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

[Kealia]

Hao`oli Makahiki Hou C-Rider!

I can't even imagine doing those first 8 steps myself. I home brew (beer) as well and wouldn't even think about growing and malting my own grains.

Is there no place for you to source 100% Kona beans somewhere local?

 

[C-Rider]

Hao`oli Makahiki Hou C-Rider!

I can't even imagine doing those first 8 steps myself. I home brew (beer) as well and wouldn't even think about growing and malting my own grains.

Is there no place for you to source 100% Kona beans somewhere local?

Raw beans? Not sure. Just easier to let the pro's do what they do best. I can buy roasted beans or already ground either 100% or 10% just about anyplace on the island.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I saw the Bonavita kettle with adjustable temps is on sale on Amazon for about $55: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005YR0F40/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I paid around $100 for mine, I believe. Great kettle for coffee and tea since it has the adjustable temp, as well as a built in timer.

 

[pshankstar]

I saw the Bonavita kettle with adjustable temps is on sale on Amazon for about $55: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005YR0F40/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I paid around $100 for mine, I believe. Great kettle for coffee and tea since it has the adjustable temp, as well as a built in timer.

I have this kettle and it is awesome! It also has a feature to hold the water temp too. I believe for up to an hour.

My wife has recently gotten into loose leaf tea and me with the coffee roasting, I thought it would be a great buy. She thought it was kind of silly at first when I told her I ordered it, but she loves having it instead of using the microwave to warm up water for tea. I love having this kettle too for we use it every day multiple times a day.

Now I know this doesn't help anyone but I scored it from Teavana during their online sale (going out of business) for $35 shipped.

 

[jammin]

I saw the Bonavita kettle with adjustable temps is on sale on Amazon for about $55
I paid around $100 for mine, I believe. Great kettle for coffee and tea since it has the adjustable temp, as well as a built in timer.

I bought mine in August 2013 for $95... still love it though. Great kettle and that’s a great deal!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

So cold here, around -10 to 0. My roasting room is too cold to roast in, despite being heated. I'm running out of roasted coffee...times are getting desperate. I think I'm going to have to bring the Behmor into the regular part of the house and roast. I'm not a huge fan of the odor or smoke it leaves but, what are you going to do.

 

[Kealia]

Wow, that's cold. Do what you have to do, man!

Related to the kettle, we just got something similar to the one linked for Christmas, too.

 

[C-Rider]

So cold here, around -10 to 0. My roasting room is too cold to roast in, despite being heated. I'm running out of roasted coffee...times are getting desperate. I think I'm going to have to bring the Behmor into the regular part of the house and roast. I'm not a huge fan of the odor or smoke it leaves but, what are you going to do.

Slightly off topic. I spent the winter of 62-63 at the Navy Training Center north of Chi Town. Never was so cold in my life. We went 35 days w/out it going above zero and the coldest was -25. Then they sent me to Hawai`i and I've never left. LOL

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Hahaha that's funny. It's so hit or miss here. The last few years I've been roasting and it has been very nice in winter, mid twenties and low thirties which is unheard of (and great for back to back roasts). But so far this past week we've had more sub 0 days than all last year.

I don't know why I still live here. I love it out west!

 

[applescrap]

^^Would look forward to hanging out with you and roasting coffee. Glad you have found some people who can enjoy coffee. My family all thinks the keurig and mcdonalds coffee is good. I have come to realize that the keurig sealing process is good at preserving some freshness. While not bad in any way, the keurig I have drunk lately tastes very much like some of the more expensive coffees that my friend buys off the shelf. They arent charcoal but they arent full city either. They are seemingly cleverly roasted. Theres just nothing in them to like. No specific flavors, no brightness, nothing. I would surely take the cheapest deal coffee over any of them. The mcdonalds coffee, imo, is very well roasted. Bringing the most quality they possibly can to the cheap coffee they use. I wonder if its a stop loss. I think most people dont even know what burnt coffee tastes like fresh. They taste it stale, but fresh its a little different.
End of rant

 

[C-Rider]

I have decided that the only way to tell if coffee is "good" is to drink it black. The reason is just about anything can be made to taste good if you put enough flavored cream and sugar in it. LOL

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

You know that feeling when you grind the wrong size and don't realize it until your blooming your coffee?

