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

[HarborTownBrewing]

After thinking about it for months I finally decided to do some aging in a bourbon bottle. This is an El Salvador,and I'm out of roasted coffee so I'll actually be trying this each day for the next few days. That should give me a nice idea of how much character the bottle adds by day.

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[ChefRex]

After thinking about it for months I finally decided to do some aging in a bourbon bottle. This is an El Salvador,and I'm out of roasted coffee so I'll actually be trying this each day for the next few days. That should give me a nice idea of how much character the bottle adds by day.

Beans in a freshly emptied bottle?

 

[jammin]

Beans in a freshly emptied bottle?

A few years ago the big fad was to age green coffee in a bourbon barrel prior to roasting. Due to the poracity of coffee beans, they can really soak up their environment. I've haven't had a chance to try any of it but ive heard the results can be interesting.

Hurry up and let us know what you come up with, HTB! I'm a big bourbon fan so I hope your experiment turns out awesome

 

[ChefRex]

A few years ago the big fad was to age green coffee in a bourbon barrel prior to roasting. Due to the poracity of coffee beans, they can really soak up their environment. I've haven't had a chance to try any of it but ive heard the results can be interesting.

Hurry up and let us know what you come up with, HTB! I'm a big bourbon fan so I hope your experiment turns out awesome

I'll be finishing a bottle shortly and green beans available, I'm game.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Beans in a freshly emptied bottle?

Not necessarily freshly emptied. But still some residue and definitely has a nice scent.

I'll be sure to post an update tomorrow!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Beans have about 20 hours of rest since roasting, and have been in the bottle for 14 hours.

The beans had a bit of a bourbon smell upon grinding them, but the coffee itself doesn't have any aroma of bourbon (that I can tell). I don't think the bourbon has added a whole lot of flavor at this point, but there is definitely a little vanilla flavor present that I had never gotten out of this bean previously.

I'll post another update tomorrow after an additional 24 hours rest.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Another update, with the beans having about 44 hours rest in the bottle. Definitely more flavor coming from the bourbon, though it doesn't jump out at you. If someone gave me this without knowing, I would think it's a complex tasting coffee, but I wouldn't know it'd been aged in a bourbon bottle.

Now we're picking up more caramel and still getting vanilla flavors. Should be interesting to see how this evolves in the next couple days.

 

[jammin]

@applescrap /all the rest of you coffee freaks - some nice looking Geisha green went up today
http://www.roastmasters.com/brujas.html
I'm ordering 1lb(or more pending interest) which makes me nervous/excited/contrite/salacious all at the same time. The price drops by $8/lb if you order 5lbs or more - PM me if you're serious about grabbing even a few lbs and we can hammer out shipping. We can make a combined order off their site to make it worth your while if you like. My goal would be to get a few more lbs of this Geisha at a discount... as the kids say; YOLO


anyways, y'all know Im always on the lookout for the rare Killer Columbian... I think I may have spotted one. I didn't even know coffee could be grown this high in Columbia clocking at a dizzying 2,100 meters which is enough to give a solid Kenyan vertigo. No doubt this will be some dense beans that should roast really well. I'm in for a solid 5lbs and can't wait to get it in the cup Gotta a feeling this isn't one to be missed
http://www.roastmasters.com/colombia3.html


friendly reminder - this is a monster Kenyan def. worth snatching up:
https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/kenya-nyeri-kiawamururu-aa-5202

 

[applescrap]

Another update, with the beans having about 44 hours rest in the bottle. Definitely more flavor coming from the bourbon, though it doesn't jump out at you. If someone gave me this without knowing, I would think it's a complex tasting coffee, but I wouldn't know it'd been aged in a bourbon bottle.

Now we're picking up more caramel and still getting vanilla flavors. Should be interesting to see how this evolves in the next couple days.

Cool. Look forward to the update

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

anyways, y'all know Im always on the lookout for the rare Killer Columbian... I think I may have spotted one. I didn't even know coffee could be grown this high in Columbia clocking at a dizzying 2,100 meters which is enough to give a solid Kenyan vertigo. No doubt this will be some dense beans that should roast really well. I'm in for a solid 5lbs and can't wait to get it in the cup Gotta a feeling this isn't one to be missed
http://www.roastmasters.com/colombia3.html

That does sound good. I'm sitting on about 7lbs of Columbian right now but that sounds so different and good. Thanks for sharing,I'll be sleeping on it.

