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

[HarborTownBrewing]

I roasted up that Ethiopia Fala tonight. Actually my wife roasted it and I told her what to do.

Only when I'm trying to explain the process do I realize how complex this all is. She's interested in learning, which is good with me. But I don't know that I'll be able to keep it interesting enough to her.

On the flip side, sometimes the best way to learn is to teach.

 

[passedpawn]

I roasted up that Ethiopia Fala tonight. Actually my wife roasted it and I told her what to do.

Only when I'm trying to explain the process do I realize how complex this all is. She's interested in learning, which is good with me. But I don't know that I'll be able to keep it interesting enough to her.

On the flip side, sometimes the best way to learn is to teach.

I roasted 5# of it this past weekend. I did different temps and times. No tasting yet... maybe tomorrow. I have another 5# waiting for the tasting results

 

[applescrap]

Clever plan pp. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on them. I would drink every single one of those. I did a new, dark again, roast on monday at halftime. It smells really good today. You guys were so right about letting it rest.

I have been using a french press at work. I use a cheap quick water heater and a minute or so later its boiling. Dump that in the press. I think its better than the mr coffee pot.

 

[applescrap]

With and w out flash. 1.5 pounds of the ethiopian! Went to medium heat at 9 minutes. Finished 18 minutes I think. Dumped early again, all that frickin chaff is tricky. Wasn't having that chit again. Threw it back on stove. I hear a couple cracks and panic first crack is over. On medium first crack is extended. How long should first crack be anyways? Happy Halloween.

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[HarborTownBrewing]

I tried it this morning with 2.5 days rest and didn't get much flavor. I'll give it another day before I try it again, but I'm hoping my roast wasnt a dud. Surely a 93 or so rated coffee shouldn't taste as mushy as mine did today.

The wife said she tasted blueberries as it cooled so maybe there's hope. Maybe

 

[applescrap]

^^haha, same here apricot at best. Other than that good but little flavor. Was just afraid to say it. I like big bold chocolate and blueberry flavors. I have drank 2 pounds at various roast levels now. Its balance is superior and it still deserves a 90 in my opinion just not my favorite.

 

[jammin]

^^haha, same here apricot at best. Other than that good but little flavor. Was just afraid to say it. I like big bold chocolate and blueberry flavors. I have drank 2 pounds at various roast levels now. Its balance is superior and it still deserves a 90 in my opinion just not my favorite.

The pics you posted appear to be in the Full City range and at an 18 minute roast duration I'm not surprised that any flavors are subdued. Can you remind me again please about your roasting method & when/how you're applying heat?

In general advice for crowd consumption; Dry Processed Ethiopian beans are represented best at the lightest roast you're comfortable with. Aim to hit 1C within 9 minutes at the steadiest, most expiedient pace you can employ. After that you want to make sure your roaster has been staged to deliver a gentle coast entering & progressing through 1C such that you can dump just as 1C is thinking about finishing. My 1C through to finish times are generally around 2 minutes. Full roast times rarely exceed 11 minutes.

I emplore you to experiment with your kit & see what results you get by trying the parameters I suggested. The boring results you posted do not surprise me when compared to the extended roast times you are using. DP Ethiopians are delicate beans that easily get their flavor washed out. Conversely, this is one of the same reasons that make them work so well for an SO Espresso.

 

[estricklin]

http://www.robotshop.com/en/spur-gearmotors.html

I went with this one: (Plenty of torque)
http://www.robotshop.com/en/cytron-12v-56rpm-83oz-in-spur-gearmotor.html

It has a 6mm shaft coming out and the whirly arm has a 5mm shaft. I used this to mate:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191783052939

You can use a wallwart to power the motor as well, I just have a bunch of lipo batteries from other hobbies.

I found some similar motors on ebay as well that would probably work, anywhere from 46-100RPM, some have a gearbox.

I think for power I will use an old PC power supply, I don't think I have an AC adapter that outputs more than 700-800 mA laying around at the moment.

