Coffee Roasting
#1
Valuesize's posts about his coffee roasting machine got me interested in the process. I discovered that their are classes and schools to learn the processes and certification for people that completed the training.

Last winter I took a tour of a Kona Coffee Roasting business at a coffee plantation on the big Island of Hawaii and found the process interesting. Making good coffee starts with selecting a good grade of green bean. I watched the bean sorting machines sort by size and learned how beans are graded. I don't plan to roast my own coffee but I would like to get any input from people that love coffee about the roasts they like and the beans they prefer.

BTW I came to the conclusion, right or wrong, that the high prices happily paid for the top grades of Kona coffee has more to do with the successful marketing of the coffee beans than a difference in quality of the beans from a taste perspective. In other words, I could not tell the difference between the $25 per pound grades and the $56 per pound grades of peaberry beans.

Valuesize, what kind of beans are you roasting and where do you get them?
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#2
He starts by feeding the beans to his pet civet.
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#3
(06-15-2014, 05:55 AM)cletus1 Wrote: Valuesize's posts about his coffee roasting machine got me interested in the process. I discovered that their are classes and schools to learn the processes and certification for people that completed the training.

Last winter I took a tour of a Kona Coffee Roasting business at a coffee plantation on the big Island of Hawaii and found the process interesting. Making good coffee starts with selecting a good grade of green bean. I watched the bean sorting machines sort by size and learned how beans are graded. I don't plan to roast my own coffee but I would like to get any input from people that love coffee about the roasts they like and the beans they prefer.

BTW I came to the conclusion, right or wrong, that the high prices happily paid for the top grades of Kona coffee has more to do with the successful marketing of the coffee beans than a difference in quality of the beans from a taste perspective. In other words, I could not tell the difference between the $25 per pound grades and the $56 per pound grades of peaberry beans.

Valuesize, what kind of beans are you roasting and where do you get them?

I'm not Valuesize and don't want to step on toes but check this link http://www.sweetmarias.com/store/.
I've been roasting coffee for a long time and have always used Sweet Marias. The coffee buyer is the owner and he travels the world sourcing there beans from small farms. Quality is always top notch.
My roaster is a old air corn popper (poppery 2) get them on ebay
Enjoying a Costa Rican coffee this morning.
Hope this helps
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#4
(06-15-2014, 07:03 AM)Homebrew4u Wrote:
(06-15-2014, 05:55 AM)cletus1 Wrote: Valuesize's posts about his coffee roasting machine got me interested in the process. I discovered that their are classes and schools to learn the processes and certification for people that completed the training.

Last winter I took a tour of a Kona Coffee Roasting business at a coffee plantation on the big Island of Hawaii and found the process interesting. Making good coffee starts with selecting a good grade of green bean. I watched the bean sorting machines sort by size and learned how beans are graded. I don't plan to roast my own coffee but I would like to get any input from people that love coffee about the roasts they like and the beans they prefer.

BTW I came to the conclusion, right or wrong, that the high prices happily paid for the top grades of Kona coffee has more to do with the successful marketing of the coffee beans than a difference in quality of the beans from a taste perspective. In other words, I could not tell the difference between the $25 per pound grades and the $56 per pound grades of peaberry beans.

Valuesize, what kind of beans are you roasting and where do you get them?

I'm not Valuesize and don't want to step on toes but check this link http://www.sweetmarias.com/store/.
I've been roasting coffee for a long time and have always used Sweet Marias. The coffee buyer is the owner and he travels the world sourcing there beans from small farms. Quality is always top notch.
My roaster is a old air corn popper (poppery 2) get them on ebay
Enjoying a Costa Rican coffee this morning.
Hope this helps
That looks like a good site for both beans and roasting machines. I see that they sell beans from the most popular coffee growing areas too. I have a question: Is there a big difference between freshly roasted beans and store bought? When I say store bought, I mean relatively fresh beans from Rogue Coffee Roasters, Bad Ass Coffee or some other gourmet store.
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#5
Quote:Water is the Secret to Perfect Coffee

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/...ect-coffee


Quote:Hendon used computational chemistry methods to look at how different compositions of water affect the extraction of six chemicals that contribute to the flavor of coffee, along with caffeine. The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry, found that water composition can make a dramatic difference to the taste of coffee made from the same bean.
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#6
(06-15-2014, 05:55 AM)cletus1 Wrote: Valuesize's posts about his coffee roasting machine got me interested in the process. I discovered that their are classes and schools to learn the processes and certification for people that completed the training.

