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Home coffee roasting

#101
Woah, I haven't seen Brad around these parts for a long time. Welcome! What are you rocking as far as brewing equipment goes these days?

Personally, I find that I save about 60-70% by roasting my own. I have to either drive, or have coffee shipped to me. With my iRoast, it takes about 15 minutes from grabbing it off the shelf, until I have it put away, that is enough coffee for around 6 days. I am planning on building a BBQ drum roaster in the spring that can roast 1-2 lbs, as I have a few people that want to buy from me. I just want to recover my costs and drink coffee for free.

I find that I am a fan of the Yirgacheffe because of the honey taste that it has, I haven't figured out how to bring out any of the blueberry that Brad talks of. Although, brew method might be holding me back. I can brew a great cup of press coffee, but I need to expand. I plan on moving into the world of good espresso at some point, but with a kid on the way, I can't afford it. I figure I need at least $800 to spend on equipment. I am buying an Aeropress soon, should open up some more options for extracting flavour from the beans.

Sweet Maria's is awesome, but the shipping to Canada kills me. I have moved to using Green Beanery for all my bean buying needs. Super fast shipping and cheap prices. Bigger selection than Sweet Maria's, but they don't have very good descriptions of roast, or taste profiles.

lowsound
 
#102
I've been roasting my own since 2006
A friend of mine who had a coffee business turned me on to it. He sent me 12 different kinds of beans to try and a Cafe Genie. I found my two favorites and that's all I order. The freshest best tasting coffee I've ever drank.
 
#104
iamlowsound said:
Welcome! What are you rocking as far as brewing equipment goes these days?
Click to expand...

Thanks. Still using my Expobar Office Pulser heat exchanger espresso machine (which had a pump replacement about 2 years ago) and Mazzer Mini for espresso and Capresso ST600 with Capresso infinity grinder for drip on most weekdays. I also like to make a small cup of pourover several times a week and lately I've been using my Swissgold pourover more. I've had it for a long time but I didn't use it much over the years. It makes a great cup of coffee though with nicely defined flavors across the board.

I find that I am a fan of the Yirgacheffe because of the honey taste that it has, I haven't figured out how to bring out any of the blueberry that Brad talks of. Although, brew method might be holding me back. I can brew a great cup of press coffee, but I need to expand. I plan on moving into the world of good espresso at some point, but with a kid on the way, I can't afford it. I figure I need at least $800 to spend on equipment. I am buying an Aeropress soon, should open up some more options for extracting flavour from the beans.
Click to expand...

A lot of people view press as a more refined way to prepare coffee but IMO it does not make a refined cup. To me it's more of a homogenous flavor with bass tones dominating. It's definitely not a bad cup when prepared with good coffee but not what I really want in a good cup of coffee. I want to taste the fruits and florals distinctly. That may be why you don't taste blueberry if you're having a particular coffee that is said to have blueberry in the profile (of course many yirgs have no blueberry in the profile at all). I also find Aeropress to not be the best brew method for allowing all the defining flavors of a good cup of coffee to come through. Personally a good pourover beats either of these any day IMO. I like espresso too of course but it's best suited for specific types of coffees and/or blends while just about any great single origin can be really enjoyed as a pourover.

Aside from Sweet Marias I used to buy beans from a couple of different online co-ops. Mostly had good results and it tended to be 30 to 50% cheaper than Sweet Maria's and other retail places. Sometimes you may have no idea of the provenance of the beans which I don't like since I try to buy from places that are giving good money to the farmers, not using child labor, etc.. Some of the coops though would organize direct buys from the farms.

BTW, if you want berries try to get your hands on some Ethiopian Kochere. That's the biggest berry hit I've had in a coffee recently.

bc
 
#105
Maybe I'll buy a Chemex rather than an Aeropress, I think it will get me closer to the flavours that I am trying to pull out of my beans. I'll keep the Ethiopian Kochere in mind for my next order. Right now, I have just started working my way through a 10lb bag of the yirg. I went with a big bag so I can experiment with different roast profiles, all with the same bean.

lowsound
 
#106
The winner of the world brewers cup this year (like the Barista cup except for other preparations beside espresso) used a Kalita Wave pourover. That might be worth checking out. They also sifted the fines from the grind which probably played a large role in final flavor.

bc
 
#109
pedroims said:
That is what I want, currently I am using a dip machine and french press, what you recommend ? I am not into expressos, I have a $ 500 budget for grinder and coffee machine.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay in answering

IMO
Capresso Infinity Grinder - $95 (I've used this one for drip, press and pourover for 10 years. It has treated me well)
Bonavita Coffee machine - $170
Kalita wave pourover or Swiss Gold for the occasional pourover - $30
If you want something interesting and unique try a vacuum pot.
I have a Bodum vac pot but I recommend getting either a Yama or a Cona. Cona is expensive but said to be the best.


