coffee for mags - a coffee roasting trip report (& free mag coffee)

[hawkgt]

still if i was in KC i would go spend an afternoon cupping, it can be a ton of fun.

I agree, I was mr pound the full pot of drip. he always gave me shit, finally got his roaster and found the groove he wanted, he finally made me walk through a cupping process. looking at the taste wheel, spitting coffee into the can. 100% you can tell the different flavors and tones. I was sold.

Im on my buddies "world tour" or what ever subscroption. He sends me different beans each month. I only drink 2 cups max a day and enjoy every dam sip.

[cravenmorhead]

I have thoughts on this!

I like coffee, and I like good coffee, but I don't have a super discerning palate among good coffee. So I also home roast, but I do it in a $20 popcorn maker on the side burner of my gas grill.

My method does not use a data logger. As mentioned, during the roasting process, coffee "pops" like popcorn. And shortly after, it cracks, like twigs in a hot fire. This is "first crack" and "second crack," respectively. And the audio markers give a reasonably good indication of how well-done your coffee is. Usually when I just hit second crack I pull the coffee and cool it in a baking sheet.

Versus a $300 roaster, my roast is less even. But that's about the only downside.

Either way, roast outside if you can. Roasting coffee doesn't smell nearly as good as brewing coffee, since you're burning off oils in the process.

I had trouble finding high-quality green beans for a decent price, so I order through Sweet Maria's (Link: https://www.sweetmarias.com/green-coffee.html). They usually have a shipping deal for 20 lb orders. I'll order 20 lbs of green beans at a time, since beans will degrade once roasted (I notice a difference after a week or so), but they'll keep while green for up to a year. Most of the coffees I buy are around $6/lb.

It's been fun exploring the different regions and their styles; Sweet Maria's sampler packs are good for dabbling. One minor issue is that with the small producers, if you like Batch X from Y producer, it can be tough to buy it again down the road since the batches are so small. But if you look for another coffee from the same region plus the same processing approach, you'll probably get something very similar.

I went through a beer brewing phase, but coffee roasting has a lot more going for it than beer brewing does. My beers were never great - Sierra Nevada and just about every craft brewery produced a better product. But my coffee rivals $20-$30/lb roasted coffees, at least to my taste. And it takes 15 minutes or so to roast a pound, which gets me a week or two, so it's not a big time-suck. And its cheaper than buying off the shelf, which wasn't the case for my brew setup.

[tgapp]

I have thoughts on this!

I like coffee, and I like good coffee, but I don't have a super discerning palate among good coffee. So I also home roast, but I do it in a $20 popcorn maker on the side burner of my gas grill.

My method does not use a data logger. As mentioned, during the roasting process, coffee "pops" like popcorn. And shortly after, it cracks, like twigs in a hot fire. This is "first crack" and "second crack," respectively. And the audio markers give a reasonably good indication of how well-done your coffee is. Usually when I just hit second crack I pull the coffee and cool it in a baking sheet.

Versus a $300 roaster, my roast is less even. But that's about the only downside.

Either way, roast outside if you can. Roasting coffee doesn't smell nearly as good as brewing coffee, since you're burning off oils in the process.

I had trouble finding high-quality green beans for a decent price, so I order through Sweet Maria's (Link: https://www.sweetmarias.com/green-coffee.html). They usually have a shipping deal for 20 lb orders. I'll order 20 lbs of green beans at a time, since beans will degrade once roasted (I notice a difference after a week or so), but they'll keep while green for up to a year. Most of the coffees I buy are around $6/lb.

It's been fun exploring the different regions and their styles; Sweet Maria's sampler packs are good for dabbling. One minor issue is that with the small producers, if you like Batch X from Y producer, it can be tough to buy it again down the road since the batches are so small. But if you look for another coffee from the same region plus the same processing approach, you'll probably get something very similar.

I went through a beer brewing phase, but coffee roasting has a lot more going for it than beer brewing does. My beers were never great - Sierra Nevada and just about every craft brewery produced a better product. But my coffee rivals $20-$30/lb roasted coffees, at least to my taste. And it takes 15 minutes or so to roast a pound, which gets me a week or two, so it's not a big time-suck. And its cheaper than buying off the shelf, which wasn't the case for my brew setup.

i agree 100% with all of that, great addition - thank you. sweet maria's is great - also worth checking out bodhi leaf and happy mug.

and that's the best description of second crack i've ever heard (twigs in a fire). so - light roasted coffee = just as first crack ends, medium roasted coffee, between first crack to the start of second crack, dark roasted coffee = beyond second crack.

i did the same with beer brewing and i am so much happier roasting coffee now.

[abraham]

nope, buncha nerds in here. your chance to be king coffee nerd/bro, shine yer light!

great thread.