 

[applescrap]

The pics you posted appear to be in the Full City range and at an 18 minute roast duration I'm not surprised that any flavors are subdued. Can you remind me again please about your roasting method & when/how you're applying heat?

In general advice for crowd consumption; Dry Processed Ethiopian beans are represented best at the lightest roast you're comfortable with. Aim to hit 1C within 9 minutes at the steadiest, most expiedient pace you can employ. After that you want to make sure your roaster has been staged to deliver a gentle coast entering & progressing through 1C such that you can dump just as 1C is thinking about finishing. My 1C through to finish times are generally around 2 minutes. Full roast times rarely exceed 11 minutes.

I emplore you to experiment with your kit & see what results you get by trying the parameters I suggested. The boring results you posted do not surprise me when compared to the extended roast times you are using. DP Ethiopians are delicate beans that easily get their flavor washed out. Conversely, this is one of the same reasons that make them work so well for an SO Espresso.

Thanks for the tips and for asking. I am using whirly pop on new ge stove. With 1# I usually hit 1c at 730 or 8 and finish between 9 and 10 minutes. With this coffee the roast variation was wild so I tried to start at hi then switch to medium. Its the biggest most powerful burner on medium. This roast was over 1.5 pounds of coffee. My only other experience doing that showed that it took longer to roast more coffee. In fact based on my experience,. I would be extremely impressed to see one and a half to two pounds of coffee roasted in 11 minutes. It makes me wonder what the adjustment is for a larger roast batch. Maybe with the methods I'm using the only way I can keep it under 11 minutes is to roast a pound at a time? Anyways switched to medium heat at 9 minutes, then at 13 or so dumped it early and put it back in to finish. Appreciate all the help. With the whirly pop seems have to choose more variation and quicker roast vs more muted flavors but less variation?

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Fwiw, when I used a whirly I got the most even roasted and best tasting beans with .5 lbs. I tried more but it didn't work out.

 

[jammin]

Thanks for the tips and for asking. I am using whirly pop on new ge stove. With 1# I usually hit 1c at 730 or 8 and finish between 9 and 10 minutes. With this coffee the roast variation was wild so I tried to start at hi then switch to medium. Its the biggest most powerful burner on medium. This roast was over 1.5 pounds of coffee. My only other experience doing that showed that it took longer to roast more coffee. In fact based on my experience,. I would be extremely impressed to see one and a half to two pounds of coffee roasted in 11 minutes. It makes me wonder what the adjustment is for a larger roast batch. Maybe with the methods I'm using the only way I can keep it under 11 minutes is to roast a pound at a time? Anyways switched to medium heat at 9 minutes, then at 13 or so dumped it early and put it back in to finish. Appreciate all the help. With the whirly pop seems have to choose more variation and quicker roast vs more muted flavors but less variation?

This helps put things in context. Your WP roaster is basically all direct heat so w/o having any experience using one, my gut says to tread lightly; ESPECIALLY with DP beans. Although longer roast times might not be traditional, it might be your best bet considering your roasting system. My basis behind that would be to more gently apply the heat to a more delicate bean.

We need to get you an adjustable heat gun & yard sale bread machine. You could keep your capacity & greatly increase your control over the roast.

 

[applescrap]

Jammin thats good tips again, thanks. Yep, direct heat. The problem i have had with slowing down is standing there 18 minutes twirlling the knob. They have bread machines at goodwill all the time, any thoughts on harbour freight heat gun. From video online looks like you can roast 2 pounds?

 

[jammin]

Anyone else roast the Ethiopian Fare Sala yet? I finally got around to roasting 1 batch tonight. 1C was very difficult to hear. Curious if anyone has feedback on a roast level they preferred. I kept this batch on the light side as usual. Brewing it starting tmrw.

Jammin thats good tips again, thanks. Yep, direct heat. The problem i have had with slowing down is standing there 18 minutes twirlling the knob. They have bread machines at goodwill all the time, any thoughts on harbour freight heat gun. From video online looks like you can roast 2 pounds?

