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

[TrickyDick]

I want to say 240C is my charge temp.

I ordered three new greens today:

Burundi Dry Process Kibingo
Ethiopia Dry Process Genji Challa
Ethiopia Sidama Damo

sound like solid coffee to me. Anyone else get any or have suggestion?

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I want to say 240C is my charge temp.

For what it's worth, my charge temp is usually 175 C for 1lb. I'm not running the latest and greatest IBITS or whatever so I think we probably have the same operating system. You might want to try dropping your temp

 

[Sbe2]

Ordered:

2 Lbs Kenya AA Nyeri Boma
3 lbs Ethiopia Sidamo Durato Bombe
2 lbs Mexico Chiapas Tzeltal Tzotzil


All from Captains Coffee so we’ll see...I bought on @Ruint recommendation. I am fairly new and have never roasted a Mexican origin, so I was intrigued.

 

[Ruint]

@TrickyDick, my preheat in Celsius is about 224 degrees (436 F). I use this temp for everything except for the real fragile beans that need gentle heat at the start. Guatemalan, Colombian, Honduran, Ethiopian, Kenyon, you name it... All get the same, except low grown and maybe an occasional peaberry. The real difference is the power settings thereafter, and drum and fan speed.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

There was a change at some point, I can't recall if it was a control board, IBITS, or the software, but I do believe preheating above 200C for around a 1lb roast would be way too much. @TrickyDick i know you had one of the original roasters, and mine was one of the first thousand so I believe we are running on the same ish platform as I haven't upgraded mine yet. If I preheated as high as you mentioned, I would absolutely blow through a roast.

Just wanted to throw it out there. @Ruint i think we might be on a slightly different platform than yours, as I know I'm preheating lower than the people who have newer versions. Just wanted to throw that out there.

 

[JuanMoore]

Tried the bourbon soaked bean method I'd seen mentioned in here, and am just now drinking some of it that I roasted Friday evening. Had a little over a pound of ~5yr old dried out stale Guatemalan beans. Put half of them in a mason jar with a 1/2 Tbsp of good local whiskey, shook them up every day, and let it soak in for 2 weeks (only took a week to soak in, but took me another week to get around to roasting them). The other half I wanted to try another method I'd read about, where the beans are misted with bourbon after roasting, during cooling. Used about twice as much bourbon since I figured a lot wouldn't actually get on the beans.

The misting method didn't seem to do much of anything. There's just a hint of bourbon in the aroma, and I can barely taste it at all. The soaked method resulted in a nice aroma and pretty subdued flavor, which comes out a lot more as the coffee cools. Might use just a touch more next time.

Not sure it's something I'd do routinely, but seems like a great way to add character to some really old or really boring beans. I still have about 1.5lb of equally old assorted Ethiopian beans. Might try some spiced rum or more whiskey with some of those.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

There was a change at some point, I can't recall if it was a control board, IBITS, or the software, but I do believe preheating above 200C for around a 1lb roast would be way too much.

Been thinking about this more, and I finally had a moment to look this up to see if I was making things up. Lower Power Settings After IBTS and R2 upgrade? Some good info there, including from Jonas, one of the owners. In summary, if you have a Bullet with IBITS you will preheat substantially higher to move your roast along. That said, if you don't have IBITS, you need a much lower preheat. So, there's a big different in numbers which are being put out there by roasters who do and do not have IBITS.

I know I have not upgraded to IBITS yet, @TrickyDick have you? If you haven't, definitely try preheating sub-200C. I am usually around 175C to 180C for 1lb batches.

@Ruint does your roaster have IBITS? Or if not, what weight are you loading into the roaster at 225C?

 

[Ruint]

I do have IBTS on my roaster. It came installed already. Most of my roasts are over a pounds' worth. If I am roasting anything less, it's usually because that was all that was left of that particular varietal.

 

[TrickyDick]

I have the IBST upgrade.
I will try some roasts this weekend.
Last roast is a dumper... tastes terrible.
I had a conversion table I wrote on a piece of paper taped up near where I roast that suggests the charge (bean mass) to charge temp for the original roaster hardware and what it similar value in with the new IBST. I'll try and post it here.
I'll checkout that article in the meantime. Thanks.
Gotta say I still haven't gotten the hang of roasting on the Bullet.

Also, just got back from Knoxville. Excellent pourover coffee brewing at Highline Coffee on Gay St. Highly recommended. I think they get their beans from a roaster in Brooklyn, NY. I went three days in a row. They only had Ethiopian varieties, three single origin, and one blend of two different Ethiopian. Barista uses the Kalita Wave pourover 20.0:300 ratio
Yum!
TD

 

[Ruint]

My serial number is 1554 on my bullet. All of the roasts I have done, other than the first 5 for seasoning, have been drinkable, if not down right very enjoyable. Sorry to hear your not having that good of a go at it @TrickyDick. I think that you might want to change your charge temperature, and power up to 9 from drop. You have a lot of control with the bullet, regardless of whether or not it is an earlier model or not. My charge is 428 F. I let it preheat a little long, then drop my beans in, and power up to 9. Sometimes when the temp is a little low outside, it takes a little longer on the phases to hit their mark, but it's fairly predictable. I don't have much difficulty on hearing first crack, and I don't normally go to 2nd, but roasts that I have gone that long are still audible. Use that Trier!!! A couple seconds after you have 1st crack rolling, take that trier out and smell. Do it for every 10 seconds. You will be able to catch the changes. Drop the roast when you really like the aroma! Fine tuning from there is user preference. Really want to hear some good news from you on roasting!!!!!