Last winter I took a tour of a Kona Coffee Roasting business at a coffee plantation on the big Island of Hawaii and found the process interesting. Making good coffee starts with selecting a good grade of green bean. I watched the bean sorting machines sort by size and learned how beans are graded. I don't plan to roast my own coffee but I would like to get any input from people that love coffee about the roasts they like and the beans they prefer.

BTW I came to the conclusion, right or wrong, that the high prices happily paid for the top grades of Kona coffee has more to do with the successful marketing of the coffee beans than a difference in quality of the beans from a taste perspective. In other words, I could not tell the difference between the $25 per pound grades and the $56 per pound grades of peaberry beans.

Valuesize, what kind of beans are you roasting and where do you get them?

So far I have tried beans from Nicaragua, Timor, Brazil, Ethiopia, Colombia, India, Uganda, Papua New Guinea and two from Guatemala. They were all good regardless of the price I paid and being a rookie, I purposely chose the lower priced beans. One place I buy from gives a discount by the amount you buy, even if they are in one pound packages of different types. The other place prices are better but you need to buy at least ten pounds of the same beans. My last purchase of a ten pound bag of fair trade, organic Colombia Excelso bean cost me $40.00. The coffee I bought in one pound bags ranged in price from $5.00 - $6.50 per bag and they discount 10% for over five pounds. (not all were organic or fair-trade)
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#7
(06-15-2014, 07:03 AM)Homebrew4u Wrote:
(06-15-2014, 05:55 AM)cletus1 Wrote: Valuesize's posts about his coffee roasting machine got me interested in the process. I discovered that their are classes and schools to learn the processes and certification for people that completed the training.

Last winter I took a tour of a Kona Coffee Roasting business at a coffee plantation on the big Island of Hawaii and found the process interesting. Making good coffee starts with selecting a good grade of green bean. I watched the bean sorting machines sort by size and learned how beans are graded. I don't plan to roast my own coffee but I would like to get any input from people that love coffee about the roasts they like and the beans they prefer.

BTW I came to the conclusion, right or wrong, that the high prices happily paid for the top grades of Kona coffee has more to do with the successful marketing of the coffee beans than a difference in quality of the beans from a taste perspective. In other words, I could not tell the difference between the $25 per pound grades and the $56 per pound grades of peaberry beans.

Valuesize, what kind of beans are you roasting and where do you get them?

I'm not Valuesize and don't want to step on toes but check this link http://www.sweetmarias.com/store/.
I've been roasting coffee for a long time and have always used Sweet Marias. The coffee buyer is the owner and he travels the world sourcing there beans from small farms. Quality is always top notch.
My roaster is a old air corn popper (poppery 2) get them on ebay
Enjoying a Costa Rican coffee this morning.
Hope this helps

Cool. I started on a under powered Stir Crazy and I need to finish the roasting on the stovetop. I'll post my BBQ roaster when I finish putting it together. Big Grin

[Image: DSCF2377_zps34417975.jpg]

[Image: DSCF2403_zpsf1d2af87.jpg]
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#8
(06-15-2014, 07:25 AM)cletus1 Wrote: That looks like a good site for both beans and roasting machines. I see that they sell beans from the most popular coffee growing areas too. I have a question: Is there a big difference between freshly roasted beans and store bought? When I say store bought, I mean relatively fresh beans from Rogue Coffee Roasters, Bad Ass Coffee or some other gourmet store.

Rogue Coffee Roasters roasts right in the store so I would think they sell very fresh beans in there store. If you buy them at a store they supply I'm not sure they are as fresh, but certainly better than an Albertson or Safeway coffee.