2lbs in my experience would be a heavy load. I think 12oz batches were the sweet spot on my last kit.

I need to do some homework for you but you ideally want to find either AC or DC driven stir motor. I can't remember which is the one you want so Ill get back to you once i get to the bottom of it. The important part is being able to direct wire the motor for stirring.

When building your BM/HG roaster I would advise to look for a BM that has viewing window that is top mount and parallel to the ground. The goal is to remove all the extraneous BS from the top of the roaster and use the viewing window to mount your HG for hand free roasting.

The basics of the BM build will be stripping the computer & disconnecting the heating element. My old rig was direct wired to the motor & as soon as I plugged it in the motor would start stirring.

Im sure a Harbor Freight HG would be fine just make sure the heat is adjustable. My old HG was a porter cable model i think and it had an adjustment wheel for heat. I feel this is a very important feature to have & will make your roaster a VERY agile machine.

Im really hoping you go through with the build as I know you will love the results. The HG/BM is a seriously awesome kit.

 

[applescrap]

Thanks jammin for all the help, Im all in full monty (no pic, sorry ). Pretty much following your advice to a t. I think I can direct wire, err I mean passedPawn can tell me what to do! Plug in and it goes round and round = me not turning s..t. variable heat gun top mounted.

What about the built-in element?

 

[jammin]

^the built in element is counterproductive as it is all dir ft heat. The heat gun is mostly convective which is awesome. If you're hell bent on capacity keep it as I've heard legends of 2lb roasts going that route!

Im gonna be a little lazy here and spam you with a couple inspirational links -


Wiring the bread machine - hopefully the info I promised you:
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=528


Sub-forum dedicated to HG/BM. Similar to a sub forum here like Electirc Brewing etc...
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewforum.php?forum_id=140

My old build:
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=2274


And the legend of the 2.5lb HG/BM roast!
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=817&pid=7780

 

[TallDan]

Anyone else roast the Ethiopian Fare Sala yet? I finally got around to roasting 1 batch tonight. 1C was very difficult to hear. Curious if anyone has feedback on a roast level they preferred. I kept this batch on the light side as usual. Brewing it starting tmrw.

I'll be interested to hear about your results. I almost reached for that coffee a little bit ago, but I'm roasting a different Ethopian right now. Hoping to not miss much of the game, but I'm all out of roasted coffee, something's gotta give!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I did the Fara Sala and had a nice long 1c. Dropped it about 15 secs after 1c ended.

Flavors just weren't really what I expected, even with 3-7 days of rest. It was a soft flavor, with the slightest hint of a berry.

The potential is there, I just have to find out how to get it out. I had used my typical Ethiopian roast profile which always does me right, but this time just didn't work.

 

[jammin]

^after getting through a mug of the FS I can see what you mean about subdued flavors. It's a really nice coffee though. Next roast I'm gonna push a bit faster & dump a hair lighter. The acidity is very low so need to try & tame it. I think the coffee is fairly dry too so am extended roast doesn't do it any favors.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Yeah, I'm going to go for a quicker roast on this one too, and see what happens.

I roasted up about 2 lbs of Tanzania earlier in the week to take to work and share, as I'm getting a lot of questions in the lunchroom as to what the heck I'm doing with a kettle and a cone (V60). And then I ended up not going into the office for the rest of the week, so now I'm stuck with 2 lbs of coffee between the wife and me. Going to be a very energetic week, indeed!

 

[applescrap]

I bought bodhis sale nicaragua this week. Every coffee I have ordered from them has been outstanding. Plus I like the sales they do. Makes picking coffee easy. Whatever's on sale when I need it, I get. The fara is my first order from Sweet Maria's.