 

[TallDan]

It’s a beautiful morning here babysitting the smoker that doesn’t need a babysitter and enjoying a cappuccino.

 

[Ruint]

That is a beautiful thing right there!!! Actually all of it is!!!

 

[TrickyDick]

My serial number is 1554 on my bullet. All of the roasts I have done, other than the first 5 for seasoning, have been drinkable, if not down right very enjoyable. Sorry to hear your not having that good of a go at it @TrickyDick. I think that you might want to change your charge temperature, and power up to 9 from drop. You have a lot of control with the bullet, regardless of whether or not it is an earlier model or not. My charge is 428 F. I let it preheat a little long, then drop my beans in, and power up to 9. Sometimes when the temp is a little low outside, it takes a little longer on the phases to hit their mark, but it's fairly predictable. I don't have much difficulty on hearing first crack, and I don't normally go to 2nd, but roasts that I have gone that long are still audible. Use that Trier!!! A couple seconds after you have 1st crack rolling, take that trier out and smell. Do it for every 10 seconds. You will be able to catch the changes. Drop the roast when you really like the aroma! Fine tuning from there is user preference. Really want to hear some good news from you on roasting!!!!!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try putting them to use today.
What charge bean mass do you typically roast? I try to stick to 454g or 1lb unless I have some generous bags from SM's and its the last of the bag, they often contain up to 50g more than what I purchased.
I think my Bullet is one of the earlier models, but not from the very first couple of batches, because there was a molex connector on the board for when I did the IBST upgrade. I'd like to get the power module upgrade also, but so far has been unavailable.
Regardless, I think part of my trouble has been my overstocked situation when I got the bullet of past crop beans. When I began roasting, I had read green beans stay good for over a year. Well I store mine in my basement in FL which has temp control but it is set much warmer than the rest of the home and is slightly more humid. The beans began to age more rapidly and the 1C noises were muted. I thought it was the roaster for a long time, but turns out was the beans making it hard to hear. Been using fresh beans and keeping strict low supply of green beans to prevent this. Might be time to forget everything I think I know and go back to the drawing board. Probably ought to start cupping and taking some reasonable notes also. I'm fairly awful at making tasting notes however.

 

[Ruint]

LoL!! I am not the greatest note taker either!!! I have found that older beans are muted with first crack sound as well. Do you not use Roastworld when roasting? You can find your SN with it easily. When roasting, the screen that is logging your roast has icons in the upper right corner. Choose the one with the lower case i in it, and you'll see fan speeds, power supplied to roaster, the serial number and other miscellaneous things. I normally divide 5 pound bags by 3, which equals 760 grams. One is usually over because most coffee bean suppliers (read as good, reputable) will put a slight overage in, cause they offset the weight loss when drying, both as the weighed beans dry and as we the consumer lose weight as we roast. Kind of a win, win situation for them. I occasionally do 900 plus gram roasts, but I find they are not as easy to manipulate as the 760 weighed ones are, and at a 1 pound increment you should be able to control that like crazy!!!

 

[TrickyDick]

I prefer Artisan but have so far not used it with the Bullet. I will check on Roast World what my SN is.
I use 1lb roasts typically losing 13% ish in mass and typically dropping at the end of 1C or shortly thereafter.
I typically preheat using the IBST upgrade to 240º C and let it sit for an hour if I have time on I begin the preheating before charging, even though the bullet lady says I can charge well before that. My cooler is a modification of the stock tray which I put in the top of a homer bucket with a high power shop vac connected to the base of the bucket to draw massive air across the beans, cooling them in well under a minute. Makes me wonder if the rapid cooling is a culprit in my flavor or not.
TD

 

[Ruint]

I would say your cooling method is not the culprit. All it does, providing air flow, is stopping the beans from cooking more. When you drop, those beans, they should be right where they need to be. Have not seen a cooling bin actually ruin a roast..... It is a rough approximation, but each phase before 1st crack should take you around 4 to 4.5 minutes, being you are roasting at a steady 1 pound increment. My normal if roasting that weight, is 3.8 to 4.3 minutes to yellow, at about 7.5 to 8.5 minutes 1st crack, then if I am lucky enough to extend my development for 2 minutes, my total times are 10 to 12 minutes from start to finish. I made a box that will hold the cooling tray bowl from the stock cooling tray that has a computer fan on opposing sides, both of them pulling air through the bowl and blowing outwards. Not as powerful as your set up, but in a minute the beans are cool enough to handle. My weight loss is any-wheres from 12% to 16%, those being rare (most fall between 13 and 15).

