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

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180 grams of coffee bean Used for 60 ounces of coffee. 2 different beans split at 90 grams each. 1 Colombia Antioquia supremo, 1 Brazil Salto Estate. Colombia bean has chocolate walnut, and Brazil is milk chocolate, nut tones, and orange zest. 2 cups dark brown sugar, 2 cups white granulated. 2 cups white rum. 1 cup vodka. Both spirits are top shelf. One premium vanilla bean, cut into thirds, and split down the middle. = 2/3's gallon of what already tastes fantastic home made Kahlua :yes:
 
Anybody using Artisan? Anybody tried using Roast Learner add on (GitHub aderusha search) ? It is an A.I. with USB mic and python coding setup to auto detect and mark in Artisan when it detects 1C start.
Let me know if anyone has had success with using. Not much out there about it.
 
TrickyDick said:
Anybody using Artisan? Anybody tried using Roast Learner add on (GitHub aderusha search) ?
Click to expand...

This doesn't help much given your question but I'm still using Aillio's Roasttime software; I'm on their first version of the software still as well. I'm generally a late-adopter type of person and hate to mess with something that I've figured out so I'm stubbornly still using the original version. I know eventually they'll stop supporting it but I'm holding out!
 
I have not ventured into Artisan either, and like HTB, have stayed with Roasttime. I have not stayed with the original version, and have not had any glitches so far either. Don't know if that is because I usually wait until at least the first update to newly released versions before switching or not......but it's been a charm so far!
 
TrickyDick said:
Anybody using Artisan? Anybody tried using Roast Learner add on (GitHub aderusha search) ? It is an A.I. with USB mic and python coding setup to auto detect and mark in Artisan when it detects 1C start.
Let me know if anyone has had success with using. Not much out there about it.
Click to expand...

I had used artisan for a little while but not the add on mentioned. I had been using it with some phidgets modules but I quit because I think there was an issue with those not adjusting to ambient temp properly.
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Well, just ordered $500 in coffee, 105 lbs. Got a mix of lots of great looking things coming between Burmans and Sweet Marias. In that mix was the beans I'll be using for my Christmas Blend this year; I won't give it away, but will say that this is one of the beans. Ethiopia Dry Process Hambela Goro It looks fantastic, I can't wait to try it as a SO in the Chemex. Chocolate covered Blueberries? Sounds too good to be true.
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Alright so I have a follow-up post to report. Roasted up both beans for the Christmas Blend (the Ethiopian Goro and a Colombian). I didn't exactly get the roast I wanted as I thought I may have roasted them a little fast. About 20 mins post roast I was putting them away and decided to take a sniff of the canisters. Opened up the Ethiopian one and it was BLUEBERRY HEAVEN. Oh man, I got excited but waited a couple days to actually drink it.

So, after about 3 days of rest I blended 50/50 of the Ethiopian and the Colombian, brewed it in the Chemex, and inhaled a nice sniff from the Crust as it was blooming in the Chemex. Again, BLUEBERRY HEAVEN. Now I'm getting reaaaally excited. I take another sniff and must have too eagerly inhaled too much of the off-gassing CO2 because I could hardly breathe haha.

In the cup, it's just delicious. The blueberry is certainly there but it's complimented so nicely with these other dark fruit flavors. The Colombian gives it the body it needs and rounds it out. Since blending it a number of times and running it through the Chemex and Behmor Brewer, I have also tried both beans on their own and they are both delicious as single origins. I still want to get a slightly longer roast on the Colombian to get a bit more body (I think I had hit 1C at like 6:30 so about a min earlier than I had wanted to) but man...there is just nothing like a great cup of coffee.
 
Espresso based drinks have been a pleasure to make and tasting better than ever in the last week. :)
B3310BCE-7502-42EA-822A-C01BD2310B08.jpeg
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
@TrickyDick have you had a chance to roast the Goro?
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No not yet. Been working my tail off and got sick so just started feeling better again. Tend to not drink coffee much when I'm feeling bad. I did recently decide to cut back on my brewing ratio , as it seems that it might been too much coffee and not enough water. I'd been using a 16:1 Im not sure where I am at not, but I definitely enjoy the coffee better with more water. I'll be working on the Goro in the next couple of weeks.