X2 this might be a good project this fall to get into. I started paying more attention to the coffee I was drinking and trying to decide what I really liked. It was a fun process but it does get spendy and there were some questionable purchases involved.

If any of you coffee/food nerds are interested in the following books I might be able to help out:

Cocoa and Coffee Fermentations By Rosane F. Schwan, Graham H. Fleet

Coffee Flavor Chemistry (Ivon Flament I think?)

Coffee: Botany, Biochemistry and Production of Beans and Beverage Clifford, M. N.

[cravenmorhead]

Yeah. I also notice that if I have my burner too hot with the popcorn popper method, there isn't much time at all between first and second crack - I've had second crack start before first is finishing. Sort of a demonstration of the uneavenness of the method, particularly if you over-fill the roaster. Going too slow has its pitfalls too, so it takes a little time to get the feel for it.

But but but! Even on those roasts, I ended up with perfectly good coffee that was head-and shoulders above anything but coffee from specialty roasters. Even though some beans were at a city roast and some were full city. It's a pretty forgiving process if you're not focused on nailing a specific flavor profile.

[TBS]

Thoughts on a budget burr grinder?

We recently replaced our old DeLonghi (giant PoS) with a Baratza like the one here https://www.consumerreports.org/coff...ffee-grinders/

Works very well, but do not plug it - takes about an hour to unplug

[Toadman]

I have had same day roasted coffee, and thought it was amazing. (I have a hook-up at SBUX corporate.) Whole different level of taste and "smoothness" from the stuff out of the vacuum sealed bags. So not sure about your comment that coffee is best w/i the 3-14 day range.

But thanks for posting your DIY coffee roasting TR.

[hawkgt]

ohhh, for the record, starbucks fucking sucks. beans always have tasted burnt to me.

[tgapp]

I have had same day roasted coffee, and thought it was amazing. (I have a hook-up at SBUX corporate.) Whole different level of taste and "smoothness" from the stuff out of the vacuum sealed bags. So not sure about your comment that coffee is best w/i the 3-14 day range.

But thanks for posting your DIY coffee roasting TR.

ya sorry man but coffee degassing isn't a feelfact or a personal preference, coffee just is plain better after some amount of time. it travels a long a curve - shitty and very hard to properly extract right out of the roaster, then good, then excellent, then a slow gradual decline.

if the coffee is super shitty (sorry, SBUX is, and again, that's not so much a feel fact - it has to do with the quality of the sourcing and roasting), low elevation coffee that is roasted to a charcoal level, it will degas quicker. better coffee - high elevation (denser beans, more fiber) that is properly roasted (which again, sorry, but none of what SBUX does is even close to proper, their 'light' roast is darker than i would ever consider), will take 48 hours to 10ish days to degas properly.

coffee sourcing isn't a feelfact either - there is a whole professional class of people (q graders) who grade lots of coffee beans headed to auction. only coffee that is cupped at 85+ points is considered specialty grade. starbucks is usually sourcing lots in the 65-75 range.

[tgapp]

Yeah. I also notice that if I have my burner too hot with the popcorn popper method, there isn't much time at all between first and second crack - I've had second crack start before first is finishing. Sort of a demonstration of the uneavenness of the method, particularly if you over-fill the roaster. Going too slow has its pitfalls too, so it takes a little time to get the feel for it.

But but but! Even on those roasts, I ended up with perfectly good coffee that was head-and shoulders above anything but coffee from specialty roasters. Even though some beans were at a city roast and some were full city. It's a pretty forgiving process if you're not focused on nailing a specific flavor profile.

so yeah one pitch for a more refined roasting method is that the real benefit is being able to stretch the time between 1st crack and 2nd crack. that's where you develop all of your really cool flavors, and having control over that stage of the roast is critical. idk. i've had lots of good popcorn popper roasting - the guy who got me into roasting was Kyle Dempster (RIP), and I used to roast on his popcorn popper. you can for sure do great coffee on that, no doubt, but a commercial jobber will give you way better control and significantly better results

[jm2e]

Super cool. What’s the timeline look like from opening the bag of green beans to bagging (jarring?)


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[jackattack]

Nice write- up tgapp!

Our primary coffee source (only subscription) is Coffee Collective. Excellent quality for the price but it does take some time to get delivered from Copenhagen. It's about $20/lb including shipping for some fantastic coffee compared to anything local I've tried. There are certainly some west coast roasters that make the freshness of the beans apparent, but the prices are noticeably more for a domestic source. CC provides great bean variety, detailed farm descriptions and tasting notes with the shipments as well.

That said, both my wife (Hospitalist) and me (Ag-support) are frontline/essential. I would love to try some samples, will pay for shipping. We're a pourover/aeropress household, the grind is handled by an Encore with Preciso burrset or a OE Lido-3 if we're on the road.