 

[TrickyDick]

Sounds like I'm not too far off track. Most of my roasts are under 11 minutes, some under 10. I think my yellowiing is always under 4 min, which I think is hard for me to achieve 4 minutes or more. I will try cutting power when I charge and add power after turning point or 1 minute mark, whichever is sooner (I don't think TP usually more than 35-45 seconds at the most).

 

[TallDan]

Saw an ad for this guy for sale locally and couldn’t resist. Pulled two shots with it today and like what I got out of it.

 

[TrickyDick]

So I tried cutting power after charging and adding heat only after the TP (pretty close to 1 minute mark). Seemed to help to elongate dry phase and gave me a bit better control going into 1C. I was unfamiliar with the roast momentum however, and normally I'm trying to slow it down a bit, and this change made my roasts behave differently so I did have a bit of a struggle getting a good looking ROR curve without stalling out the roast too much. Will be a learning experience for sure, but I think its a move in the right direction. Forgot to jot down the S/N.
Roasted three beans last session and so far haven't cupped them, will shoot for today.
TD

 

[Ruint]

Don't know about anyone else here, but, I do not always follow the golden rule of waiting for a day or so before sampling the beans I have roasted. I have enjoyed experiencing the changes that occur with some beans. I have noted that not all get better or even change in flavor with the longer wait in off gassing. The recent order I got of the Ethiopia, Sidama Durata Bombe, is a very fruity, smooth cup. I get an even blueberry with a slight nuance of pineapple and a little sweetness. Can't pick up the plum flavor, but I didn't really choose this coffee for that. Very enjoyable! I hope anyone else that chose to get some, experiences the same, or close to it.

 

[shelly_belly]

Don't know about anyone else here, but, I do not always follow the golden rule of waiting for a day or so before sampling the beans I have roasted. I have enjoyed experiencing the changes that occur with some beans. I have noted that not all get better or even change in flavor with the longer wait in off gassing. The recent order I got of the Ethiopia, Sidama Durata Bombe, is a very fruity, smooth cup. I get an even blueberry with a slight nuance of pineapple and a little sweetness. Can't pick up the plum flavor, but I didn't really choose this coffee for that. Very enjoyable! I hope anyone else that chose to get some, experiences the same, or close to it.

That Ethiopian had the best write up I've seen all year. Unfortunately I was unable to buy any as my employer cut our hours to 24/week in April. We were reinstated to 40/week a few weeks ago so I'll probably begin buying 1 pound of everything Sweet Maria's again soon! A lot of times I too will be drinking fresh roast the next day or even the same day if I have let the pipeline run out. It's good stuff even without a rest.

 

[shelly_belly]

Saw an ad for this guy for sale locally and couldn’t resist. Pulled two shots with it today and like what I got out of it.
View attachment 694330

Sweet! I hope to get one some day.

 

[corkybstewart]

My wife has to avoid caffeine for a few months so I bought her some Colombian decaf. Any special tips for roasting decaf? It's been 15 years since I've roasted any.

 

[shelly_belly]

I roasted several decaf's recently. You can't go by color as it's way off. First crack took approximately the same amount of time as usual but second crack came just as soon as first crack was done. This was done on a popcorn popper. The beans were from Indonesia and Rwanda. I had read that the cracks may be hard to hear with decaf but that was not the case with the popcorn popper.

 

[JuanMoore]

As mentioned, you can't trust the color of decaf during roasting, it will usually get really dark really fast. I've found most decafs to be slightly lower density, and require a bit more gentle heat. The smell during the early stages of the roast can also be a lot different, so be aware of that. Otherwise it's pretty similar.

 

[TrickyDick]

My wife has to avoid caffeine for a few months so I bought her some Colombian decaf. Any special tips for roasting decaf? It's been 15 years since I've roasted any.

Its hard to roast. Progresses very fast! Hard to tell color changes in roast because of decaf process. 1C muted. do as for a regular coffee but dial back the temps and maybe do that trick where you kill power after charge until after the TP. That's all I have and would add I hat roasting decaf because its so hard to control.
TD

 

[TrickyDick]

Would add as a question to others, what about roasting to a particular final temp?? Any merit for that? Maybe easier to do a charbucks roast than shoot for a light roast which will be hard to do because of the decaf process.

TD

 

[TallDan]

The robot is nice. Just made a fantastic espresso with it and the Yemen Mocca Matari Natural from CBC. Going to take some practice to get the process down though.

 

[TrickyDick]

The robot is nice. Just made a fantastic espresso with it and the Yemen Mocca Matari Natural from CBC. Going to take some practice to get the process down though.

Pics??

 

[TallDan]

Didn’t take any pics today. In part because my kitchen is a mess right now.

A couple more espressos and I’m starting to get the hang of the robot though. I don’t have any other lever or manual espresso machines to compare it to, but so far I’d say it’s living up to it’s reputation. There is a certain appeal to making espresso with no electricity (hg-1 grinder and robot).