TD
 
TrickyDick said:
what is this thing??
Click to expand...
This angle is a little more self-explanatory:
04ED6D37-9EF3-4CB6-A28E-8757D33BD688.jpeg

and here is a full family picture:

C463159C-511C-4020-BCD9-ACC4CF865F2A.jpeg

The two mazzers, the Baratza Vario, and the HG-1 are all getting listed for sale. I’ve had fun playing with the mazzers, and the HG-1 and vario have served me well, but the kafatek and ditting more than cover my coffee grinder needs.
 
A couple of things to mention. The Kahlua turned out ok. The taste was good, but boy howdy was it sweet! It is gone none the less, and 2 gallons are now maturing. 1 was made with 200 grams freshly brewed coffee, the other I used 3/4 gallon of my undiluted cold brew. Both have 4 cups alcohol, and 3 cups sugar and 1.5 vanilla beans. Looking to take some of the syrup sweetness away and improve the "alcohol presence". We will see how this turns out.
I finally updated my roasting software/firmware....Uuuggghhhh!!
Did this on a Friday night in preparation to a roasting session that I planned to do on Saturday. Surprise!!! I had unplanned guests show up that stayed a little too late for me, so I put off the roasting until Sunday morning. Got out in the shed and needed to warm things up about 10 so I cranked the heater, and went back inside to pick my beans out. Got that accomplished, went back to the shed to start my roasters' preheat....only to find that my control board and display were not going to function on my roaster. That's when the fun started! Messed around with that until late afternoon, getting it back to functional....Now I still am not sure that I have the latest and greatest software/firmware on it, and I can't begin to extrapolate on how much I'm looking forward to trying it again!!!
 
Got my Christmas Blend tweaked and really happy with how it's tasting this year. This is usually the only blend I do each year, everything else is single origin, so it's kind of a fun surprise and something I look forward to. My friends who buy from me also look forward to it and have really been enjoying this one too which is fun to hear. Roasting up a bunch during December was always a lot of work on the Behmor, the Bullet makes the busy month a lot easier.

This past weekend I tried the cocktail Churchill's Breakfast for the first time, brewing up some Japanese-style cold brew that I mixed into it. If any of you are into bourbon, you would most definitely looooove this cocktail. I don't know why it took me so long to find it but I'm going to make up for lost time, that's for sure.
:ghostly:
 
Hey HTB! I too am doing a Xmas blend, and like you, only have ever blended during this holiday season. Last year I had more demand on the blend than I anticipated, which was quite a surprise! I have different beans to blend this year for the Xmas blend, so hopefully it goes as well as last years! I, would love to try yours, if you have enough, so pm details please.
 
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If anyone does the green coffee bean subscription with Sweet Maria's or Bodhi Leaf, can you please share your thoughts and what you received? I'm on the fence because I think it would be fun to try new beans, but I like to typically order more than 1lbs of beans so I can roast them a few times in various different ways. Plus I like to select my own beans, but a surprise would be fun too.
 
I have thought about getting a subscription, but I buy way too many pounds from several different vendors for it to be much more than a fleeting thought. It is also a very convenient way for vendors to lighten their load of beans that are not that appealing or selling that well. Yep, surprise!!!! You get to have the latest coffee bean that tastes like toe jam and dirt, and an after taste of seaweed sea foam and clam! Lmao!! Exaggerations of coarse, but no thanks anyways!!
 
Ruint said:
I have thought about getting a subscription, but I buy way too many pounds from several different vendors for it to be much more than a fleeting thought. It is also a very convenient way for vendors to lighten their load of beans that are not that appealing or selling that well. Yep, surprise!!!! You get to have the latest coffee bean that tastes like toe jam and dirt, and an after taste of seaweed sea foam and clam! Lmao!! Exaggerations of coarse, but no thanks anyways!!
Click to expand...
I was kind of thinking the same thing about offloading beans that are not selling well or just not that good. I'm holding off for now but I'm curious to see if anyone does try any of these subscriptions.
 
