Home Roasting Coffee Beans?

[danimalia]

I meant to buy some of the bags and little metal tins from Maria's which have the one-way valves, but I got too fired up buying coffee to bother with practical stuff like that! The bags are like a quarter and the metal tins are like $4.50 if I remember correctly... Buy 10 of the tins and a couple dozen bags should be good for years to come.

Having my first cup now. Colombian Inza Las Estrellas. One the one hand, it is nothing mind blowing. On the other hand, it IS legitimate coffee. That I roasted myself. So I'll take the victory.

 

[Snow Hill]

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.

That's been my experience, too...at three days the coffee seems to "settle" and become richer.

 

[macaroni]

. . . little metal tins from Maria's which have the one-way valves, . . . the metal tins are like $4.50 if I remember correctly... Buy 10 of the tins

I've got 8 or so of those same cheap tins and love them--been using the same ones for over 10 years. Just cant get the bottoms of 'em wet, where the valves are located.

 

[danimalia]

So I've been roasting like a maniac with my popcorn popper the past two weeks and I have some thoughts:

1. It is not very difficult to do. At least to achieve something drinkable. Mastering the process seems almost impossible at this stage. For me, anyway.

2. The popcorn popper does not always lend itself to consistency. You can repeat all your variables and the result may very well not be the same. It can be frustrating when I have an idea of what I want to do with a roast, and then it doesn't go right. But again, almost everything has been drinkable.

3. Because of #2, the popper is probably not the best choice for someone who has very strong preferences for very dark or very light roasts. I have been able to do both, but not always intentionally ? If you can roll with beans from light-medium to medium-dark, you will probably not have any problems roasting coffee that is satisfactory at the least.

4. I have been enjoying light roasts! I don't know if I'd just had bad light roasts before, or maybe because I'd always been a cream+sugar guy, but I thought I disliked them. Well, drinking coffee black has probably helped a lot, because I don't need the body and roasty flavors quite as much without the cream and added sweetness. I have especially been enjoying East African coffees roasted light-medium. The variety of available flavors from these coffees is pretty nuts

5. I still prefer some beans roasted darker, such as those from Indonesia. And anything I am making espresso with.

6. Roasting coffee is pretty fun. Occasionally frustrating, but also occasionally very satisfying when everything goes right and you pull off exactly what you were trying to achieve. The variety of green coffee beans is pretty awesome, and they really do differ a fair amount from each other depending on origin and processing method, so it is kind of an adventure sampling everything.

Anyone roasted anything particularly good lately?

 

[fireground_piper]

I've been going through an Ethiopian sampler. It's very interesting how just different regions have such different characteristics.

 

[bayareabriar]

Anyone out there who roasts your own coffee beans? Just wondering how many of us are there thnx either way for your thoughts-
mike

There are a few places that roast near me. Always reminds be of burnt toast.

 

[danimalia]

I've been going through an Ethiopian sampler. It's very interesting how just different regions have such different characteristics.

I really liked the one Ethiopian I've roasted so far, from Yirgacheffe, that I aimed for City-City+ with. I've also really enjoyed the beans I've tried from Rwanda and Burundi. All of these have some pretty crazy fruity notes. Perfect for my first cup of the morning.

I just placed an order from Maria's for some beans from Kenya (along with another Yemeni type). I wasn't really planning on ordering so soon, but the Kenyans seemed to be going really fast, and I wanted to try one, so I figured I might as well just do a small order.

It looked like a bunch of Ethiopian beans were on the "Incoming Coffees" list Sweet Maria's posted last week, so hopefully there will be more to try soon.

 

[Singularis]

Add me to the list of small-batch coffee roasters who also smoke a pipe. I have used hot-air popcorn poppers (mostly West Bend Poppery IIs) for nearly 15 years. It's the only way.

 

[Singularis]

I really liked the one Ethiopian I've roasted so far, from Yirgacheffe, that I aimed for City-City+ with. I've also really enjoyed the beans I've tried from Rwanda and Burundi. All of these have some pretty crazy fruity notes. Perfect for my first cup of the morning.

I just placed an order from Maria's for some beans from Kenya (along with another Yemeni type). I wasn't really planning on ordering so soon, but the Kenyans seemed to be going really fast, and I wanted to try one, so I figured I might as well just do a small order.

