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

[bkboiler]

That rat rod roaster is awesome!
I'm getting back into coffee roasting after selling my Behmor to pay for a traffic fine (i like to always stay financially square)...
I'm trying to devise my best version of a rat rod...and may just heat-gun/dog bowl roast until I acquire the materials...
Just bought a few lbs of coffee from SM to get started again...
Quoting from their tasting notes:
"
+Peru El Diamante Don Elvis - The cup is balanced by turbinado-like, sugary sweet flavors, with fruit-forward top notes of dried apple, cantaloupe, papaya, and balsamic aroma.
+Burundi Monge Murambi Hill - Honey and raw sugar sweetness, bittering cocoa powder flavors, accented by hints of apple, clove, all spice, fragrant orange oil aroma and black tea.
+Ethiopia Organic Sidama Bombe - Aroma of fresh baked gingerbread, brown sugar and honey sweetness, stone fruits like nectarine and peach, moderate citrus acidity.
+Guatemala Patzún Finca Santa Anita - a coffee that accentuates sweetness from front to back, robust flavors of honey and Dutch cocoa, dark berry hints, a winey accent note and apple-like vibrance.
"

Will report back after my first roast on the new "system"!

 

[TallDan]

What's everyone roasting lately? I didn't buy any of that Misty Valley Yirg. I might go for that if it's still available. One way or another, I'm running low on good green coffee and looking for something good!

 

[JuanMoore]

What's everyone roasting lately? I didn't buy any of that Misty Valley Yirg. I might go for that if it's still available. One way or another, I'm running low on good green coffee and looking for something good!

Got a couple pounds of Costa Rica Tarrazu La Minita from happy mug that I'm liking. The Misty Valley Yirg is pretty good too. Bought some Ethiopia Dry Process Suke Quto Daannisa and some Guatemala Atitlan recently too but haven't gotten around to roasting either of those ones yet.

 

[TrickyDick]

I also have some of the dry process Quto seems quite sweet and subtle fruit tones after just over a week of resting.
I did get some misty valley EYC but my first roast was blind because my software crapped out, who knows how that turned out, I haven’t tried it yet. I did my last Taroo roast which has been a bit of a disappointment as far as being able to blueberry hard candy flavor. Haven’t tasted that either. So far very please with the Quto and glad I bought it. Not a blueberry bomb though.

 

[bleme]

All the talk about 'blueberry bombs' on here inspired me to throw some of my cold brewed coffee, half-and-half, and a cup of fresh-picked blueberries in the blender. It was interesting, but probably not something I'll repeat

 

[Brewers Hardware]

Bodhi Leaf had a sale on honey processed beans so I picked up a few to try out. Roasted this Costa Rican Villa Sarchi Honey up today so we'll see how it turns out.

 

[TallDan]

My kettles and technivorm had a fair amount of scale buildup, so I cleaned them up this week. The kettles with white vinegar and the technivorm with cleancaf. Next is the espresso machine. This started me down the path of looking into water for coffee to cut down on this need. Ordered a package of the (yes, seemingly overpriced) Third Wave Water stuff to get me started, but it looks like the "Pavlis" water might be the better way to go forward.

I know a couple people posted about water here not too long ago, anyone have any lessons learned to share?

 

[TrickyDick]

@TallDan
My technivorm I hated. The stainless steel bar I think is chrome plated steel, not stainless and it corrodes with time. Also you probably know, you need to invert whole thing over a sink to discard the retained water in the reservoir.
the extraction was all over the board because you never knew about the variable amount of retained water when I tested with my coffee refractometer. My wife bought me the moccamaster CD model which is also not the preferred model. But still. Been considering selling it on eBay,

 

[TrickyDick]

My kettles and technivorm had a fair amount of scale buildup, so I cleaned them up this week. The kettles with white vinegar and the technivorm with cleancaf. Next is the espresso machine. This started me down the path of looking into water for coffee to cut down on this need. Ordered a package of the (yes, seemingly overpriced) Third Wave Water stuff to get me started, but it looks like the "Pavlis" water might be the better way to go forward.

I know a couple people posted about water here not too long ago, anyone have any lessons learned to share?

Not sure I posted this before or not. The post it note is formula of grams of mineral added per gallon of distilled water per SCCA (?) recommendations for coffee brewing water.

 

[Ruint]

Hey all, Sweet Maria's having a sale on Guatemalan coffees. 20% off. They have some pretty tasty choices listed. I have 40 pounds of Guats on the way!

 

[TallDan]

After a descale and backflush of miss silvia yesterday, and switching to the TWW, today's cappuccinos were the best I've had in a while. Pretty noticeable difference to me and my wife commented that her oat milk latte was also very good. I'm going to bet that it has more to do with the cleaning/maintenance than the water. Hopefully the water change will cut down on the descaling needs though!

That said, I think it's finally time for me to part ways with the silvia. I very nearly bought a used synchronika a couple weeks ago, but didn't go through with it and now I've got a line on a used Decent (both from users on h-b). If that falls through, I think I'm either going to get in line for a new decent or get a breville dual boiler. It's been a good run with the silvia, I've had it for a very long time and it's made great coffee, but I'm ready for something new.

