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

[applescrap]

So not sure what I got, a little hazy but last year did the same. I get a bunch of their best ethiopians (they did ethiopian sale only one or two other times last year). Then drink great coffee all year. Sure, its not the burman top lot I really want but their most expensive ethiopian was 7 a pound and 33.50 for 5. After the deal at 4.69 a pound, I am drinking this until further notice. I could do worse. Hell, it can always get worse. Wanted to get 20 pounds but bailed. I will mix in the burman kenyan, ethiopian and guat trio for change. Really wanted that Burmans.

There are other lots of regional deals on Brazilian, Panama, and on and on. I noticed a geisha that was 14. So after the deal, ten a pound. Wish I was in a good spot to grab five poubds of that too! They ship fast for me and I like their business as stated much.

As a side note and jammin and many of you will like this, roasting the same bean over and over is pretty cool. So much is gleaned getting to know a bean.

 

[applescrap]

I think I broke the vituoso burr? Help. I ground grindz to fine I think. One of the tabs on the top burr broke off, bad grind now.

 

[4of7]

I think I broke the vituoso burr? Help. I ground grindz to fine I think. One of the tabs on the top burr broke off, bad grind now.

You just replace the burr, look up upgrading burr,"Stay strong and brew on", just finished 3 drum loads..M2 burr?

 

[4of7]

^dang thats sweet! ive contemplated a brick oven several times - something i'd really like to have. i think the the true driving force behind an oven like that is dough. there is no recipe for it.. you have to know what it feels like in your hands and have an instinct for it. if you are one with the dough - a brick oven is an amazing tool. i love the idea of turning out thin crust pies, steel pan deep dish/detroit style & using the residual heat in the oven to bake gnarly artisan loafs. alas, i have no clue how to make dough & don't know anyone who could teach me

No person taught me how to build the oven,,wife makes the dough using the bread ma chine for kneading..she makes 20 pies at a time for the parties ..

 

[4of7]

Fwiw, historically sweet Maria's has offered 15 percent off for black Friday. The shipping gets really slow though because they get slammed with orders from the offer. I used to buy my greens for the Christmas blend with that sale but it's too slow of turn around.

Looked at the bullet,seems a little loud from the vids,,is it for you

 

[4of7]

So not sure what I got, a little hazy but last year did the same. I get a bunch of their best ethiopians (they did ethiopian sale only one or two other times last year). Then drink great coffee all year. Sure, its not the burman top lot I really want but their most expensive ethiopian was 7 a pound and 33.50 for 5. After the deal at 4.69 a pound, I am drinking this until further notice. I could do worse. Hell, it can always get worse. Wanted to get 20 pounds but bailed. I will mix in the burman kenyan, ethiopian and guat trio for change. Really wanted that Burmans.

There are other lots of regional deals on Brazilian, Panama, and on and on. I noticed a geisha that was 14. So after the deal, ten a pound. Wish I was in a good spot to grab five poubds of that too! They ship fast for me and I like their business as stated much.

As a side note and jammin and many of you will like this, roasting the same bean over and over is pretty cool. So much is gleaned getting to know a bean.

I buy bulk bag 65lb,,for that reason of learning from the bean.

 

[jammin]

No person taught me how to build the oven,,wife makes the dough using the bread ma chine for kneading..she makes 20 pies at a time for the parties ..

can i ask a silly question; is English your first language?

 

[4of7]

can i ask a silly question; is English your first language?

Lol..to many hits to the head,,my thinking gets jumbled,,sorry if it makes you wonder,

 

[4of7]

I dont know how some roast in the house, I like it smokey too but cmon man. And the chaff? But with some good venting, would be nice to have a roasting setup. Like the drum. Looks like a sweet setup. How quick does that roast? Like the large batch factor. It has been explained to me, but I cant understand how food flavors dont come through. My grill is way dirtier than yours though. Hey, I'm just a man. I wonder, what would a heat gun do clamped above a drum like that?

tthe drum rotates,try a small brew kettle and heat gun,or cast iron skillet on the grill lot's of stirring

 

[applescrap]

I am using a bread machine, and heat gun setup. I was pondering, outloud. One of my best and worst qualities .