 

[jammin]

^keep us posted on the FS. Seems like a lot of us got in on it so it would be cool to hear a lot of experiences/results

*weird to have opened my old HG/BM thread from 2011 & see myself raving about the Gedeo Worka that I just ordered again recently. I've had that coffee from multiple retailers & had it pro roasted from Klatch. One of the top 3 Ethiopians I've ever had & easily the fruitiest. Can't wait to see how this years crop is.
I'm gonna roast some very soon & if it's as good as years past you guys seriously need to get some.

 

[passedpawn]

^keep us posted on the FS. Seems like a lot of us got in on it so it would be cool to hear a lot of experiences/results

*weird to have opened my old HG/BM thread from 2011 & see myself raving about the Gedeo Worka that I just ordered again recently. I've had that coffee from multiple retailers & had it pro roasted from Klatch. One of the top 3 Ethiopians I've ever had & easily the fruitiest. Can't wait to see how this years crop is.
I'm gonna roast some very soon & if it's as good as years past you guys seriously need to get some.

I'm going to do a side-by-side this weekend using a pour-over. All 5 of my batches at the same time. I'll post the results. I'll do my best, but I don't have an educated tongue for coffee (I know when I like it, but not sure how to describe why).

 

[Aristotelian]

I bought bodhis sale nicaragua this week. Every coffee I have ordered from them has been outstanding. Plus I like the sales they do. Makes picking coffee easy. Whatever's on sale when I need it, I get. The fara is my first order from Sweet Maria's.

They have even cheaper prices on ebay with free shipping. I got 5 lb of Sumatran for something like $15.

 

[jammin]

I'm going to do a side-by-side this weekend using a pour-over. All 5 of my batches at the same time. I'll post the results. I'll do my best, but I don't have an educated tongue for coffee (I know when I like it, but not sure how to describe why).

I applaud the heck out of that. I bet you'll be surprised how different each batch is. If you're like me, it will leave you wondering what you missed on even your best batches when you're drinking them. Such a great way to learn!

 

[TrickyDick]

I picked up some ECY dry process Janbar, and another Dry shakiso kayon.
Roasted them tonight and I blasted through 1C too fast on the S.K. roast, no matter what I tried it just didn't want to slow down. Dumped 10:05 into roast fearing I'd soon be upon 2C.
The Janbar also seemed to want to race through 1C but not as bad, and this was the first roast of the two.
Anybody else have success with either of these? Both smelled great and look forward to try them tomorrow.

TD

 

[estricklin]

I bought bodhis sale nicaragua this week. Every coffee I have ordered from them has been outstanding. Plus I like the sales they do. Makes picking coffee easy. Whatever's on sale when I need it, I get. The fara is my first order from Sweet Maria's.

I'm a sucker for the the sale stuff too, it's not always exactly what I want but it's usually something I haven't tried, at a price I can't argue with.

I'm thinking about ordering some Peru FTO San Ignacio Cajamarca - APESI from Burman on Friday. $3.99/lb. It's going to be either that or, an Indian Robusto, or a Peru San Ignacio which is also the same price. I usually order 5-10 lbs at a time.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I like the bodhi sales for when I'm brewing for family and going through a lot, especially in a drip machine. The shipping is a little high/lb but you can't beat $3.50ish for the price.

 

[applescrap]

I'm going to do a side-by-side this weekend using a pour-over. All 5 of my batches at the same time. I'll post the results. I'll do my best, but I don't have an educated tongue for coffee (I know when I like it, but not sure how to describe why).

Im excited for the results to. It would be interesting if someone triangle tested you with them a bunch of times also. Cool experiment

 

[passedpawn]

Hate to disappoint anyone looking forward to the results of my "testing", but I'm not really smart and it will not likely result in any useful information. Will post anyway.

 

[applescrap]

So lucky me they had 3 bread machines at Goodwill. The sunbeam was out, leaving this one I got, and a wellbilt. I remember seeing the Wb for some reason, But ultimately decided on this one because it had the viewing window. So I need to crack it open and wire it and also how do I get that glass out should I just break it out.