 

[applescrap]

@applescrap /all the rest of you coffee freaks - some nice looking Geisha green went up today
http://www.roastmasters.com/brujas.html
I'm ordering 1lb(or more pending interest) which makes me nervous/excited/contrite/salacious all at the same time. The price drops by $8/lb if you order 5lbs or more - PM me if you're serious about grabbing even a few lbs and we can hammer out shipping. We can make a combined order off their site to make it worth your while if you like. My goal would be to get a few more lbs of this Geisha at a discount... as the kids say; YOLO


anyways, y'all know Im always on the lookout for the rare Killer Columbian... I think I may have spotted one. I didn't even know coffee could be grown this high in Columbia clocking at a dizzying 2,100 meters which is enough to give a solid Kenyan vertigo. No doubt this will be some dense beans that should roast really well. I'm in for a solid 5lbs and can't wait to get it in the cup Gotta a feeling this isn't one to be missed
http://www.roastmasters.com/colombia3.html


friendly reminder - this is a monster Kenyan def. worth snatching up:
https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/kenya-nyeri-kiawamururu-aa-5202

Man thanks for pointing this out, is it the real deal. Have you seen or tasted the goods.

When do i have to decide by? Yolo


I want to buy a lot of pounds and sell it to people at $200 a pound roasted. There have got to be so many people in this world that could Splash that out and not even think twice. Thanks for sharing the deal

 

[applescrap]

Omg, the sour kenyan we got. My buddy and I are done with it. We can't drink anymore of it. I think I'm going to roast what i got left dark.

 

[jammin]

I want to buy a lot of pounds and sell it to people at $200 a pound roasted. There have got to be so many people in this world that could Splash that out and not even think twice. Thanks for sharing the deal

Not sure if you're being snarky but that's really not necessary. You mentioned the Geisha type coffee earlier so I thought you'd at least be interested in looking at the offering even if only for fun.

 

[applescrap]

^^f... no. Infact i was hoping you might help me roast it. See when i googled this coffee last time, 140 green lots and 600 retail lots showed up. I am not playing. As far as personal i am in for one and i bet my buddy is to. My only fear is how do i pay you right away as i dont want to string you along. Sorry j, last thing I would ever do is try and piss you off. Actually i respect the hell out of ya. I might be reaching a little far in the sales direction though. I dont have a website or anything yet. I guess I would just put it on eBay and roast it to order. I am sure there are rules though and all that to but damn i am seeing dollar signs. Anyways i am in for at least a pound for sure, but only if I can pay you back right away as thats how i roll.

 

[BrunDog]

I'm in for a lb or two.

 

[passedpawn]

I'd take 2 pounds. I'm reluctant to try it because 1) I'll probably ruin it with my brewing prowesslessness, 2) if I like it I won't want to buy more because of the expense. But what the hell, I'm gonna die some day, I've been thinking about riding a bull named fu manchu.

I'd pay for 2 pounds and a flat rate USPS shipper to my home. If you set this up J, count me in for 2 and post the # price and shipping and I'll paypal you (if that's an option).

 

[Anyhowe]

Wow I just found this thread after wondering if anybody else roasted. 236 pages later, Haha. I am awaiting delivery of my new Hottop 2k. This is going to be fun!

 

[applescrap]

Quick question Jammin how did you hold your heat gun up?

 

[TrickyDick]

Got my Bullet roaster.

Its nice! I prefer the Artisan software though, so I am hoping that they spill the beans on the interface and communication protocol so it can be run with Artisan someday.

 

[passedpawn]

Got my Bullet roaster.

Its nice! I prefer the Artisan software though, so I am hoping that they spill the beans on the interface and communication protocol so it can be run with Artisan someday.

Looking forward to some reports on that thing.

What's the max batch size?

 

[TallDan]

Looking forward to some reports on that thing.