[frorider]

It’s 4 pm and this thread has me craving an espresso after just finishing two post ride beers.

[tgapp]

Nice write- up tgapp!

Our primary coffee source (only subscription) is Coffee Collective. Excellent quality for the price but it does take some time to get delivered from Copenhagen. It's about $20/lb including shipping for some fantastic coffee compared to anything local I've tried. There are certainly some west coast roasters that make the freshness of the beans apparent, but the prices are noticeably more for a domestic source. CC provides great bean variety, detailed farm descriptions and tasting notes with the shipments as well.

That said, both my wife (Hospitalist) and me (Ag-support) are frontline/essential. I would love to try some samples, will pay for shipping. We're a pourover/aeropress household, the grind is handled by an Encore with Preciso burrset or a OE Lido-3 if we're on the road.

ahahahaha i like that you clarified your coffee bonafides with the kit you use. i wouldn't let my beans touch anything less than a lido 3!

send me a dm and i'll put you on my roast list .

Super cool. What’s the timeline look like from opening the bag of green beans to bagging (jarring?)

the roaster needs to warm up for about 30 minutes, and one single 200g batch takes about 12 minutes in the roaster, and then it cools for another 3 or 4min before going in the jar. i do 8 or so batches at a time, so roasting is a 3-4 hour affair. coffee sits in the jar with the lid off for about 24 hours, then it gets sealed, then i start drinking it when it gets good - each coffee is so different, and if you drink a coffee early it seriously tastes like shit. espresso usually takes about 5 to 9 days to get good.

[jackattack]

ahahahaha i like that you clarified your coffee bonafides with the kit you use. i wouldn't let my beans touch anything less than a lido 3!

send me a dm and i'll put you on my roast list .

Why thank you.

[John_B]

I'm the definition of nonessential these days but I'd be interested in a POW donation plus some bucks to you for your costs.

Also do you have a recommended temp/time for Aeropresses. I've typically done a very short soak at close to boiling but I'd be interested in some feedback there.

[Doremite]

Just here to add I stalked T over PM with a shit ton of espresso brewing method questions which morphed to machine maintenance insights to him sending me some high quality roasts (oh yeah and a TB meter). My espresso game is fucking lit right now thanks to his insights. I have been at it for awhile but T knows his shit and he upped my game. His roasts were dope too. I do have some idea what is up with coffee and he is officially our resident mc in this arena. He even motivated me to donate some $ as he refused to take anything in exchange for all he was giving.

[mud]

This is cool info, I use to buy green beans via Sweet Maria’s and roast in a air popcorn maker listening for the first crack and pop.

Now I live near the surface of the sun and stick to cold brewed on a daily basis.

[tgapp]

I'm the definition of nonessential these days but I'd be interested in a POW donation plus some bucks to you for your costs.

Also do you have a recommended temp/time for Aeropresses. I've typically done a very short soak at close to boiling but I'd be interested in some feedback there.

My costs are fucking minimal, seriously. I haven't regularly brewed aeropress for a few years now, but my advice would be to get either one of the ultrafine metal filters or this guy:

https://fellowproducts.com/products/prismo

Then, find a protocol and follow it religiously. Some do inverted, others do right on their mug.

DM me your details and what you want and I'll add you to my roast list!

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[tgapp]

Just here to add I stalked T over PM with a shit ton of espresso brewing method questions which morphed to machine maintenance insights to him sending me some high quality roasts (oh yeah and a TB meter). My espresso game is fucking lit right now thanks to his insights. I have been at it for awhile but T knows his shit and he upped my game. His roasts were dope too. I do have some idea what is up with coffee and he is officially our resident mc in this arena. He even motivated me to donate some $ as he refused to take anything in exchange for all he was giving.

Ha! I also gave you advice which broke your machine, so I might take everything I have to say with a grain of salt...

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[Doremite]

Ha! I also gave you advice which broke your machine, so I might take everything I have to say with a grain of salt...

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Temporarily broke for a # of possible reasons you may or may not be linked to. I am back in action. Nothing a new pump deairator and opv couldn’t fix!

[jm2e]

That said, both my wife (Hospitalist) and me............

Doesn't get much more front line than that shit. Send that woman some coffee while her taste buds still work!!! Fuck, I'll pay for it!

[jono]

It’s 4 pm and this thread has me craving an espresso after just finishing two post ride beers.

+1. This thread jumps from page. Craving tgapp's beans now. My wife is essential but I'll be happy to donate. Thread demands flavor.

[billyk]

Interesting perspective on coffee. And here I’ve been falling for dark roast all this time. I guess maybe I’m like the guys who all like IPAs.

[schuss]

Awesome stuff. Don't have the time to start roasting myself yet, but would love a list of good roasters. Grocery store is kind of sad these days selection wise and would love to be able to tune the flavor a bit.