired the heater to an SSR. At the moment the fan is just 'on' all the time, so I'm pondering wiring the fan to a proportional output SSR and PWM'ing it as an experiment.

The heater SSR is driven by the Arduino, using fast pwm (https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/SecretsOfArduinoPWM) + the awesome arudino PID library (https://github.com/br3ttb/Arduino-PID-Library/).

Again this is all my ghetto-tastic set-up to emulate the very handy TC4 and the Aartisan_QPID sketch which you can use. (http://www.homeroasters.org/php/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=3322&getfile=5270)

I'll be happy to clean up my sketch, and post it later this week (it's pre-alpha right now), if anyone is interested in it.

Cheers!

Thanks!

I am uncertain if this is a one step forward but two step back situation for me. Since I already have native USB control, what am I gaining? Well the answer is PID temp control, but what does that buy me? I guess I could create a temp curve and ask the PID to get the HotTop to follow it for me by automatically controlling the heater. That's one thing (and a big one!). Not sure where the fan control ties into this, but I've always suspected that the fan doesn't do much besides venting the smoke. seems whenever I crank it up from a slow speed to a high speed I get a small bump in ROR (or DeltaBT).

How does the arduino sketch come into play? Where do you set the control of the PID function or temp? Is that all within Artisan? Does the Artisan control the Arduino?

TD

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

Thanks!

I am uncertain if this is a one step forward but two step back situation for me. Since I already have native USB control, what am I gaining? Well the answer is PID temp control, but what does that buy me? I guess I could create a temp curve and ask the PID to get the HotTop to follow it for me by automatically controlling the heater.

That is indeed what it get's you. Again if your hottop has native USB control you may not even need the TC4 to do the PID control.

I've always suspected that the fan doesn't do much besides venting the smoke. seems whenever I crank it up from a slow speed to a high speed I get a small bump in ROR (or DeltaBT).

Could be, I just happen to have a few proportional output SSRs lying around so I thought I'd give it a whack and see what happens

How does the arduino sketch come into play? Where do you set the control of the PID function or temp? Is that all within Artisan? Does the Artisan control the Arduino?

TD

My sketch is just because I'm not using a TC4 but instead my own home brewed configuration that emulates the TC4. The TC4 has an excellent sketch of it's own that I linked previously. The PID logic lives in the sketch, and if you use the profile loader sketch in the Aartisan_QPID zip file (http://www.homeroasters.org/php/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=3322), then so does the roasting curve (that sketch has the task of inputting your curve into the EEPROM on the TC4). Alternately You can choose to semi-manually force your own profiles in Artisan by using the control button that I mentioned earlier and either using set-points or the ramp/soak functionality.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I wish I had your guys' toys, but alas I do not.

Roasted some beans doing my usual texas two step approach. Preheat beans in 250 or 275 oven, then finish off on the stovetop. This time I preheated the beans WITH the oven instead of adding afterwards, bad move. They went straight to 2nd crack before the oven was even pre heated, never had this happen before, they've never even reached 1st crack in a 325 oven.. Weird, does an oven typically heat a lot higher than stabilizes at a lower temp once the enclosure absorbs some of that heat?

 

[TrickyDick]

That is indeed what it get's you. Again if your hottop has native USB control you may not even need the TC4 to do the PID control.



Could be, I just happen to have a few proportional output SSRs lying around so I thought I'd give it a whack and see what happens



My sketch is just because I'm not using a TC4 but instead my own home brewed configuration that emulates the TC4. The TC4 has an excellent sketch of it's own that I linked previously. The PID logic lives in the sketch, and if you use the profile loader sketch in the Aartisan_QPID zip file (http://www.homeroasters.org/php/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=3322), then so does the roasting curve (that sketch has the task of inputting your curve into the EEPROM on the TC4). Alternately You can choose to semi-manually force your own profiles in Artisan by using the control button that I mentioned earlier and either using set-points or the ramp/soak functionality.

Cool.

I would need the TC4 in order to do PID, as Artisan and the HotTop do not have built in PID functionality.

One of these days I'll get around to doing this.

TD

 

[ba-brewer]

I wish I had your guys' toys, but alas I do not.

Roasted some beans doing my usual texas two step approach. Preheat beans in 250 or 275 oven, then finish off on the stovetop. This time I preheated the beans WITH the oven instead of adding afterwards, bad move. They went straight to 2nd crack before the oven was even pre heated, never had this happen before, they've never even reached 1st crack in a 325 oven.. Weird, does an oven typically heat a lot higher than stabilizes at a lower temp once the enclosure absorbs some of that heat?

If you have not already tried it you should give the heat gun dog bowl method a shot. It is an hands on approach but does produce a decent roast with not too much practice or expense. I used to use a heat gun along with a cast iron pot and a camp stove set on low to add more control and produce excellent coffee.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I've done the two step approach probably 50~ times, just never kept the coffee in the oven while it preheats so I was rather surprised by the fact that the beans reached 2nd crack in a preheating oven.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I've got to say the coffee and cigar combo is dramatically under rated - at least here in Chicago. A. Fuentes paired with some PNG equated to lunchtime happiness.