It looked like a bunch of Ethiopian beans were on the "Incoming Coffees" list Sweet Maria's posted last week, so hopefully there will be more to try soon.

I am also a Sweet Maria's fanboy. Lately I've been buying closer to 30 pounds at a time. I usually get 5 pounds of something from Ethiopia, and Colombia (when available) or Guatemala. I love Kenyan coffees as well, and often get the samplers, because it's fun to experiment and try something different. For instance, I got an excellent Peru and Sulawesi, which I wouldn't normally buy 5 pounds of.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

I really liked the one Ethiopian I've roasted so far, from Yirgacheffe, that I aimed for City-City+ with. I've also really enjoyed the beans I've tried from Rwanda and Burundi. All of these have some pretty crazy fruity notes. Perfect for my first cup of the morning.

I just placed an order from Maria's for some beans from Kenya (along with another Yemeni type). I wasn't really planning on ordering so soon, but the Kenyans seemed to be going really fast, and I wanted to try one, so I figured I might as well just do a small order.

It looked like a bunch of Ethiopian beans were on the "Incoming Coffees" list Sweet Maria's posted last week, so hopefully there will be more to try soon.

Looks like you now have a coffee acquisition disorder now too!

 

[danimalia]

Looks like you now have a coffee acquisition disorder now too!

I still have so much from my first order! But they had a few Kenyans get added, with great cupping scores and delicious sounding cupping notes. And within a few days, one of them was sold out. Since there weren't any Kenyans listed when I placed my first order, and I am still so new that I don't know how often they get added... Well, I guess the FOMO got me. ?

I am also a Sweet Maria's fanboy. Lately I've been buying closer to 30 pounds at a time. I usually get 5 pounds of something from Ethiopia, and Colombia (when available) or Guatemala. I love Kenyan coffees as well, and often get the samplers, because it's fun to experiment and try something different. For instance, I got an excellent Peru and Sulawesi, which I wouldn't normally buy 5 pounds of.

Yeah, I had a similar experience with the samplers I got. A couple of the coffees were ones that I probably wouldn't have picked on my own. Like, I got a couple from Burundi, and no offense to Burundi, but it was pretty well down on my list of countries to try based on name recognition (re: my ignorance of Africa) alone... But they're fantastic. SM's also included a couple of very high-scoring coffees that were no longer available on the site, so they seem to put the samplers together with care. I'll definitely order more of them in the future.

I'll be taking a ride over there to pick up my order today. I hope they reopen their retail and start doing classes again.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

Been roasting green beans for about a year now, there is a big variety out there but I generally stick to Colombian, it has plenty of body and to me at least a chocolate note. I roast enough to last me a week in a pan on on the stove, works for me

 

[danimalia]

The Colombians I have tried are nice. I have had a hell of a time getting them to taste good as espresso or cold brew, but they make good pour over/clever dripper cups. Nice and balanced and versatile, they are good roasted light, medium or darker. IMO, of course.

 

[macaroni]

Thnx Friends for all your great posts! I like 'em all and enjoy reading them--smiles in texas!! LOL )

Light roast Decaf Nicaraguan beans in a plunge pot right now.

Gotta add--I used to believe I could taste the difference between caff. coffee and decaf until I started roasting my own--no significance flavor difference to me in either kind regardless of roast level! Surprised myself! Whatever floats your boat! It's all good!
kindly
mike

 

[danimalia]

Thnx Friends for all your great posts! I like 'em all and enjoy reading them--smiles in texas!! LOL )

Light roast Decaf Nicaraguan beans in a plunge pot right now.

Gotta add--I used to believe I could taste the difference between caff. coffee and decaf until I started roasting my own--no significance flavor difference to me in either kind regardless of roast level! Surprised myself! Whatever floats your boat! It's all good!
kindly
mike

I just got my first batch of Nicaraguan beans. I meant to do my first roast dark for espresso, but they didn't come out right. I'm going to try a lighter roast since you mentioned it here.

I also got a pound of the Sweet Maria's Swiss Water Process Decaf Moka Java blend for some family members who avoid caffeine, but I like it so much I have mostly been drinking it myself. Been meaning to ask if they can point me in the right directions to try re-creating the blend in with regular beans, since I do largely drink coffee for caffeine.