Home Roasting Coffee Beans?

[3rdguy]

Did you grow them indoors? Never done this, but interested!

Outdoors on my deck in the summer, put them inside for the winter. They took a lot of fertilizer. Really easy to grow. You can find them online easy.

I had a small banana tree in a giant container and would wheel it in for the winter. I think the 4th year it would have bore fruit but the 3rd year in...it took a light frost and was dead when I went to grab it. 3 years down the drain lol

 

[trudger]

Newest Behmor version guy here. Been at it like a friend of the devil since I was gifted this machine. I always liked a dark roast before I started doing my own. Nuances of flavor I find get lost when I roast too dark.
I have been doing single origin roasts learning flavors and roasting times and temps. Long golden road ahead before I do up a blended roast I think.
Coffee and pipe tobacco for me are a great combo.

 

[Snow Hill]

I was a home roast fanatic for years. Started with a popcorn popper, moved to larger home roasting appliances, then built my own gas-fired contraption. It got so bad eventually that I was buying full 60-70 kilo bags directly from importers because of how much coffee I was drinking... I’ve never found a commercial coffee, even the specialty high end roast-in-shop places, that could compete with a good home roast.

I really loved Ethiopian varieties, “raisin” coffees (coffee cherry dried into raisins before normal processing, mostly from Yemen but sometimes Brazil), and Central American bourbons.

I had some medical issues a few years ago that changed my tolerance for strong flavors, and have not had coffee since...

Interesting - thanks for sharing. It'd be great to see pics of your home-built coffee roaster.

Also, any tips on roasting Ethiopian coffee - especially dry processed Ethiopian? I can never seem to get the proper RoR. Thanks.

 

[macaroni]

I was a home roast fanatic for years. Started with a popcorn popper, moved to larger home roasting appliances, then built my own gas-fired contraption. It got so bad eventually that I was buying full 60-70 kilo bags directly from importers because of how much coffee I was drinking... I’ve never found a commercial coffee, even the specialty high end roast-in-shop places, that could compete with a good home roast

I really loved Ethiopian varieties, “raisin” coffees (coffee cherry dried into raisins before normal processing, mostly from Yemen but sometimes Brazil), and Central American bourbons.

I had some medical issues a few years ago that changed my tolerance for strong flavors, and have not had coffee since...

Wow! I hope all's okay or at least tolerable. Did it take a long time to get used to the lack of coffee after such a big journey into the world of home roasting? Do you miss it? If this is at all uncomfortable, please disregard immediately and put me out of mind!

If all's good, then may I ask if you simply soaked the raisin coffee in water just off the boil for 5 minutes? I've not made any yet buy I have some "raisin" or dried coffee cherries

I agree, the flavors of fresh home roast are unique in my opinion.

A gas roaster -- wow, you REALLY went out all out!!!! Astounding ))))))). I would hate to have that even though I'm jealous, if I neglected it--I could do SERIOUS damage ;-)

warm regards
mike

 

[macaroni]

Nuances of flavor I find get lost when I roast too dark.

Yep--exactly! I knew this but for some years of roasting still wanted 'em dark and shiny with oil LOL!! Taste changed about 15 years ago and do only light roasts, haven't looked back

 

[macaroni]

Interesting - thanks for sharing. It'd be great to see pics of your home-built coffee roaster.

Also, any tips on roasting Ethiopian coffee - especially dry processed Ethiopian? I can never seem to get the proper RoR. Thanks.

For me, I fly by the seat of my pants I guess . I do the same thing with all coffees-earlier with the Fresh Roast machine and now with the Quest. A few minutes (~4--6) I hear the first crack, sometimes MUCH quieter than others to my older ears (62 here), usually 15-30 seconds later (checking by sight) I dump and cool (outside on a cookie sheet in the winter, under the cooling fan in the warm weather for a fewe minutes). I drink Ethiopian varieties often each month and for the most part, I gotta be careful between 1st crack and dump--gets dark FAST (for me--course, maybe I just am drinking more rye, vodka, scotch, rum whatever the day's toddy while I roast it LOL). (On the quest I run the air VERY low and the heat high for that machine, hitting 400 F usually in 6 minutes tops, sometimes I cut the heat and max the air the last little bit)

 

[jpmcwjr]

This is all good!

