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

[TrickyDick]

You all saw my green bean stash. I've been working hard to whittle it down. I couldn't pass this one up though. More beans coming my way! I am trying to make a concerted effort to NOT buy any more average or even above average beans. Only once a year offerings and the like. Hopefully there won't be many more of them until my past stock gets dwindled down a bit!


TD

also wanted to say. I've noticed some Dry process Ethiopian Yirga Cheffe stuff (my fave!) seems to dwindle in the flavor department after a few shorts days and seems best after 2-4 days of rest.
Kenyan beans to me at least seem to take a little longer to shine after roasting - about 4-5 days before I start to really like them.
what are others thoughts??

 

[ba-brewer]

I heard the 15/15/15 rule too, 15months from harvest, 15days from roast and 15min from grinding. When I last looked at the roastmasters site they had a few green beans that showed up at arriving a year ago which would put them close to the 15month mark if you factor in shipping. I did buy the costa rica dry process coffee which was a year old, but only a pound, but have not roasted it yet. I have got some pretty old coffee(close to a year) from sweet maria's in their samplers and they roast OK.

Part of long term storage requires proper humidity, you can use the things they put into humidors to help control humidity. If you look close at the bags of coffee from sweet marias there are tiny holes in them, that is also needed to allow them to breath.

 

[TrickyDick]

I think that the 15 month from harvest is the least applicable of those "rules". In FL my humidity level is usually quite high, >50% year round with a few notable day. I store my greens indoors and is usually 72-80° F year round with probably 50-75% humidity (though I don' regularly monitor).

I cannot perceive any flavor changes for beans roasted before the 15 month mark or after. I only claim this up to 28 months.

 

[jammin]

^i go with the flow myself nowadays too. feast or famine at times. when it's new crop season though it's time to stock up. great coffee rarely comes around these days. too much interest overseas

You all saw my green bean stash. I've been working hard to whittle it down. I couldn't pass this one up though. More beans coming my way! I am trying to make a concerted effort to NOT buy any more average or even above average beans. Only once a year offerings and the like. Hopefully there won't be many more of them until my past stock gets dwindled down a bit!

roast more. share. learn. apply knowledge. life's short - drink the good stuff when it's fresh.

thats one thing this new roaster has forced me to do. always looking forward to learning/improving my roasts & ill be damned if throwing away a little coffee here & there is gonna slow me down. too much fun and the coffee is too tasty not to enjoy

 

[applescrap]

roast more. share. learn. apply knowledge

Love this thinking

 

[corkybstewart]

I got myself another Behmor for Christmas, the standard one. It'w working well as long as I only roast 11 oz's at a time which is really perfect for just the 2 of us. This morning I roasted 2 small batches of a delicious Sumatran, and next up on the menu will be a Guatemalan. These coffees are best at medium roast, neither of us are fans of French roast.

 

[applescrap]

My wife got me a cold brew mug for my birthday. Its awesome, 4 tbs coffee to 8 oz water. At that concentration I think once it's done it can be diluted. Just let it sit on the counter no big deal. I bought a cheap coffee pot for this trip but instead have been using a quick water heater with our camping pour-over. Great results. I thought green coffee lasted forever?

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[jammin]

HBD, Apple! That water heater reminds me of the Zojirushi counter top models I've seen some people use. They hold water at your set point and dispense similar to yours.

I might have to make me some cold brew this weekend. What's worked best for you guys so far?

 

[applescrap]

Haha thanks, sorry it was on the 23. That cheap appliance heats 10oz of cold fridge spring water to boil in less than 2 minutes. I guess you could let it sit to desired temp, I dont worry about it. Great for fp and po coffee.


That electric Skillet is really the star. Man I get crazy on that thing.

 

[jammin]

That electric Skillet is really the star. Man I get crazy on that thing.

haha - what are some of your fav dishes to cook on it? i have an electric skillet thats been collecting dust.

here's the Zojirushi in case anyone was wondering what the heck it is. kinda spendy but its got a 4l capacity which impressive. it's gadget i want but haven't figured out how to justify
Zojirushi countertop boiler

 

[ba-brewer]

I have a Zojirushi collecting dust, only used a few time because the special cord got lost in a move and the new place has instant hot water so no motivation to find a replacement.

Looks like amazon has the cord, so if it still works I would sell it if there is anyone interested. CD-WBC-40 in a dark cream lite buff color.