Ground course for paper, started brewing in the able Kone which requires a much more fine grind. So while blooming I threw a paper filter under it. No idea what my brew time was as in my haste to fix the issue I forgot to start the clock.

Actually turned out delicious. Maybe this is the next new thing, "Double Filtered" haha.

 

[pshankstar]

@HarborTownBrewing That's what you call a happy accident!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Alright, serious question for you all. How do you select your beans? I'm looking at Sweet Marias' selection and it's just sort of...boring. Nothing standing out to me, except for https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/kenya-nyeri-gatugi-ab

I have purchased from Burmans and Bodhi but their descriptions are just sort of lacking and I have no idea of the sort of quality I'm getting. I like to look for 90+ coffees on SM's, but with Burmans until I roast and taste it I have no idea if I'm getting a 92 rated coffee or an 85 rated coffee.

Anyone have any thoughts? @jammin I know you are the guru of selecting beans so I'd be curious of what you have to say (or if you've seen any outstanding coffees lately).

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Alright, serious question for you all. How do you select your beans? I'm looking at Sweet Marias' selection and it's just sort of...boring. Nothing standing out to me, except for https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/kenya-nyeri-gatugi-ab

I have purchased from Burmans and Bodhi but their descriptions are just sort of lacking and I have no idea of the sort of quality I'm getting. I like to look for 90+ coffees on SM's, but with Burmans until I roast and taste it I have no idea if I'm getting a 92 rated coffee or an 85 rated coffee.

Anyone have any thoughts? @jammin I know you are the guru of selecting beans so I'd be curious of what you have to say (or if you've seen any outstanding coffees lately).

I read the descriptions of the origins I favor, I normally don't put as much weight in the cupping score. The ones I favor haven't been looking as good lately which has caused me to branch out, I haven't roasted my new acquisitions with the exception of the Ethiopian Sidama (which my 2nd roast came out better than the first, amazing coffee). I personally look at body, sweetness, and acidity. I'm specifically looking for trigger words like raw sugar, caramel, chocolate, and any dark fruit (dates, figs,etc) for my "house blend". I prefer a heavy body, low acidity cup with lots of natural sweetness. I am almost exclusively brewing in my aeropress so I roast and brew leaning towards an espresso style. Tastes are inherently subjective, but this method should work for anyone if you have something specific you are looking for. The graph that SM posts is very helpful as well when trying to determine body and acidity without having to read through a whole description.

 

[ba-brewer]

It is slim pickings at SM lately. I do read the description but sort of take the descriptive flavor part with a grain of salt as those are cupping notes and may not reflect a actual cup of coffee, there is also some stuff I don't know what the hell it is. I like a fairly dark roast so I do look at the roast recommendations and look for a full city+ or darker if I can find it. I don't look too much at the score graph but a couple days ago when I last bought I did. Not really the overall score but the body section, as I prefer some body in my coffee. Ethiopian dry process coffee I just buy a couple pounds if I don't already have that one. I have plenty of Ethiopian and Kenyan so I was hoping to find something from Mexico or Columbia but this was my order.

GCX-5535-001 Costa Rica Helsar Cascara Coffee Fruit Tea
GCX-5480-001 El Salvador La Esperanza Bourbon
GCX-5552-002 Honduras Buenos Aires Lote Mendez
GCX-5523-002 Ethiopia Dry Process Sidama Station
GCX-5608-002 Guatemala Huehuetenango La Libertad
GCX-5485-002 El Salvador Finca San Luis Bourbon
GCX-5634-001 Costa Rica Helsar -Miguel Rojas

Never tried the cascara tea so I thought I would give it a try.

 

[applescrap]

@HarborTownBrewing I go off what everyone here says is good or I buy cheap bodhi sales with no expectations. Imo, its a no brainer, the konga is amazeballs and until it runs out thats what I am getting.

 

[pshankstar]

@HarborTownBrewing I go off what everyone here says is good or I buy cheap bodhi sales with no expectations. Imo, its a no brainer, the konga is amazeballs and until it runs out thats what I am getting.

What is this Konga you speak of? If it's that good I'm interested in trying it some time.