Every roast I've made is many times better than than store bought.
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#9
(06-15-2014, 07:03 AM)Homebrew4u Wrote:
(06-15-2014, 05:55 AM)cletus1 Wrote: Valuesize's posts about his coffee roasting machine got me interested in the process. I discovered that their are classes and schools to learn the processes and certification for people that completed the training.

Last winter I took a tour of a Kona Coffee Roasting business at a coffee plantation on the big Island of Hawaii and found the process interesting. Making good coffee starts with selecting a good grade of green bean. I watched the bean sorting machines sort by size and learned how beans are graded. I don't plan to roast my own coffee but I would like to get any input from people that love coffee about the roasts they like and the beans they prefer.

BTW I came to the conclusion, right or wrong, that the high prices happily paid for the top grades of Kona coffee has more to do with the successful marketing of the coffee beans than a difference in quality of the beans from a taste perspective. In other words, I could not tell the difference between the $25 per pound grades and the $56 per pound grades of peaberry beans.

Valuesize, what kind of beans are you roasting and where do you get them?

I'm not Valuesize and don't want to step on toes but check this link http://www.sweetmarias.com/store/.
I've been roasting coffee for a long time and have always used Sweet Marias. The coffee buyer is the owner and he travels the world sourcing there beans from small farms. Quality is always top notch.
My roaster is a old air corn popper (poppery 2) get them on ebay
Enjoying a Costa Rican coffee this morning.
Hope this helps

Ethiopian for me. Smiling

Clete, You may find this page helpful. http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasters-choo...oaster.php
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#10
The 1 lb bags I buy list the farm, region, certification, varietal, elevation, density & the processing method. So you can see you can make this REALLY complicated if you so choose.
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#11
(06-15-2014, 10:09 AM)Valuesize Wrote:
(06-15-2014, 07:25 AM)cletus1 Wrote: That looks like a good site for both beans and roasting machines. I see that they sell beans from the most popular coffee growing areas too. I have a question: Is there a big difference between freshly roasted beans and store bought? When I say store bought, I mean relatively fresh beans from Rogue Coffee Roasters, Bad Ass Coffee or some other gourmet store.

Rogue Coffee Roasters roasts right in the store so I would think they sell very fresh beans in there store. If you buy them at a store they supply I'm not sure they are as fresh, but certainly better than an Albertson or Safeway coffee.

Every roast I've made is many times better than than store bought.
I have gotten roasted beans from Rogue coffee a few years back and the date of the roast was on the bins. Rogue has been sold and I don't know if they still do that.
Buy beans that have a day or two rest before ( beans need to rest before you use them) you use them. I also wouldn't buy beans that have been roasted for a week or more. The degree of roast (light or dark) has a lot to do with flavor of different origin coffees. I find a lot of small shops roast there coffees to dark, can you say Charbucks. Sweet Marias beans are always fresh and you do get a price breaks with 2,5 and 10 lb bags.
Chuck, I can see water making a difference with coffee as well as it does for beer but that would be a PITA to mess with with water just for a couple of cups. Now beer that's a whole different story. I would not make coffee or beer with Grants Pass Water to much chlorine, buy bottle water. I have a well with good water just a little PH and and other minor adjustment for certain styles of beer There are brewing water programs fro beer don't know about coffee but it probably could be adapted. Water adjustment can get pretty involved with equipment and chemicals and with out a water report or you don't know sh*t as to the changes that need to be made.Remember "KISS"
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#12
Wowza! You guys are hard core coffee aficionados!
I'm happy with my Costco Keurig coffee purchase each month. Smiling
[Image: 350-738184-847__1.jpg]
http://www.costco.com/Tully's%C2%AE-Hawa...30932.html
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#13
The coffee I drink is a mixes of instant coffee from the dollar store with equal parts of sugar and powdered milk and a half part of powdered coco.
I heat the water in the microwave and make one cup at a time. I used to use a coffee machine to heat the water but the machines seem to leave a nasty taste in the water.
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#14
(06-16-2014, 09:47 AM)Scrapper Wrote: Wowza! You guys are hard core coffee aficionados!
I'm happy with my Costco Keurig coffee purchase each month. Smiling
[Image: 350-738184-847__1.jpg]
http://www.costco.com/Tully's%C2%AE-Hawa...30932.html