For sure. If it's a real giant killer I'll need to buy one fast before the price skyrockets.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I'm still kicking myself for not getting in on the pre-order a year or so ago. They got like $500 off

 

[TrickyDick]

It roasts 1kg (2.2lbs) max. Yes it can do it. The sweet spot might be somewhere less than this however. I've only done 2 drinking roasts, so far besides the seasoning roasts (10 lbs). It seems to be able to easily do darker roasts that I was reluctant to try on my HotTop. It has a wonky chaff collection setup but is functional - it spews chaff while roasting however which I hate.
Cooling is more challenging for larger roasts, but I've got a setup for that now.
Overall, I like it. It is in some respects "better" than the HotTop and in other respects "worse", but with potential for future programming to remedy. From a hardware perspective it is rather impressive. I've since added a bean chute to keep beans from flying to the left or right when dumping. It has a sampling port to permit sniffing of the beans. It has a stock cooling tray which is effective (but requires manual stirring unlike the HotTop). It is capable of back to back roasts without a cool down. Can handle a throughput of 100kg/month suggested. Has it own software though it is not as robust as the Aritisan from what I can tell so far. Its manual mode is very easy to use, and can manipulate the controls and watch the roast curve to see whats happening similar to Artisan. It lacks the predictive plotting from what I can tell. Worst part about the roaster is how difficult it is to hear the sounds of first crack. I need to implement a way to monitor this soon. Some are using an inexpensive stethescope modified for high temp.

More to come
RH

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I was in MN earlier this week, and decided to get to know the local brew scene by throwing back a few pints.

The next day I woke up with a hangover. After 2.5 pints. That was fairly unexpected...actually really unplanned because I was giving training at 8:30 AM and two hours before the training I couldn't even stand up without holding a wall or chair. Whoops. I felt like I was going to get sick, but luckily didn't.

So, and I really don't drink enough to be hungover often, I decided to have some coffee. Coffee is my hangover saver - usually the shot of caffeine helps pick me up and gets rid of the headache. I made a cup of the Keurig they had in the room and it was like drinking burning cardboard, so that didn't work. I couldn't even stand to drink any of it.

Instead found a smoothie in the lobby and took a few mins to contemplate all the ways I could cancel training without reason, but decided I needed to make it happen anyways. So I took a very cold walk to the building (the cold definitely helped me wake up a bit) and gave the training. It went pretty well actually - except halfway through I was struggling for a word and thought, "I wonder if they know that two hours ago I couldn't even stand up..."

Bottom line - hotel coffee sucks (yeah we knew that) and don't drink too much the night before an important presentation - even when you don't think you've had too much!

 

[TrickyDick]

Wow! Can I ask, were any of these beers sour or farmhouse beers? Also, do you take any antacids, Pepcid, Zantac, Prilosec or the like?

TD

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Wow! Can I ask, were any of these beers sour or farmhouse beers? Also, do you take any antacids, Pepcid, Zantac, Prilosec or the like?

TD

Nothing sour or farmhouse. One was a extra pale ale, another was a Dortmunder, and then I had half a Scottish ale. I don't take any antacids, at least not with any regularity.

What ya thinkin' doc? Am I going to be okay???

 

[TrickyDick]

My thought was that the bugs in the sour/farmhouse beer could survive in your gut to fermentgut contents and make alcohol inside of your intestines that you absorb.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I tried another bourbon batch,except this time I put the greens in a bottle for two days before roasting. My previous attempt I roasted then aged.

Definitely a difference between the two. With the Bourbon aged greens I'm getting a sort of silky caramel flavor,more bourbon like than the batch where I aged the roasted beans.

 

[ChefRex]

I tried another bourbon batch,except this time I put the greens in a bottle for two days before roasting. My previous attempt I roasted then aged.

Definitely a difference between the two. With the Bourbon aged greens I'm getting a sort of silky caramel flavor,more bourbon like than the batch where I aged the roasted beans.

I've had some greens sitting in a bottle since your last post with a few soaked oak cubes, maybe this weekend

 

[applescrap]

Have been pulling my roasts, especially Ethiopian, as first crack gets rolling. Took the yirga a minute and 45 seconds past first crack in between first and second crack. Smells like a chocolate milkshake. I need like 3 or 4 different roasts so I can have one for different moods

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