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danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,442
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Alright, I'm officially in and begin my new (unpaid) vocation as a coffee roast boy on Tuesday. I am pretty apprehensive and concerned about my ability to get good results, but on the bright side, I have quite a few beans to practice with. The other bright side is even if I totally suck, I can always send my beans to @CoffeeAndBourbon and have him roast them for me, er, I mean, I'd only be out about a hundo :LOL:

Screenshot_20210606-191727.png
 

Snow Hill

Can't Leave
Apr 23, 2015
395
342
USA
Alright, I'm officially in and begin my new (unpaid) vocation as a coffee roast boy on Tuesday. I am pretty apprehensive and concerned about my ability to get good results, but on the bright side, I have quite a few beans to practice with. The other bright side is even if I totally suck, I can always send my beans to @CoffeeAndBourbon and have him roast them for me, er, I mean, I'd only be out about a hundo :LOL:

View attachment 83440
That's a nice selection/variety of beans. The Clever Coffee Dripper is a great brewer.
 

danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,442
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
That's a nice selection/variety of beans. The Clever Coffee Dripper is a great brewer.
Good to hear... Yeah, I broke my French press so I needed a new way to do brewed coffee in smaller quantities than is practical in an auto drip machine. I will probably get a V60 at some point, but this Clever Dripper sounded a bit more forgiving and optimal for those who like coffee brewed a bit stronger and with more body.

In terms of beans, I was hoping to get a decent variety. As it is, I really only know that I have liked coffees from Guatemala and Indonesia. I just never paid much attention in the past, and I guess most of what I drank was probably blends anyway.
 

BarrelProof

Lifer
Mar 29, 2020
2,701
10,579
39
The Last Frontier
Good to hear... Yeah, I broke my French press so I needed a new way to do brewed coffee in smaller quantities than is practical in an auto drip machine. I will probably get a V60 at some point, but this Clever Dripper sounded a bit more forgiving and optimal for those who like coffee brewed a bit stronger and with more body.

In terms of beans, I was hoping to get a decent variety. As it is, I really only know that I have liked coffees from Guatemala and Indonesia. I just never paid much attention in the past, and I guess most of what I drank was probably blends anyway.

I haven’t looked back since switching to pour over coffee about six years ago. I think you’ll enjoy that Clever Coffee Dripper.

The only time I don’t drink pour over is when I’m living out of a backpack. Then I’m typically using an Aeropress, just because of its simplicity and how light it is. I’ve seen lightweight pour over devices made for backpacking, so I’ll probably end up picking one up at some point, I just really like how small the Aeropress filters are for keeping trash at a minimum during burn bans.
 

Casual

Lifer
Oct 3, 2019
2,577
9,420
NL, CA
I’ll add in the most surprising thing that I discovered trying to roast and brew my perfect cup of coffee: brew temperature. I use an aero press, and found that 85°C water works the best with my Sumatran Full City roast to eliminate any trace of bitterness. Hotter temperatures always made it tricky, getting a touch of bitter. Lower temperatures help.
 
Jan 30, 2020
1,908
6,304
New Jersey
Good to hear... Yeah, I broke my French press so I needed a new way to do brewed coffee in smaller quantities than is practical in an auto drip machine. I will probably get a V60 at some point, but this Clever Dripper sounded a bit more forgiving and optimal for those who like coffee brewed a bit stronger and with more body.

In terms of beans, I was hoping to get a decent variety. As it is, I really only know that I have liked coffees from Guatemala and Indonesia. I just never paid much attention in the past, and I guess most of what I drank was probably blends anyway.
I've been doing samples from different countries for the past year or so, and have been surprised that I've really become fond of Mexico and Ethiopia. I keep roasting beans from different areas of both countries and I don't think I've had a bad one yet.

It's interesting because prior to roasting, I'd never have thought about trying them. Ethiopia in general always had descriptions that never appealed to me on paper. It's fun to try out the origins!
 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,740
27,336
Carmel Valley, CA
I’ll add in the most surprising thing that I discovered trying to roast and brew my perfect cup of coffee: brew temperature. I use an aero press, and found that 85°C water works the best with my Sumatran Full City roast to eliminate any trace of bitterness. Hotter temperatures always made it tricky, getting a touch of bitter. Lower temperatures help.
Good! But what is the real temperature??

:)
 

danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,442
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
I've been doing samples from different countries for the past year or so, and have been surprised that I've really become fond of Mexico and Ethiopia. I keep roasting beans from different areas of both countries and I don't think I've had a bad one yet.