 

[applescrap]

@jammin cool, thanks for asking. its my road/camping warrior. Doesn't see a lot of home use for me either. This trip i seared filets in it 3 times with a light coat of oil and for a cheap product the heat is fantastically even. The sear is excellent on full power. Clean up is easy. Lots of egg scrambles with meat and veg first. It kills fried rice hibachi style. They are great for frying and maintain good heat. My mom used one for fried chicken all the time. No favorite dishes or anything, just a great tool that fits easily on road trip.


Funny story actually, these people camping down the way were trying to use this grill in the rain and i was sitting there on the porch happily searing steaks, under the roof. They had rain jackets on and umbrellas, etc..they looked miserable. Had just pulled in and were hungry. i was going to offer them the skillet but my wife thought it was against the rules.

 

[applescrap]

Update, the cold brew is amazing and I do mean amazing. I think the ability to shake this thing makes a less refined cup, but is really helpful in extraction. Its like every flavor that I like best magnified and a near total diminishing of off taste from heat oxidation. Yeah, its that good. The roast was a full power, air roast to the end. Which has been nice as well, but the 2 attempts i did were hard to control at finish.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I was desperate for some coffee and I needed it quick, so I went with a poorer quality one so I wouldn't waste any good stuff.

Enter, Mexico - the same bean I scorched in the roaster a few weeks ago. Remember when I said my Behmor drum stopped rotating? It did so for about 7 minutes with some Mexican beans sitting in it, lying idle with no agitation at all. By the time I realized it, some had scorched tips and were a little brown, while others looked like unroasted beans.

I roasted it last night and brewed it this morning, begrudgingly. I'll be darned if I didn't say, it may have been my best roast of this bean. I roasted it the same yesterday as I had before, but a week prior it did get a nice baking.

Funny how we can sometimes obsess over small details, but when you just go with the flow things can turn out just fine, or even great.

 

[applescrap]

This Ethiopian I just got is weird. It is stinky like fermentation and also the beans are really vary in size. If it sucks I might have to call. That being said I have never had a bad coffee from Bodhi. I have a pound of micro lot from from BL and it smells similar so i wonder if its just fresh. Either way I don't think any of the really good expensive Ethiopians have ever look so varied. Maybe that's why they discounted it to $4 a pound or whatever I paid.

 

[jammin]

Some people can't drink DP coffee because the fermentation process & leftover mucialage smells/tastes like vomit to them.

 

[jammin]

Kenyan from SM's showed up today. Couldn't help myself from firing the roaster up. Would have love to have done 5 or 6 batches but just don't have the need for it. @inkleg - lemme know when you need another order

So here are some pics from the roast just for fun

Peaberry on the left - AB on the right. The letters are for the screen size of the beans - AA is big, AB is slightly smaller. Doesn't have anything to do with quality.

Here is the curve. First crack was subtle & hard to key in on for this roast. I might have marked the start just past 380* but it never really made much of a showing. The aroma from the trier had me wondering if I should drop the roast a good minute earlier than i did. Curious to see what it actually tastes like in the cup. Big win of the day though was how well i was able to control this roast. Peaberry has been my achilles heel for years and this roast behaved quite well. I cut heat early & hard as you can see on the MET curve which I think helped a lot.

Here is the final product

here is a shot of the PB next to the Othaya (another AB) for a comparison roasted

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Was wondering how the peaberry of that would roast. Sweet Maria's emailed that they pretty much sold out of most Kenyan but they have more coming.

 

[applescrap]

Kenyan from SM's showed up today. Couldn't help myself from firing the roaster up. Would have love to have done 5 or 6 batches but just don't have the need for it. @inkleg - lemme know when you need another order

So here are some pics from the roast just for fun

Peaberry on the left - AB on the right. The letters are for the screen size of the beans - AA is big, AB is slightly smaller. Doesn't have anything to do with quality.

Here is the curve. First crack was subtle & hard to key in on for this roast. I might have marked the start just past 380* but it never really made much of a showing. The aroma from the trier had me wondering if I should drop the roast a good minute earlier than i did. Curious to see what it actually tastes like in the cup. Big win of the day though was how well i was able to control this roast. Peaberry has been my achilles heel for years and this roast behaved quite well. I cut heat early & hard as you can see on the MET curve which I think helped a lot.

Here is the final product

here is a shot of the PB next to the Othaya (another AB) for a comparison roasted

Awesome post and a fine looking roast, fairly light it looks. Aprpreciate the curve, pictures and thoughts. Super even looking, no doubt. Man, cant wait to hear how that kenyan tastes. The SM description is pretty intense. Seems like even though you cut power hard, the roast reacted slower and less dramatically.

