Coffee Roasting Thread - Taste Testing

Tasted the Ethiopian Yirga Cheffe Kela Kochore that I roasted yesterday and posted the pic of. It is a much mellower, fuller taste than the Espresso Monkey. Like it a lot.

I've been pre-heating about minutes without the pyrex bowl. I'll try 3 minutes with it on next time to see how it affects roasting time.

I've been doing a little reading on the net about DIY mods to Poppery II and other roasters. Not sure whether I want to go to all that trouble since part of the experience I enjoy about home roasting is watching over it like a hen watches over her eggs. As I do it now it doesn't take all that long.

Gonna use the rest of the Ethiopian in the next day or two, then roast the Brazil Santos for comparison after it stops raining here.

Thanks again for all the pointers and info Duane.

 

i am super jealous. my wife buys folgers. or starbucks. surprised me with some lavazza recently. i sneak away for good coffee in town now and then but she won't allow it to become a hobby and hates how much i drink of the black stuff haha. caffee vita makes some good coffee. would love to roast my own and get more into coffee

 

Hey, thought I'd revive this thread since it is the most recent coffee topic I could think of.

Although I have yet to have time to do my own roasting, I thought I'd share this recent revelation I've had.

For the past ~8 years or so, I've been making my coffee using a pair of breville machines, the Breville BCG450XL conical burr grinder, and the Breville Duo-temp 800ESXL espresso maker. Nothing fancy, but they have served me quite well, making probably an average of 2 double shot espresso drinks (could be americano, latte, straight espresso, etc) a day over those entire 8 years.

Last Thursday, I received 1 lb of freshly roasted espresso blend from our Roaster in Roanoke VA. Considering how awesome it looked and smelled, I couldn't wait to try it out. Unfortunately, as things are wont to do, I was grinding up the first batch of beans, the electric motor in my grinder finally gave out, leaving me with only ~1/4 of the grinds I need to fill my portafilter. Since we have a number of large expenses related to our pet and preparing to move soon, the wife asked me to keep the replacement to a reasonable price of <$100 from Amazon.

After a bit of research, we ended up settling on this Bodum, which arrived on Monday. (It didn't hurt that the wife was able to buy it in red)

After now making 5-6 lattes using the new grinder over the past two days, I must say I'm thoroughly impressed for the price.

Using this new grinder, I have been able to get a more consistent, much finer grind from this Bodum then I was able to from the Breville. I've always read that you should have a grind that feels almost like sand for espresso, but this is the first time I've gotten something like that. Previously, the Breville would, even at the finest settings, at best give me something more consistent with a rough sand paper. This has resulted in getting a depth of color in my crema that I've never gotten before. In addition, I now understand what everyone means when they say that you should have a nice dry *firm* grinds puck left in the portafilter after drawing the shots.

I must say, I thought I was doing pretty well since I already had a conical burr grinder, but now, my latte's have better aroma, more complex flavor, and now I can 'feel' the oils of the coffee, with their flavors hanging around on the tongue far longer then they used to previously.

This has been a revelation! But the real issue now is that sometimes ignorance is bliss! I'm left wondering how wonderful the Baratza Virtuoso I *really* wanted would have been! (First world problems!)

Unfortunately, it is apparently relatively difficult to get a picture that really represents the colors I'm getting after making my lattes... but I must say, it was delicious!
Sorry for the two sideways pics! Stupid iPhone!
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My 4th cup for the day This stuff is goooooood

1) My Setup now including the Bodum

2) The espresso immediately after pulling

3) My latte after adding the steamed milk
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Robert

Looks really good! Encourage you to try roasting some green beans with a Poppery II and comparing those fresh roasted beans with what you have been tasting:

"Once you go green...you'll stay with the beans"

Or something like that

 

I'm reviving this thread because I'm getting into home roasting as well.

I've lived near Seattle for almost 17 years, and have been taking in drip coffee, out of mental survival, especially in the winter, for about 15 years. I've never REALLY enjoyed coffee, I always drank it begrudgingly, like taking medicine. I would on rare occasions enjoy a latte from a coffee shop, but I can't bring myself to spend $4/cup regularly.

One of my work partners just bought a Jura espresso maker. This lit my fire, and I found an older one on Craigslist, recently factory serviced. I like that it's fully automatic, all I have to do is fill the hoppers, and push a button. Even has a stand-alone milk refrigerator acting like a side car.

I experimented with good beans. The best I found was Anchorhead Leviathan. But at $15/12 oz, I thought I'd try home roasting. Turns out, it's great! Especially at $6/lb, for beans that can last months. I did the hot air popper method. Glad we didn't toss this old thing, it was gathering dust in the basement. Did it outside because of all the chaff. Love the aroma while roasting. And the coffee I make at home, for the first time, is delicious.

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Thanks for bumping this... had no idea it could be this “easy.” We always have coffee in the morning and figured roasting required complicated stuff. Any update on equipment needed or same described?

 

I'm pleased with the old air popper. And it's not even the type recommended by "Sweet Maria's" website. Ours is not the spinning kind, but the central jet of hot air type. It takes a bit of trial and error to get the right roast. Took me about two tries. Use too many beans, and they won't circulate enough in the popper to evenly roast; some will be under-roasted and some will be partially burnt. The right amount, in our popper, will yield a nice even roast. Timing is key as well. I've learned that waiting about 30 seconds beyond the distinctive cracking sound will yield nice light brown beans that are perfect for espresso. About 4 minutes total. Too long, and they get dark and oily, bitter tasting. Once you get it, it's easy, and the results are great!

That being said, I think I enjoy my coffee (latte and espresso) enough now that I may invest in a real roaster to simplify the process. The hot air popper is fine for learning, but it does require attention and creates a bit of a mess with all the chaff.

Another thing, don't believe the hype on Amazon for some of their highly rated beans. I bought Coffee Kult "Road Dog" and Death Wish beans, both with stupid names, and packaged in similarly sinister/douchey black bags, and they were awful. I felt like if these bags of beans were dudes, they would have a lot of tattoos, piercings, and a flat-billed ball cap. (No offense to the tattooed members on this site.) The beans were dark and oily, bitter tasting, not fit for a decent espresso. It's the unassuming green coffee beans in plain packaging that when roasted properly, gave the best results!

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That previous picture of mine with the beans in the colander, was not a great example. You can see the unevenness of the roast; some beans with dark edges, others light. That was one of my first attempts. Later roasts gave me the more even roastings as seen in the machine's bean hopper.