I have not done the sweet marias subscription thing, but used to buy the samplers. They seemed to do a good job of giving a mix of current beans. There would be some Ethiopian or other African coffee in the mix along with a pretty good variation of the other growing areas.

They had something called Odds and Ends or something like that and that seemed to have some none current bean, but the coffee was good.
 
Been way to long, cheers and working back to pku. Ugh the lack of app just lambasted my hbt world. Haha talldan the family looks beautiful as ever. I see another lovely child. Your passion for the hobby is awesome.
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No subscription here, you know what I like to drink. Btw one of the bl deals was splendid. And I am going to have to look back and see which one it was but wow. Yet another deal situation was meh. The konga from burmans they said was meh, is and was. Haha I got some Kenyan. Faith estate top lot from burmans, lol it is cheek puckering. Why oh why do I keep trying. I am going to have to try a darker roast with it.
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Got my Christmas Blend tweaked and really happy with how it's tasting this year. This is usually the only blend I do each year, everything else is single origin, so it's kind of a fun surprise and something I look forward to. My friends who buy from me also look forward to it and have really been enjoying this one too which is fun to hear. Roasting up a bunch during December was always a lot of work on the Behmor, the Bullet makes the busy month a lot easier.

This past weekend I tried the cocktail Churchill's Breakfast for the first time, brewing up some Japanese-style cold brew that I mixed into it. If any of you are into bourbon, you would most definitely looooove this cocktail. I don't know why it took me so long to find it but I'm going to make up for lost time, that's for sure.
:ghostly:
Click to expand...
Churchhill Breakfast? Do share the recipe or is it just cold brew coffee and booze?
So what was the final blend on your Christmas Coffee? I roasted some stuff up for gifts to friends, but I really pooched the roast on a couple so I gotta re-do.
What kinda charge temp do folks use for 2lb roasts? (W/New IBST upgrade because they're different)???
Maybe I should stick to 1 lb, but I have a lot of coffee drinking friends - more so than beer drinking friends actually.

Merry Christmas y'all!
TD
 
Here is the recipe I was going with for Churchill Breakfast. How To Make Churchill's Breakfast — Cocktail Chemistry
Not a quick one but it's tasty.

My Christmas Blend was 50/50 Colombia Pavon and Ethiopia Hambela Goro. I wanted to use Burundi instead of Ethiopian but SM sold out of the one I had eyed before I pulled the trigger. They then sold out of the beans I bought right after I bought them so they seem to be moving some product (or purchasing smaller lots).

I can't comment on the preheat situation because I haven't upgraded to IBITS yet. I am still roasting on the v1 software but I think they aren't supporting it anymore because I've noticed some changes in my roasting. Nothing that's affected me but I'm probably going to need to actually update my software and finally get IBITS. I'm what you'd call a very very late adopter 😂
 
Hey TD, it is roasters' choice for what temp to charge to. It is typical for most though, that they'll raise the preheat. If you look in the maintenance/user manual, I believe they have a reference or recommendations for preheat temp and batch size. I will look some more, I know I have seen it, not remembering precisely where though....
 
I'm going to have to go back and review Joe Morocco videos on preheat. I dont charge because I roast one batch and really never have. But when I do two pounds or more back to back like at Christmas time for gifts the roaster obviously becomes charged. Initial thoughts is that first it must be considered and treated like any other condition that is present. I find myself not adjusting and having a roast with too much progression.

Precaution I think is in order to ensure the roast times are where you want them, and my charge batches are often much quicker. Since I never did install the probes my guide is experiential. The color, smell, swelling, time of roast, loudness of crack etc... all help guide me. Haha, you are all there too I am sure, I can smell a batch tipping from a block away.