Anyone have a gas fired espresso machine? (I don't but wish I had one to mess around with.)

 

[briarbuck]

Wish I could come too, where is this place--I'm in a little town in NE Texas? Never a deadhead--always curious and a little in awe--looked like they/you'all know how to enjoy life! Course, in '75 I think I remember some of those GD songs were REALLY long--like some Zappa--and I was too easily distracted before the end of the song as I smoked my pipe (or someone elses LOL).

Espresso, fresh roasted beans, pipes -- refined musical taste -- where is this dang coffee shop? I wanna come, can I go, can I go, huh Huh????? :--)))))

Deadhead was more about having fun and everyone getting along. It worked.

 

[ahinesdesign]

Wow! I hope all's okay or at least tolerable. Did it take a long time to get used to the lack of coffee after such a big journey into the world of home roasting? Do you miss it? If this is at all uncomfortable, please disregard immediately and put me out of mind!

If all's good, then may I ask if you simply soaked the raisin coffee in water just off the boil for 5 minutes? I've not made any yet buy I have some "raisin" or dried coffee cherries

I do miss home roasting, although with some distance it looked a bit like an addiction, to be honest... I went without caffeine at all for quite some time, and started back with tea to have a warm caffeinated beverage. Tea has become nearly as big an obsession as coffee, but at least I don’t have to roast it! My intolerance for strong flavors has persisted, so my attempts at going back to coffee have been short lived.

As for raisin coffee, it is normal coffee that is dried on the tree before harvesting. Once harvested, it is processed like normal coffee so that you end up with the same green beans (no cherry or pulp). Allowing the coffee cherries to turn to raisins is said to allow more sugar to infuse the beans, and allow for some enzymatic development, changing and/or adding to the flavor. I would say the raisin process does not necessarily result in sweeter coffee, but it does have a deeper, more complex flavor, very much like a the difference between a grape and traditional raisin.

I have seen dried coffee cherry that can be steeped like tea, but have never tried it.

 

[macaroni]

This is all good!

Anyone have a gas fired espresso machine? (I don't but wish I had one to mess around with.)

No, but might be a lot of fun!

 

[danimalia]

Yo @macaroni I tried to start a thread about home coffee roasting but I should have searched for previous threads, and I'd have seen this excellent back and forth. My main question was whether it was worth getting a popcorn popper to get started roasting, or should I hold off until I can save enough to get the Fresh Roast SR540. I typically only go through 4-5 ounces a week so capacity isn't a huge concern. I am still a luddite who prefers darker roasts, but ideally, I'd like to be able to do light and medium roasts, in addition to dark roasts, for blending, experimentation and change of pace purposes... Any thoughts?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Preferring a very dark roast is not necessarily an indicator of ignorance or Luddite-osity! As I drink cappuccino almost to the exclusion of most other coffee drinks, dark roast is perfect for me.

Occasionally I'll get some sophisticated beans and do French Press, but a lot of the medium and light roasters are poseurs! (Er, um, ah, French for poser! ) Present company excluded of course.

 

[tobefrank]

Has anyone used one of these handheld coffee roasters? They look like potentially a good way to start with roasting.

Nuvo Eco Ceramic Handy Coffee Bean Roaster​

 

[jpmcwjr]

No, I have never even seen one. But for 70 bucks, a pricey gamble for a tiny yield.

LINK to "Handy Roaster"

If. you want a cheap start, use a skillet, perhaps over a BBQ flame. (Smell of burnt coffee in the kitchen not so good.)
I did, and it wasn't a good roast for the most part, but it got me started.

 

[smokiespipesmoker123]

I roast in a whirly pop hand cranked stovetop popper on a hot plate. We like French roast and they come out pretty consistent. It’s a cheap way to get your feet wet.

 

[sumusfumus]

When I was a young kid back in the 1950s, we lived next door to a wonderful neighbor who came from Cuba. Her backyard adjoined ours. Sometimes she would make a small camp fire, sit on a low stool, and roast coffee beans over the wood fire. I liked to watch her through the wire fence as she constantly stirred the beans as they roasted. The aroma of roasting coffee beans is one of God's heavenly gifts! Without any special high-tech equipment she managed to get the job done, the old-school way. She probably roasted coffee over an open fire all her life both back in Cuba, and then in the USA.