bc
 
#111
yeah...i just recently heard of making coffee using the pourover method

has anybody here heard of (or tried) the "Woodneck" coffee maker from Japan?

it uses a cloth bag instead of a paper or metal filter, and it supposedly brews the absolute best tasting cup of coffee.

davesignatureII-1.png
 
#112
follow up to my last post.

a site i visited about pourover coffee recommended 60 grams of coffee to every liter of water.

i used my machine and calculated how much water it takes for our morning coffee. it came out to almost 1 liter exactly.

then i weighed 60 gms of roast coffee and measured it in my coffee measure. we normally use about 6 measures of coffee for our morning brew, whereas 60 grams of coffee is between 11 and 12.

that seems like a lot of coffee

am i missing something or making a mistake?

davesignatureII-1.png
 
#113
I don't measure my coffee or water when brewing. Not that I am some uber awesome coffee maker, I just work the amounts based on feel/smell/mood.

As to your question, if the coffee tastes good with your current measurements, I'd leave it alone.

-Mike
 
#116
Lonesomedave said:
has anybody here heard of (or tried) the "Woodneck" coffee maker from Japan?

it uses a cloth bag instead of a paper or metal filter, and it supposedly brews the absolute best tasting cup of coffee.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard of this brewer but cloth filters are not new or unique to any particular brewer. I've heard they're pretty common in Costa Rica. My favorite local coffee shop uses cloth filters with their pourovers.

Lonesomedave said:
a site i visited about pourover coffee recommended 60 grams of coffee to every liter of water.

i used my machine and calculated how much water it takes for our morning coffee. it came out to almost 1 liter exactly.

then i weighed 60 gms of roast coffee and measured it in my coffee measure. we normally use about 6 measures of coffee for our morning brew, whereas 60 grams of coffee is between 11 and 12.

that seems like a lot of coffee
Click to expand...

This is about what the Specialty Coffee Association of America recommends (actually maybe a tad more) and that's just about exactly what I use. It's probably close to what most good coffee shops use as well. I measure by volume though rather than weight for every method but espresso. I do two tablespoons for 8oz of water and that comes out to around 60 grams for a liter. This is a great ratio for me but the resulting flavor can vary depending on coarseness of grind. If you grind really fine then it will be too strong but a standard drip grind will be great. Most people who are not "coffee people" do tend to use way less coffee than "cafe strength"/SCAA recommendation.

brad
 
#117
My favorite local coffee shop was named in eater.com's 20 hottest coffee shops in the US.

It's a pretty amazing place. Dichotomy coffee - it's #2 on the list:
http://eater.com/archives/2014/01/2...ss-the-us-where-to-drink-coffee-right-now.php

For a long time they just had a little bar inside of an art gallery downtown. I spent many enjoyable mornings over the summer and holidays sitting, drinking awesome coffee and chatting with the owner and baristas. Now they have this dedicated shop that opened in the fall and Brett, the owner, paid incredible attention to every little detail in this place right down to the light bulbs. If any of you are ever passing through Waco on your way from Dallas to Austin then you should stop in and check it out. Just a couple of minutes off of I-35.

Here's an article that has a lot of pictures of all the details. It's really worth a look if you like to geek out on coffee stuff (or cocktail stuff):
http://sprudge.com/dichotomy-coffee-waco.html

brad
 
#118
DigMe said:
My favorite local coffee shop was named in eater.com's 20 hottest coffee shops in the US.

It's a pretty amazing place. Dichotomy coffee - it's #2 on the list:
http://eater.com/archives/2014/01/2...ss-the-us-where-to-drink-coffee-right-now.php

For a long time they just had a little bar inside of an art gallery downtown. I spent many enjoyable mornings over the summer and holidays sitting, drinking awesome coffee and chatting with the owner and baristas. Now they have this dedicated shop that opened in the fall and Brett, the owner, paid incredible attention to every little detail in this place right down to the light bulbs. If any of you are ever passing through Waco on your way from Dallas to Austin then you should stop in and check it out. Just a couple of minutes off of I-35.

Here's an article that has a lot of pictures of all the details. It's really worth a look if you like to geek out on coffee stuff (or cocktail stuff):
http://sprudge.com/dichotomy-coffee-waco.html

brad
Click to expand...


Nice! Doubt I'll ever make it down there, but sounds like an awesome spot.

If you are ever in Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario, you need to check out Death Valleys Little Brother. Awesome coffee and whiskey.

lowsound
 
#120
nacho_bassman said:
When you start with 1# of coffee, how much is lost in the process of roasting?
Click to expand...


Depends on the bean and the roast. A darker roast will loose more weight than a lighter roast. Some beans are larger and will retain more weight as well. Generally between 10-20% is the number I have always read, but it seems high to me. Volume will go up as beans get bigger when they are roasted.

lowsound
 

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