Wish I could say which is better, charge vs no charge, labeling on these multiple batch day is non existant and the coffee makes it superfluous in some respects. Darker is like chocolate and lighter is fruit scone. Both are killer, but and also what if my charge batches haven't been roasted well enough. Ultimately I come back to no charge and my charge roasts are often tipped and or progressed in a negative way.

I like to roast on cold winter mornings. No proof but I think the cold buffers the heat at least in the beginning for a better light roast with less tipping. If you are making tons all the time, then repeatability is the goal. Joe said in production is either right or wrong, not good or bad.

The answer for the two pound batch is depends. Outside temp variables I think could play a role, coffe origin wetness freshness etc...plenty of factors. Just my opinion, rushing this part of the roast too muc has no value to good coffee. Essentially progressing the outer much faster than the inner. S... I am about to go into turning point for 5 minutes. Haha, better wrap this up. It's the drying you are looking for related to this charge. Once a bean is to dry it's hard to sear it right, and if it's not dry enough the nice sear will be thwarted by the green inside. A charged roaster in general I think takes more talent and skill as it's another variable must consider.
 
Merry Christmas! Worked on that last night. Hope all and everyone is well. I recently blended roasts of same coffee. It was like drinking every variable of that coffee at once. I need to try blending. I have some Kenyan and Ethiopian roasted I could start there. Lol lol the Kenyan smells exquisite like a perfect kenyan, that's why I havent touched it.

I got a mr coffee moka type pot I think that's what it is. Base and top, funnel in base, top screws on and water percolates up and into top. Stovetop espresso or whatever. Any tips thoughts? Best wishes coffee friends, miss you and

No I am not going to take a moment to complain about the app. I have complained about the app enough and we all know how sad I am that there is no app. So no. I will not complain about the app anymore and am sorry I have.
 
I'm bummed the app is gone, I have the hbt shortcut on my phone and all that but I still miss the notifications so I'm right there with you Apple. I feel like the participation has plummeted since the app went away.
 
applescrap said:
I got a mr coffee moka type pot I think that's what it is. Base and top, funnel in base, top screws on and water percolates up and into top. Stovetop espresso or whatever. Any tips thoughts?
Click to expand...
Only real tip I have is to boil the water in a kettle first, then put it in the moka pot. That keeps the pot and coffee from getting too hot before the water is pushed through. It's been a long time since I've used the one I have.
 
I think my Christmas Blend will be the nicely roasted Nicaragua Pacamara peaberry (past crop) blended with some Ethioipian Genji Challa Dry Process. probably close to 3:1 maybe 4:1 on that. Most of my coffee drinking friends are probably starbucks fans still and the Nicaragua is roasted through 1C and then a bit longer. Nice chocolate profile I think they will like without being charred.
The churchill breakfast sounds like a lot of work, I may have to try one! I wonder how it would taste with aged rum and the sugar cane syrup substituted for the Rye and Maple.
Darn Water cooling PC pump died (again)..... Never again will I go water cooled.... been using same case/system since I ordered it. I think planning version 4 of the guts, if I could find any parts. Everything is sold out. Ammo, Toilet paper, PC parts and gaming consoles
TD
 
Those look to be some very good tasting coffees P!!! Nice selection. I have several hard containers too, but I find myself using the bags more often just out of convenience. That and mostly because I have more selection than containers!
 
Ruint said:
@TrickyDick, sorry to hear you are having problems with your pc's water cooling pump...have you tried....https://www.frozencpu.com ? They might have what you need.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I did order a replacement pump (!!!! $100 plus S&H and tax) for a PC that I'm trying to replace but can't because I can't get parts because they are all sold out!! Very frustrating. Well it turns out that the PC throttles the CPU to prevent overheating to an extent. I put a Fan blowing on it too for the time being, and seems to help a lot! remains to be seen if I get the new pump before I get the new PC parts. Probably the pump will come first. this is the third pump.... No more water cooling for me...
 