This gentle lady spoke very little English, but by some miracle she produced a Hershey chocolate bar from her apron pocket when she knew I was watching her roast coffee.

Years later when I was 16 years old, I had to take the NYC trains down into lower Manhattan to get to work. I worked in a sweltering Bone China warehouse -through the summer weeks of my school vacations- down in lower Manhattan. Those trains were sweltering and smelly, and so was that warehouse. The majority of the train ride was through New York City's underground tunnels. On the way back home the train would exit the steaming hot tunnel near Hunt's Point in the Bronx. I rode between the cars (now it's illegal) and celebrated the first blasts of fresh air hitting my face when we left the tunnel. At this point the train was passing over the Bronx River- which separates The Bronx from the northern end of Manhattan Island. Most of the time I would also get a whiff of freshly roasted and ground coffee that was coming from the Cafe Bustelo coffee factory that was located within proximity of the train tracks. Back then, Cafe Bustelo was very popular and at one time sold in most supermarkets/Bodegas in NYC's Latino community. It was the Spanish equivalent of Italian Espresso. Good stuff.

Now...I wouldn't get back on a NYC train if I was threatened at gunpoint!

 

[macaroni]

Yo @macaroni I tried to start a thread about home coffee roasting but I should have searched for previous threads, and I'd have seen this excellent back and forth. My main question was whether it was worth getting a popcorn popper to get started roasting, or should I hold off until I can save enough to get the Fresh Roast SR540. I typically only go through 4-5 ounces a week so capacity isn't a huge concern. I am still a luddite who prefers darker roasts, but ideally, I'd like to be able to do light and medium roasts, in addition to dark roasts, for blending, experimentation and change of pace purposes... Any thoughts?

Lots of good thoughts on this thread--I've enjoyed reading these posts, too. I don't have advice for anyone. Just know what I like. I only liked really dark "oily, wet" roasted beans for the several years roasting at home. Surprising to me, my taste changed and I didn't like dark roast any longer, after a long while. As I think of it, it reminds me of my shift in smoking preference from heavy Lat blends to Burley blends. And the last little while, another shift is that I've been enjoying cream in my coffee for the first time in many decades. For me, some tastes change. It's exciting to me. Having a hot cup of coffee and a pipe right now.
happy puffing-kindly,
mike

 

[danimalia]

Preferring a very dark roast is not necessarily an indicator of ignorance or Luddite-osity! As I drink cappuccino almost to the exclusion of most other coffee drinks, dark roast is perfect for me.

Occasionally I'll get some sophisticated beans and do French Press, but a lot of the medium and light roasters are poseurs! (Er, um, ah, French for poser! ) Present company excluded of course.

I am always a bit tongue in cheek when talking about my preference for darker roasts. I do think the lighter roast fans have a point about more of the terroir or whatever of a bean coming through with light to medium roasts, but that roasted flavor and character is a huge part of what I associate with, and crave, in a coffee. That said, I am trying to expand my horizons a bit and that is part of why I am curious about home roasting. It would give me the opportunity to sample beans and roasts in a much more economical way than spending $15-20+ on a full bag of pre roasted coffee I might not even enjoy.

BTW, which espressos or coffees do you like to use as the base for your cappuccini?

 

[Snow Hill]

Yo @macaroni I tried to start a thread about home coffee roasting but I should have searched for previous threads, and I'd have seen this excellent back and forth. My main question was whether it was worth getting a popcorn popper to get started roasting, or should I hold off until I can save enough to get the Fresh Roast SR540. I typically only go through 4-5 ounces a week so capacity isn't a huge concern. I am still a luddite who prefers darker roasts, but ideally, I'd like to be able to do light and medium roasts, in addition to dark roasts, for blending, experimentation and change of pace purposes... Any thoughts?

Sweet Maria's has a popcorn popper with a 4 lb sampler set available (link) - it is less expensive than the sampler without the popcorn popper (link).

 

[telescopes]

I've roasted coffee for decades. I love it. And the variety of bean choices is so international.