It's interesting because prior to roasting, I'd never have thought about trying them. Ethiopia in general always had descriptions that never appealed to me on paper. It's fun to try out the origins!
I have very limited experience (that I know of) with Ethiopian beans, or African beans in general. I bought a pound of Rwandan beans, though I am not sure how similar they are to Ethiopian. I am sure I will try Ethiopian beans as more come available, and maybe some will be included as part of my two sampler packs.

I don't recall ever having Mexican coffee but I am interested, as I believe it comes from the mountains of Veracruz state, which I think is also where the San Andres cigar leaf is grown.

I am super excited to jump in and start exploring.
 

danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,442
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
I'm actually having a cup of Ethiopian right now, after stopping at a pretty rad little shop in my city before hitting the local B&M. Seemed like serendipity that they had two Ethiopian coffees available.

It is a rather stunning variety of flavors, but I am still struggling to appreciate the lighter roast. But the flavor of the beans is really shining. Fascinating.
 
Jun 18, 2020
3,848
13,661
Wilmington, NC
Alright, I'm officially in and begin my new (unpaid) vocation as a coffee roast boy on Tuesday. I am pretty apprehensive and concerned about my ability to get good results, but on the bright side, I have quite a few beans to practice with. The other bright side is even if I totally suck, I can always send my beans to @CoffeeAndBourbon and have him roast them for me, er, I mean, I'd only be out about a hundo :LOL:

View attachment 83440
It's not that difficult and it's a fun hobby! You'll do great. It will be better than what you can buy in the store even if it's not perfect.
 

danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,442
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
My first two roasts from last night. I'll try them this evening. The Colombia I tried to take right up to Full City, but my second batch took me right into the first snaps of second crack. The Sumatra was weird. On one of my poppers, it never seemed to enter first crack. It got somewhat dark like I'd expect but no cracks at 12 minutes, so I aborted (any ideas of what might have happened?). I tried another batch in my 2nd popper and it seemed to work fine. Took it into the beginning if second crack.

I think @CoffeeAndBourbon is right. Coming up with drinkable coffee will not be too difficult, but getting to be truly good at it will take a lot of practice. For me, anyway ?

20210609_085521.jpg
20210609_085541.jpg
 
Jun 18, 2020
3,848
13,661
Wilmington, NC
My first two roasts from last night. I'll try them this evening. The Colombia I tried to take right up to Full City, but my second batch took me right into the first snaps of second crack. The Sumatra was weird. On one of my poppers, it never seemed to enter first crack. It got somewhat dark like I'd expect but no cracks at 12 minutes, so I aborted (any ideas of what might have happened?). I tried another batch in my 2nd popper and it seemed to work fine. Took it into the beginning if second crack.

I think @CoffeeAndBourbon is right. Coming up with drinkable coffee will not be too difficult, but getting to be truly good at it will take a lot of practice. For me, anyway ?

View attachment 83729
View attachment 83731
They look good! I have had some beans that have had little discernable first crack - very strange. After a while you will learn the smells, time, etc. and most importantly how a specific coffee behaves.
Keep it up. You still end up with great coffee!
 
Jan 30, 2020
1,908
6,304
New Jersey
I suggest note taking. I take notes on most roasts regarding:

  • Start weight
  • Times and temperatures (if your unit has it. I always adjust my temperatures at different intervals and I make note of at which minute I make the adjustment).
  • Did I hit second crack or not
  • End weight
This has helped me make adjustments on future roasts of the same bean. Dial it back a little if it was good but too dark, or vise versa. I've found my preferred roast spot is when 8oz of green beans ends around 6.7oz roasted.
 

danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,442
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
It's been a long while since I read up and did my own roasting, but IIRC, you should let the freshly roasted beans breathe. (Off-gassing comes to mind.)

Well done, and enjoy!!
Thanks! I left the lids pretty loose overnight to gas off some, then tightened them this morning. Ill have my first samples this evening after a roughly 24 hour rest period. Hope they're good to brew by then! They smell pretty nice!
 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,740
27,336
Carmel Valley, CA
It was suggested to me they peak at about three days, but I'd sure go ahead and sample now!

I don't think roasted beans do better in sealed jars. Alfred Peet used to put his roasted beans in open drawers in his retail stores before they became so spread out they couldn't roast locally that much, so now all big bags of Peets come sealed with a valve to off-gas.