I hate asking this b/c I am not a fan of this and I am sure many here are with me but I have to ask. My wife loves the coffee I roast and it has ruined her like it has with me when we are out and want to get a coffee. Our neighbor's wife is pregnant and she gave me some flavored decaf coffee for my wife to enjoy b/c she occasionally likes to have coffee in the evening but the caffeine affects her so she would like to have some decaf coffee in the house. After trying this flavored decaf coffee this past weekend she mentioned she misses having flavored coffee in the house (i.e. this "Jamaican Me Crazy" flavored decaf coffee) to enjoy periodically.

With that being said I tried researching this the last few nights trying to figure out how these roasters flavor their beans. 95% of the searching came back to buying flavored coffee. From what little information I could find, it sounds like they have flavor extracts/oils they mix in with the beans after roasting. I couldn't find where I could buy these products to make some flavored decaf coffee at home. I figured I could find a cheap decaf bean to make from time to time for her and flavor it, but I am striking out.

So with my confession of what is going on, does anyone have any info they can share with me? Again, I am a bit embarrassed asking this here and don't particularly like these flavored coffees but a happy wife makes a happy life, right? Thanks in advance!
 
NGD said:
No expert on this, but a few links I found. Seems pretty straight forward. Hope these help. If your using google, try switching search engines.
https://coffeeflavoroils.com/How_to_Flavor_Coffee_Beans.htm
https://theroasterie.com/how-is-flavored-coffee-made/
http://homecoffeeroastingbasics.com/how-to-flavor-coffee-beans-at-home/
Click to expand...
Thanks! The first link you shared I had not seen before, but the other two I have. The last one I looked at multiple times but never saw they have links to sites that sell the oils until now. Maybe because it's easier to see on my laptop vs. my small phone screen/mobile browser when I am researching at night.

Yeah the process seems pretty straight forward but finding these oils/flavoring additions have been the pain point, but I guess I need to go old school and browse the sites on a computer not a mobile device. HAHA
 
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Hi everyone. After talking about wanting to try roasting coffee for the last 6 months I was gifted a Barwell roaster of and 10lbs of Ethiopian Limu for Christmas. I’ve only done 3 roasts so far but I can’t produce anything thats worth a damn. At this point I’m placing blame squarely on the person roasting and not on the beans or equipment.
Searching around I’ve found some suggestions as to how others roast but no “beginners” guide as to how to start off, what charge temps to aim for etc. I will say that low and slow to first crack produced a nice flavor of grass and cat pee (30 min). Could anyone recommend a good book or website to get me started in the right direction? For some reason google and duckduck keep funneling me towards green coffee extract.
 
@pshankstar I hear you. I usually browse on my mobile device and absolutely miss things due to the way some sites format for mobile (or lack there of). Hopefully some of that helped.
You asked a question I had myself but no way was I asking these coffee snobs (written as I take a sip of Jamaican Blue Mountain while waiting for my order from Bodhi to arrive). :coff4:
 
NGD said:
Hi everyone. After talking about wanting to try roasting coffee for the last 6 months I was gifted a Barwell roaster of and 10lbs of Ethiopian Limu for Christmas. I’ve only done 3 roasts so far but I can’t produce anything thats worth a damn. At this point I’m placing blame squarely on the person roasting and not on the beans or equipment.
Searching around I’ve found some suggestions as to how others roast but no “beginners” guide as to how to start off, what charge temps to aim for etc. I will say that low and slow to first crack produced a nice flavor of grass and cat pee (30 min). Could anyone recommend a good book or website to get me started in the right direction? For some reason google and duckduck keep funneling me towards green coffee extract.
Click to expand...
I am not familiar with that roaster off hand and would need to look it up, but I have to run out the door to pick up school materials for my kids. I'll try to jump back on and see what I can find or offer any suggestions I may have later today or tomorrow.
How do the roasted beans look? Are they oily for example? Can you upload some pictures? How much are you roasting at a given time? Are you hearing the first crack when roasting? Are you roasting inside or outside? The ambient room temperature I'm sure would play a factor too.
 

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