View attachment 1445466026261.jpg

 

[banesong]

What low price roasting methods do people use? Beginning to be tired of the whirley pop.

 

[passedpawn]

What low price roasting methods do people use? Beginning to be tired of the whirley pop.

Probably the best one is the turbo oven on top of the stir crazy popcorn machine, with a piece of ducting in the middle. I posted a crappy picture up above there. It does work pretty well.

 

[TallDan]

I've got to say the coffee and cigar combo is dramatically under rated - at least here in Chicago. A. Fuentes paired with some PNG equated to lunchtime happiness.

Pic I posted to the HBT stoagie thread recently:
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445473355.688570.jpg

It was an excellent pairing.

 

[banesong]

Probably the best one is the turbo oven on top of the stir crazy popcorn machine, with a piece of ducting in the middle. I posted a crappy picture up above there. It does work pretty well.

Hrmm... Saw a stir crazy for 10$ on Craig's list yesterday.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Pic I posted to the HBT stoagie thread recently:

It was an excellent pairing.

That makes me want a cigar so bad. I'm bummed the weather is getting cold (here).

Anyways...I know someone that wants some coffee, and he could lead to future sales because that's just the kind of guy he is. So I roasted him up some Ethiopian I've been gaga about. Then he asked me if I could grind it for him. Ugh, "Sure, what will you be brewing it on?"

"Keurig."

Maybe I should just give him some of my cheap stuff? I don't know that he'll taste much of anything in the Keurig.

 

[bazzab]

Hi all,
New bod here from Down Under.

I stumbled across this forum in my quest for info re controlling a KKTO with Arduino.

As I'm at the early stages of building this I'm gathering as much info as possible before making the plunge. I currently have a Behmor 1600+ which has blown a poofoo valve and is being retired as I suspect it will cost too much to fix. Beside that I would like to do bigger batches than I can with the Behmor.

Dryboroughbrewing, in your last(?) post you indicated you would share your script if any body is interested. Can I put my hand up and show interest please?

I already have a Mega2560 a couple of probes and Max6675 as well as some SSR's and other bits and bobs.

I have a pasta pot from eBay and looking at a turbo oven on eBay that I'll bid on. Undecided on the type of motor I'll use for the stirrer as yet. Any thoughts?

Hopefully I get this up and running and then be able to contribute back to fellow members.

Cheers

Bazza B

 

[passedpawn]

Hi all,
New bod here from Down Under.

I stumbled across this forum in my quest for info re controlling a KKTO with Arduino.

As I'm at the early stages of building this I'm gathering as much info as possible before making the plunge. I currently have a Behmor 1600+ which has blown a poofoo valve and is being retired as I suspect it will cost too much to fix. Beside that I would like to do bigger batches than I can with the Behmor.

Dryboroughbrewing, in your last(?) post you indicated you would share your script if any body is interested. Can I put my hand up and show interest please?

I already have a Mega2560 a couple of probes and Max6675 as well as some SSR's and other bits and bobs.

I have a pasta pot from eBay and looking at a turbo oven on eBay that I'll bid on. Undecided on the type of motor I'll use for the stirrer as yet. Any thoughts?

Hopefully I get this up and running and then be able to contribute back to fellow members.

Cheers

Bazza B

Welcome to the forum bazza.

 

[UndeadFred]

Depending on which poofoo valve you are taking about, you might want to contact Behmor. They support their product well with parts availability. They sort of have to. it is the best part of having that machine actually. A control panel I believe is the most expensive part and that is $50 US. If the switch board is bad it is likely one if the Triacs .. You can replace those yourself. Behmor will devow knowledge if you ask them for schematics though. So getting that level of support from them is chasing windmills. But it is a toaster oven with a toaster element for an after burner, a two speed windshield wiper motor for the drum and a series of fans for everything else. Simple stuff. It is like an air cooled VW, you can fix it forever. Having said that I am working on a gas drum roaster myself that I started a year ago. Getting back into brewing slowed that project down to a stop... Cheers...

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Question for you all. I just saw these two bags of the same house blend from Intelligentsia. Same blend, but you'll see they list the beans in each and there are different beans composing both bags under the same blend name.

Anyone now why this would be the case?

I had always assumed a house blend would be made of the same beans all the time.

View attachment 1446339737911.jpg

 

[UndeadFred]

Mexico has a very small growing region. Nayrita Estate. Nicaragua is a fairly low grown but "not bad" central. The Mexico crop is small. The two origins are similar and probably are a small amount of the blend. Being that coffee is a natural product, they probably use Mexican when they can and other Centrals when the Mexican isn't available. Now Panama or Costa Rica are better substitutes for Mexican coffee being given that geographically they are more similar but they are more expensive (and better) than either the Mexico or Nicaragua. Don't worry now that Intelligentsia has been bought by Peets, you will want to start roasting and mixing your own anyway and won't need to ask these silly questions..

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I used to stick to single origin, but then I tried mixing Ethiopian and Brazilian 50/50. I'm sold on blends now, especially for espresso. I still dont care at all for dark roast in my espresso though. Call me a heathen, but a lighter roast in an espresso is magical for my tastes. I suppose things brings me back to why I started roasting my own in the first place.