 

[Kealia]

I finally read up on what 'cupping' actually is. I need to try that and see if my taste buds align with the descriptions because I typically don't get much of the same flavor in a cup as they state. We do tend to lean more towards the chocolate/rich/full end of the spectrum versus the acidic, though. Some of that is controlled by roast, I get that, but in terms of overall profile.

 

[applescrap]

@pshankstar Roastmaster yirgacheffe konga natural dp. It is the best coffee I have ever had, but you need to like blueberry flavor in your coffee!

Edit... bought 10lbs more. I think I have three pounds more of it too. That makes 20 lbs of it now, I have bought from them.

I have no experience with geisha coffee, but that not considered, I wonder, if this could be some of the best coffee in the world literally. Roastmasters discusses its top grade and that comes through so well. Its just really really good in so many ways. But after drinking a pound or two I need to go on to something else so I can appreciate it. Otherwise I'll just get used to it, and it loses some pizazz for me.

 

[pshankstar]

@pshankstar Roastmaster yirgacheffe konga natural dp. It is the best coffee I have ever had, but you need to like blueberry flavor in your coffee!

Edit... bought 10lbs more. I think I have three pounds more of it too. That makes 20 lbs of it now, I have bought from them.

I have no experience with geisha coffee, but that not considered, I wonder, if this could be some of the best coffee in the world literally. Roastmasters discusses its top grade and that comes through so well. Its just really really good in so many ways. But after drinking a pound or two I need to go on to something else so I can appreciate it. Otherwise I'll just get used to it, and it loses some pizazz for me.

Ugh the description sounds delicious and I should hold off on buying more beans until next month. Although I may not be able to wait.

Thanks for sharing that info I really appreciate it!

 

[jammin]

@HarborTownBrewing - I don't have a good answer for going about selecting coffee unfortunately. After looking at them for a few years you start to get an idea for seeing the through the BS and piecing together what might be a good choice. Often a crapshoot though still.

SM's posted a nice looking Brazil today for you espresso head's & those that like mild, crowd pleasing cups. Yellow Bourbon is a terrific varietal that I wish we saw more of. I'm hoping something else good pops up in the next week or 2 to justify shipping.
https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/brazil-pedra-branca-yellow-bourbon

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I took an old Ethiopian I had laying around and roasted the last 8 oz. Since my machine has been cold I didn't bother taking notes, plus it was last of the bag.

It has been such a great roast... I hate to know it's over. Just pulled a shot of espresso with the last few beans and it was fantastic

 

[shelly_belly]

I like espresso therefore my last purchase was with the intent of making espresso blends. I bought 1# of each mainly because the descriptions said good for espresso:

Brazil Dry Processed Fazenda do Sertao
Brazil Dry Process Fazenda IP Yellow Bourbon
Colombia Loma del Salado
El Salvador Finca Cartagena Bourbon
Nicaragua Dipilto Finca La Laguna

I have only done a light roast of 4oz each. In espresso the Brazil Yellow Bourbon is a class above the other 4 to my tastes. SM is out of it so I'll give the Pedra Branca a taste.

 

[HoppyDaze]

 

[applescrap]

Coffee!!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Is that more Konga?

I hurried up and bought 15 pounds of it after I tried it for the first time...afraid it would run out. I noticed last week they STILL have it. I ordered it all the way back in July, too.

That's been a great coffee. I roast it every few weeks and give to friends.

 

[jammin]

^i just roasted a lb for a friend a couple days ago. Roasted a lb of Banko for myself

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Sweet Maria's just put up some new Colombians, Kenyans, Ethiopians, and Burundis.

Glad I waited to place an order because their inventory was slim last week. I'm guessing they are getting back into the swing now that holidays are over

 

[pshankstar]

Sweet Maria's just put up some new Colombians, Kenyans, Ethiopians, and Burundis.

Glad I waited to place an order because their inventory was slim last week. I'm guessing they are getting back into the swing now that holidays are over

I saw that yesterday and thought “ Man do all of them sound delicious”! I was going to wait to place an order but now I’m tempted to pull the trigger early.

Edit - A newbie question. I know these beans are a seasonal produce, so they are not necessarily available all year long. For the people who have been roasting for a while, do you usually see beans come back year after year? Also, have anyone tried any of these varieties in the past? If so, were any of them really good? Thanks in advance!