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Looked at the bullet,seems a little loud from the vids,,is it for you

So far it's fine. I noticed I have a hard time hearing 1st Crack sometimes, but it seems to be on occasions where I roasted a little too slow and 1st C is subsequently less audible.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I think I broke the vituoso burr? Help. I ground grindz to fine I think. One of the tabs on the top burr broke off, bad grind now.

I'm guessing you mean this piece? https://www.baratza.com/product/burr-holder/

If so, if one of the tabs break off it will definitely affect the grind. Buy two or three of those while you are at it - they are good to have on hand.

BTW, the reason they install those is so they break before the burrs do. They are a great, cheap way to prevent expensive problems to the burrs.

 

[applescrap]

So far it's fine. I noticed I have a hard time hearing 1st Crack sometimes, but it seems to be on occasions where I roasted a little too slow and 1st C is subsequently less audible.

What do you think of this, I agree a high heat and fan roast will have a loud powerful crack. Slower, and lower, less.

 

[applescrap]

I'm guessing you mean this piece? https://www.baratza.com/product/burr-holder/

If so, if one of the tabs break off it will definitely affect the grind. Buy two or three of those while you are at it - they are good to have on hand.

BTW, the reason they install those is so they break before the burrs do. They are a great, cheap way to prevent expensive problems to the burrs.

Thanks bro. Thats the one. I had to get after it right away and their site helped. I got hole new burr ring (tee hee). What do you think? Seemed like might as well. That is awesome about the protection. Wonder if I need a new bottom burr, too. I feel like I did it by grinding those orange cleaning pills too fine. But I think one was always broken and I have ground a lot of light roast coffee.

 

[applescrap]

Got the burr and wow, makes me wonder how well the other one was working. Probably should get the bottom now too?

Saw on another thread someone said they werent overly thrilled with coffee flavor and that they ordered from dark matter. Looked up dark matter today and there was these super fancy bag designs and style. The coffee i saw however is blends of guat, el salvador, columbian etc...makes me wonder. My friend orders from bodhi and with the deal comes out to 13 to15 a pound. They are good roasters. Wonder how they would compare. My expeience from blends hasnt been great but as we discussed earlier they have their merits. My friend brought in some coffee from a subscription service called amora. Yikes, and it wasnt cheap either. Where does a guy go to get konga fresh roasted and how much is it, I wonder.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Dark Matter has a sort of hipster/grown-up-hipster niche here in Chicago, with their branding sort of similar to Three Floyds Brewing. I've had their coffee a few times and meh...not at all worth the price they are charging. They roast darker for the most part, which isn't my thing anyways, but to roast dark and then charge $18-$25/12oz is a little steep in my opinion.

Only type of place I know of to get a Konga-type bean is Intelligenstia or Mad Cap. I'm sure there are a few out there, but I don't keep up on different roasters. When I travel I always try to seek out some Third Wave coffee places, but even then most roasters don't carry the types of beans I would expect or look for.

 

[Kealia]

I just reconnected with an old friend and he let me know that he is a coffee junkie so I am roasting him some Kenyan to try out my home roasts.

And I had to drop my car at the dealership this morning so I walked to the closest coffee shop which calls itself a "Craft Coffee Shop".
I obviously didn't pull this shot, but I sure as hell am going to drink it!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I got my eyes on that cake thing!

Someone posted a used Vario for $150 on on FB coffee equipment page. It's a little newer than mine. Said it needs a new belt for $8 and a new hopper, something like $26. Really tempted to pick it up but my Vario is good and I know how it works. By the time I clean both it and sold mine it it's probably be an even exchange, not really worth the time or hassle.

 

[TallDan]

I got my eyes on that cake thing!

Someone posted a used Vario for $150 on on FB coffee equipment page. It's a little newer than mine. Said it needs a new belt for $8 and a new hopper, something like $26. Really tempted to pick it up but my Vario is good and I know how it works. By the time I clean both it and sold mine it it's probably be an even exchange, not really worth the time or hassle.

Local? I'd be tempted to replace my rocky...

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

No, it's in TX but they might ship. I now see 3 people are "interested". It's on the FB page "Used Coffee Equipment Worldwide". I'd paste it here but I'm not sure that's possible.

Update/Edit: They just marked it as sale pending.

 

[Kealia]

I got my eyes on that cake thing!

That would be the coffee cake and it was uh-mazing!

 

[applescrap]

Good looking out. A vario would be sweet.