I'm lower tech. I have a jar with a lid full of water. Each night one tablespoon of ground coffee. (whatever I have. Right now it's beans freshly ground). Then next day, strain into a cup and microwave. 1 cup a day.
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#15
(06-16-2014, 08:10 PM)Tiamat Wrote: I'm lower tech. I have a jar with a lid full of water. Each night one tablespoon of ground coffee. (whatever I have. Right now it's beans freshly ground). Then next day, strain into a cup and microwave. 1 cup a day.

I want to try this tonight. Is a lid required?
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#16
(06-16-2014, 09:59 PM)Valuesize Wrote:
(06-16-2014, 08:10 PM)Tiamat Wrote: I'm lower tech. I have a jar with a lid full of water. Each night one tablespoon of ground coffee. (whatever I have. Right now it's beans freshly ground). Then next day, strain into a cup and microwave. 1 cup a day.

I want to try this tonight. Is a lid required?

Well, if you need a Lid, try Larry Lacey. LaughingLaughing
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#17
(06-16-2014, 10:07 PM)chuck white Wrote:
(06-16-2014, 09:59 PM)Valuesize Wrote:
(06-16-2014, 08:10 PM)Tiamat Wrote: I'm lower tech. I have a jar with a lid full of water. Each night one tablespoon of ground coffee. (whatever I have. Right now it's beans freshly ground). Then next day, strain into a cup and microwave. 1 cup a day.

I want to try this tonight. Is a lid required?

Well, if you need a Lid, try Larry Lacey. LaughingLaughing

Two or a three finger? Laughing
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#18
(06-16-2014, 09:59 PM)Valuesize Wrote:
(06-16-2014, 08:10 PM)Tiamat Wrote: I'm lower tech. I have a jar with a lid full of water. Each night one tablespoon of ground coffee. (whatever I have. Right now it's beans freshly ground). Then next day, strain into a cup and microwave. 1 cup a day.

I want to try this tonight. Is a lid required?

Required? No. I put a lid on. I turn it over and give it one small shake and set it down. Next day when I use it, I just add more water and add another spoonful of coffee right then, so it's done.I don't even use the melita filter. I just use a small sieve with a handle and a paper towel . It's not important to 'drip it slowly', because the infusion is complete and you are just straining off the grounds. I know folks who don't approve of microwaves. They heat the coffee on the stove in a pot. I'm not too particular. But the process makes a very tasty, VERY smooth coffee. 95% less acid.
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#19
(06-16-2014, 10:48 PM)Tiamat Wrote: Required? No. I put a lid on. I turn it over and give it one small shake and set it down. Next day when I use it, I just add more water and add another spoonful of coffee right then, so it's done.I don't even use the melita filter. I just use a small sieve with a handle and a paper towel . It's not important to 'drip it slowly', because the infusion is complete and you are just straining off the grounds. I know folks who don't approve of microwaves. They heat the coffee on the stove in a pot. I'm not too particular. But the process makes a very tasty, VERY smooth coffee. 95% less acid.

So its one spoon of coffee the night before and one more spoon just before straining?
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#20
(06-16-2014, 11:00 PM)Valuesize Wrote:
(06-16-2014, 10:48 PM)Tiamat Wrote: Required? No. I put a lid on. I turn it over and give it one small shake and set it down. Next day when I use it, I just add more water and add another spoonful of coffee right then, so it's done.I don't even use the melita filter. I just use a small sieve with a handle and a paper towel . It's not important to 'drip it slowly', because the infusion is complete and you are just straining off the grounds. I know folks who don't approve of microwaves. They heat the coffee on the stove in a pot. I'm not too particular. But the process makes a very tasty, VERY smooth coffee. 95% less acid.

So its one spoon of coffee the night before and one more spoon just before straining?


No. Just one heaping tablespoon of ground coffee in about 16 oz of water the night before. You could make it stronger to taste.
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