Any Home Coffee Roasters?

[brewer12345]

What do you think of the 'dog bowl heat gun' method (gee, maybe I asked you this years ago?). That's what I tried, just to experiment. It's a fair amount of effort for a small batch, but I kind of like that you can see how the roast is progressing (definitely done outdoors, or at least in the garage). But IIRC, the Ethiopian was too acidic by my method, Costa Rican was closer to what I like. And pre-roasted, I think the Sumatra is also more my style. Does that make sense?

-ERD50

What I like about home roasting is that I can pick what I like (similar to homebrewing, cooking, etc.). However, first you have to know what you like. I usually shoot for what is known as a "City" or "City +" roast level. Roast levels go to Full City, Full City+, and then into the increasingly ashy realms of Italian Roast, French Roast, etc. Similarly, coffees can vary considerably depending on source, how they are processed, etc. I tend to prefer Ethiopian and wet-processed coffees from Central America and parts of Africa. Dry processed Indonesian and Brazilian coffees of whatever stripe, not so much. Different strokes, but you have to sample a bunch to really learn your preferences.

Traditional Ethiopian roasting is on a pan over the fire (and I am not going to argue with the place it came from), so I think just about any way you get to a decent roast level with enough control to get what you like is perfectly valid.

 

[misshathaway]

Traditional Ethiopian roasting is on a pan over the fire (and I am not going to argue with the place it came from), so I think just about any way you get to a decent roast level with enough control to get what you like is perfectly valid.

Enticed by this topic I just ordered a pound from Sweet Maria - Uganda Cheema Kapchorwa. I'll be using the pan method to see if it's worth it. I'm one of those philistines who enjoy Pete's French Roast so we'll see.

Gosh there have been some good food threads here lately. Comes from having the free time to prepare slow food I guess.

 

[Chuckanut]

. I'm one of those philistines who enjoy Pete's French Roast so we'll see.

Gosh there have been some good food threads here lately. Comes from having the free time to prepare slow food I guess.

You're not the only philistine in the group. I have been enjoying Starbucks Yukon blend from Costoc for quite a while.

Yes, time to prepare good food is one of the great reasons to FIRE.

 

[fidler4]

Count me in as a Behmor 1600 guy but I started out with a whirly popper. I bought my first green beans from Sweet Maria's around 2 years ago. I bought a Whirly Popper and roasted the beans on my BBQ's side burner. I way over cooked my first batch of beans so much hey came out as small pieces of charcoal.

I buy most of my beans from SM's but decided to check out Bodhi Leaf one day since they are about 20 mins from my house. While there I stepped up my roasting a notch and bought the Behmor 1600. I have been pleased with it so far. In order to get a darker roast I preheat the Behmor for 2 minutes then roast 12 ozs. On the 1lb setting and then add a couple of minutes to that.

Its nice to be retired!

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I buy most of my beans from SM's but decided to check out Bodhi Leaf one day since they are about 20 mins from my house.

Its nice to be retired!

Can you give us an update when you get the Bodhi Leaf one? I saw them on a TV show and wanted to maybe take a shot at them. I liked the whole company vibe. Thanks.

 

[zinger1457]

Can you give us an update when you get the Bodhi Leaf one? I saw them on a TV show and wanted to maybe take a shot at them. I liked the whole company vibe. Thanks.

I picked up a sample pack of green coffee beans from Bodhi Leaf and pleased with what I've roasted so far. Good customer service and free shipping for orders over $49.

 

[kevink]

Good to see kevink join the thread, when this started, I was thinking, "wait, there's a real coffee expert that posts occasionally, haven't seen him in a while, some 'k's in his handle I think - kevin/karl/ something?"



Man, I better find some those coffees. I have had the Hawaiian 'honeymoon coffee' you mentioned, from a couple vacationing there (they aren't coffee drinkers, sometimes they drink a sugar/cream/flavored thing with coffee in it), and I thought it was really wonderful.

But since I'm someone who 'appreciates' good coffee, not a real geek/expert, I wonder if the coffees you say are great would be something I would fully appreciate? It seems to me the coffee 'geeks' (and I use the term with admiration and respect), go for the very light roasts (city roast?) and when I've tried those, they seem more acidic and maybe vegetal to me (it's been a while so maybe my descriptors are off). I guess I'm more of a full bodied, medium roast kind of guy. I guess the lighter roasts are an acquired taste for some. I certainly agree that so much coffee is roasted too dark to have any real character, although occasionally I find a dark roast is enjoyable for what it is.

What do you think of the 'dog bowl heat gun' method (gee, maybe I asked you this years ago?). That's what I tried, just to experiment. It's a fair amount of effort for a small batch, but I kind of like that you can see how the roast is progressing (definitely done outdoors, or at least in the garage). But IIRC, the Ethiopian was too acidic by my method, Costa Rican was closer to what I like. And pre-roasted, I think the Sumatra is also more my style. Does that make sense?

-ERD50

I'm actually with you on the degree-of-roast topic, and as brewer12345 has already pointed out that's a major reason to roast at home. There has been a craze among the new boutique roasters the past few years to rebel against Starbucks by seeing how light they can roast, and many if not most of the coffees they're putting out are as acidic as lemon juice. The city+ to full city roast range - rich brown but no second "pop" and no oil on the bean surface - is the most balanced roast for drip brewing in particular and used to be common, but has become harder to find at retail. Batdorf & Bronson (Olympia and Atlanta), some of the Allegro coffees at Whole Foods but otherwise retail coffee in the U.S. is a battle between sour (the new players) and burnt (Starbucks and their imitators).

I suggest mail ordering some Sumatra and Ethiopia Gedeb from Batdorf if it's convenient to get an idea of what balanced coffees taste like.

With respect to the roaster question, the Behmor really is the cheapest option for getting a meaningful quantity (one roast should last a couple about a week) of coffee that's evenly roasted. It will pay for itself fairly quickly.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I picked up a sample pack of green coffee beans from Bodhi Leaf and pleased with what I've roasted so far. Good customer service and free shipping for orders over $49.

Thanks