 

[Ruint]

25% off all natural process coffee @BodhiLeaf. I ordered some with promises of blueberry notes in them.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Been a long time since I've been on the site. Nothing too special to report on coffee wise but I did just blend some Tanzania and Ethiopia which was truly a treat.

In other news, I'm about to get my espresso machine back after a partial move that had me leave it at the old house, and it's just in time as it's getting hot and a great time of year for drinking shots on the patio paired with Cigars.

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[Inkleg]

We’re all well here.
I’m always here, guess I should post more. Cats and I are loving the roaster!
Roast a pound or so a week. Between Rona, work and everything else life’s been ......interesting.
My most enjoyable time lately has been taking the naked ones out on the deck and just watching them soak up the world.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Crap! I guess I missed you got a new roaster, looks great man!

 

[Jay7722]

nice looking roaster

 

[bkboiler]

@TallDan i had a breville duo temp and their their dose control pro. A buddy of mine got their Oracle... All of our stuff had quality issues within a couple years...
Not saying that's everybody's experience, but it was ours.
Hard to beat silvia reliability tho...pretty much anything is less reliable than Miss Silvia.

 

[TallDan]

@TallDan i had a breville duo temp and their their dose control pro. A buddy of mine got their Oracle... All of our stuff had quality issues within a couple years...
Not saying that's everybody's experience, but it was ours.
Hard to beat silvia reliability tho...pretty much anything is less reliable than Miss Silvia.

Yeah. I read all about the BDB on and off over the last year or so. It seems like some routine maintenance can keep them running pretty smoothly.
I’ll agree, the Silvia is maybe too reliable. Even when neglected, it will keep chugging along, just not making as good of espresso as it would if well maintained.
I didn’t order a Breville though. My v1.0 decent de-1 arrives today!

 

[Lax coach]

Wow, that is a hell of a roasting setup for 1 pound a week!

 

[TallDan]

Wow, that is a hell of a roasting setup for 1 pound a week!

Overkill is the best kill. Here’s mine:

 

[TallDan]

Over caffeinated today! The decent arrived a couple hours ago. Had my usual morning coffee before that, and an espresso and a cappuccino in addition! (So far...)

 

[jimyson]

I’ve decided to sell my LP for a new toy (unrelated to coffee). I didn’t use it that much and pretty much just stick to drip coffee, so it’s better off somewhere that will put it to good use.
La Pavoni Europiccola | eBay

 

[pshankstar]

Has anyone found a good bean recently that’s chocolate forward with a good body? Or does anyone have any suggestions? Most of my beans are fruit forward and more acidic than anything else. Thanks in advance!

@jimyson good luck selling! It seems like yesterday when you brought it home after the powder coating.

 

[ba-brewer]

I order some of this coffee yesterday from sweet marias, it mentioned chocolate in the flavor profile
El Salvador Apaneca Finca Miravalle

Most Mexican coffee usually have decent body. I think it is either Nicaragua and/or Honduras coffees that also have good body. Those also seem less acidic.

 

[shelly_belly]

Has anyone found a good bean recently that’s chocolate forward with a good body? Or does anyone have any suggestions? Most of my beans are fruit forward and more acidic than anything else. Thanks in advance!

@jimyson good luck selling! It seems like yesterday when you brought it home after the powder coating.

One of the best for chocolate and body I've had recently was the Flores Wolo Wio but of course it's out of stock as well as any others I could recommend. However, the Flores Tangkul Village looks promising.

https://www.sweetmarias.com/flores-tangkul-village-6416.html

 

[TrickyDick]

@TallDan What's the postcard under the spoon in you picture?? Looks like Sweet Maria's postcard.

Local Homebrew shop owner has a mill city roaster. I'm jealous just a bit. I have by no means mastered my bullet or even roasting for that matter. Hard for me to believe a nicer roaster is going to fix my lack of skill.

TD

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Friendly reminder that you should be able to roast as good of coffee on the Bullet as another comparily priced and sized machine.

I've by no means mastered the Bullet and am completely blown away at some of the things other roasters do with theirs. But the impressive results come from those who use it professionally or use it for their lone hobby. Neither is the case for me.

 

[Ruint]

Guys...by no means do I consider myself a professional roaster, but do feel I do a very decent roast. Pretty confident I can get the Bullet to perform. I love roasting with it. I may consider getting a gas fired one sometime down the road, that has a larger capacity...lol...but not rushing to do it. I am certain with some more roasts under your belts you will feel better about the way your roasts turn out. I can share any of my profile roasts with you ( if I can find you in roastworld ) if you want.... I have 268.5 kilos of bean roasting with 373 roast sessions.

@pshankstar... I have some green beans yet that may give you your chocolate fix. Give me a holler!

 

[TallDan]

@TallDan What's the postcard under the spoon in you picture?? Looks like Sweet Maria's postcard.

Local Homebrew shop owner has a mill city roaster. I'm jealous just a bit. I have by no means mastered my bullet or even roasting for that matter. Hard for me to believe a nicer roaster is going to fix my lack of skill.

TD

It is a SM postcard. Seemed like a useful one to keep by the roaster.

 

[TrickyDick]

Thats a nice one! I FINALLY received the pictoral bean development postcard with close up bean photos from beginning through burnt phases.