Got the 10 lbs bodhileaf Ethiopian and the colombian decaf yesterday. I have no idea how to roast decaf. Last time I got lucky and remember it tasting pretty good.
Any tips greatly appreciated?

Using the coffee timer, the way I roast is a little more ambiguous. Depending on a lot of factors, the time can change for what is best in my opinion. While in some ways it has helped me, ultimately not using my senses as well has led to a few poor roasts. Mind you all of the coffee is good for the most part, just a little off whatever I am looking for.

 

[pshankstar]

My 1L Rite Press arrived last week while I was out of town. Thanks @HarborTownBrewing for telling me about this Kickstarter project back in February. I hope to use it tomorrow or early next week.

For those who are familiar with a French Press, what ratio do you usually use? This is my first French Press so I’m pretty pumped to try it out.

 

[applescrap]

My french press efforts have been varied. The grind is as critical as amount, iirc. Too fine and it can be, umm, muddy? Murkyish maybe better said and courser more refined. Either way, I would call it an intense experience. Have fun with it. Maybe start with 2 level tablespoons per 5 oz and work from there. I could be totally off with that, I suppose. I press the grinds ever so slightly down, seems a good idea. Keeps them more submerged maybe. A good idea is if that is a french press, it will work greatly as a cold brew tool!

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

That's awesome about the press. I saw on a couple FB groups where people got theirs last week too. Took a while!!!

I use the same ratio in the french press: 1:16. Usually it comes out to 46 grams of coffee and 738 grams of water because that fills two of my mugs at home.

Applescrap is correct - the grind is so critical with the french press. On the Encore I usually went with around 26 to 28. You'll still get some fines in the cup, but that's pretty normal regardless. I liked the extraction I got with that grind size.

Side note but related: I got a new scale a few months back and I couldn't be more satisfied with it. I had a crappy one before but this one is so much better; it even has a rubber mat on the surface so your Chemex, carafe, mug, press doesn't slip off. I I highly recommend it if anyone is in the market for one of these. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071J3YXFH/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[pshankstar]

I used the Rite Press last night to make a cup of coffee for my wife and I. She really enjoyed it but said it was very strong. She even commented on how much the same beans tasted differently than with our drip Bonavita coffee maker. Granted I use 50g of beans for the Bonavita and it's a 1.3L carafe. I did the 16:1 ratio with the Rite Press 62g (rounded down) to 1L, so there was a big difference.

I was happy with how it works and will probably use it a lot with the loose leaf teas we have too. Anyhow, I wanted to report back and let everyone know the Rite Press seems to work pretty well! Although I have never used a french press before so I have nothing to compare it too. HAHA

 

[applescrap]

Oh I see, just watched a video. Super cool, glad it works. Will be great for cold brew too. Srsly, does it get better than cold brew? Got to admit I am enjoying the melita and pour over.

So the Ethiopian is super good. Not konga or nothing but definetly gr 1 ethiopian natural. At 4.30 to 4.60 a pound I am so sad I didnt get tons of it. Strawberry notes are solid.

I roasted it by going full power to 9 or ten minutes, then 5, then 4 as first crack started. Even though it took longer, seems really good. I was scared I pulled it to early at 8.5 percent on that timer, but this was different. If i taste any green it will haunt me the whole way through. Any green. But this was different, its light and has all the flavors from light roasts except brightness. But strawberry and other great flavors. Dare I say it.......light and developed. Yes, light, and developed, no green. Makes me wonder if I roast slower and avoid tipping, but am careful to stop it light, this is the happy train.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Anyone heat-seal plastic coffee bags? Any pointers or products you would recommend?

I don't really want to buy one of the $30 or $40 impulse sealers but I have a feeling that's the best way to go about it.

 

[pshankstar]

Anyone heat-seal plastic coffee bags? Any pointers or products you would recommend?

I don't really want to buy one of the $30 or $40 impulse sealers but I have a feeling that's the best way to go about it.

No the only thing I have done is use the “seal” function on my vacuum sealer to seal those bags. I’ve only don’t that a couple of times.

 

[pshankstar]

Silly question. I was looking at Bodhi Leaf Coffee and was curious to know what the different “grades” mean for the beans. I searched the Google haha and I feel I am starting to get confused as to which information is correct. If anyone knows of a good resource to read about the different bean greats, can you please share the link? I’ll continue looking but figured I would ask before I get too far down this path.
Thanks in advance!