 

[Inkleg]

Kenyan from SM's showed up today. Couldn't help myself from firing the roaster up. Would have love to have done 5 or 6 batches but just don't have the need for it. @inkleg - lemme know when you need another order

So here are some pics from the roast just for fun

Haha, you're one funny guy along with all the other "help me spend my money on a new hobby" clowns that contribute to this thread.
Remember when @TallDan mentioned that the first step in a 12 step program was to by a roaster and the some one else posted about the above said coffee........well.....I have a Behmor and just a "few" pounds of coffee on the way.
Thank you all for all the past information and the help that is to come.
I'm looking forward to this new adventure.

 

[jammin]

Haha, you're one funny guy along with all the other "help me spend my money on a new hobby" clowns that contribute to this thread.
Remember when @TallDan mentioned that the first step in a 12 step program was to by a roaster and the some one else posted about the above said coffee........well.....I have a Behmor and just a "few" pounds of coffee on the way.
Thank you all for all the past information and the help that is to come.
I'm looking forward to this new adventure.

Man that's awesome to hear! Welcome to obsession...er, hobby


Btw - that Kenyan PB is AMAZING. Really happy with this one

 

[applescrap]

man that's awesome to hear! Welcome to obsession...er, hobby

+1


Tom from sm has a bunch of videos on roasting with the behmoor to help you get started too.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Speaking of coffee, Sweet Maria's posted this Kenyan. I don't believe I have seen a coffee scored this high, 9.5 for flavor !

Unfortunately limited quantities. They don't even offer a drop down with different options for weight, just 1 pound at a time .https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/kenya-kirinyaga-ngugu-ini-peaberry

 

[jammin]

Speaking of coffee, Sweet Maria's posted this Kenyan. I don't believe I have seen a coffee scored this high, 9.5 for flavor !

Unfortunately limited quantities. They don't even offer a drop down with different options for weight, just 1 pound at a time .https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/kenya-kirinyaga-ngugu-ini-peaberry

I ordered 5lbs in one order - we'll see if they actually ship it.

The AB from the last round scored 9.5 in flavor with a higher overall raw score. I picked up 7lbs but haven't roasted any yet:
https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/kenya-nyeri-gathaithi-ab

 

[applescrap]

How accurate are sm scores in your opinion.

 

[jammin]

You've gotta be able to read between the lines a little. I do find them extremely valuable though. I wish all retailers did it.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Yeah, it's a good Guage for their own offerings at least I think.

Sometimes I get upset with bodhi because they give no score and really no description. Burmans is better but still not great.

I don't think I've ever seen a bodhi description that doesn't say either Cocoa or Chocolate.

 

[applescrap]

Warning paid ad below....

I have yet to find a bad coffee from Bodhi leaf. The weekly deals are awesome. All of their coffees (at least that i have bought) are grade A by region. Looking back I paid 26 dollars shipping included for 5 pounds of Ethiopian rophi natural. Description was stonefruit, strawberry, and caramel. The Brazilians I get for $21 shipped. 3 dollars a pound. They have been amazing. Shipping is only 6. Those hipsters out in Southern California, basically, south los angeles, sell coffee to some pretty exclusive and demanding clientel im sure. The way I see it other vendors coffees are good too, they sell graded coffees. Don't know how rigorous of a process that is but generally speaking based on having shopped at 2 other vendors, I put the coffee I've got from bl at the top, hands down, put in box, locked up, key thrown away. Throw in the deals and it's a no-brainer imo. In fact I know there's better out there, but I don't even need or consider going elsewhere. Going elsewhere just means I'm going to pay more, imo. Check out the shop, look how nice and amazing it is and how clean the warehouse is. I was going to post some pictures of another company whose space leaves a lot to be desired (kindly put), but they have recently moved to California. According to them they moved to California because the port in Oakland is home of some of the best specialty coffee in the world. It makes sense why Bodhi Leaf was getting such a good coffee.

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[jammin]

I've heard through the grape vine that the bohdi deals are not driven by needing unload stock. Rather the owner randomly selects coffee he likes and wants people to try. Kinda cool if so.

 

[applescrap]

Thats what they told me on the phone, actually called to ask last February. Yes, i AM that annoying . They said no it was random or whatever they felt, and they like people trying different stuff. The Ethiopians don't go on sale often. Last year the top end went on sale Before Christmas. I see a lot of the same ones but also different.