Any coffee heads?

Mountain Air in Asheville, NC. The best I have had. Marshall is good. If I buy, I buy his. Well, maybe George Howell in Massachusetts.

I just roasted Panama Gesha Esmeralda for tomorrow. Light roast to 408° F. 300° in 4:45, 1st crack [early at 390°] at 9:00, 10:30 total roast time at 408°.

 

I’ve wanted to support them because veteran owned and all that good stuff. But I’ve heard just meh reviews. I appreciate your offer though. I always buy my beans locally though to ensure roasted freshness. Enjoy your coffee

 

What roaster are you using? I usually don't see 1st crack till 15-16 mins. in my Hottop.

 

I started with a popcorn popper.
Then I modified that for fan and heat control.

Then a HotTop, early model. I could not get the flavor out of it that I knew the beans had. I sold it.
Try less beans, drop at a higher temp. I think I dropped the beans in at 375° F. Add a thermometer, or probe to measure bean temp. I was the first on HR forum to say drop at a higher temp, they boo-hooed the idea. Now it is the suggested method.
Too high, the beans get scorched. Try sneaking up on the drop temp.
Try to get to 300° BT by 4-5 minutes.

I bought a home made Fluidbed from a guy on Home Roasters forum. Vacuum cleaner motor on a Variac, propane camp stove with gauge and valve, stainless steel box.
I added a TC4 reading Time, ET, BT and RoR.
It connects to my laptop so I can view the graph, but I really just read the numbers on the TC4 screen. BT and RoR and time.

Air comes in on the bottom left, the right side angles back to the left bottom, so the beans swirl.
You cannot really see the BT probe. On the right top, see the wire going in... That wire goes down a metal tube with silicone tubing and sets right in the beans. You can make out the tip of the probe in the bottom half of the glass, right side.

No warm up, drop beans in, turn on air, open propane, click igniter.

My wife has her own personal roaster.

Oh, the top bowl is the chafe collector. The screen goes on top.
The glass is an old Bake-A-Round glass.

Ken in NC

 

Id like to support them too but I'm not paying $15.00 for a bag of coffee, and lets be honest the only reason people are willing to pay that much is because of the labeling, nothing else.

 

That's not true. At all. I've bought cheap coffee and good coffee and done blind tastings. The cheap stuff tastes cheap. The good stuff tastes significantly better.

 

Maybe, but I have bought some of the best coffee I have ever had by paying for it.
Good green beans can be 6-8 per pound. Less if you buy a whole 150 lb bag.
You lose 20% in roasting. Pay for the overhead, and it is not asking too much to pay 15 per pound.
I pay 19-20 when I buy a bag from a guy I know here. Worth it every time.
An artisan is not like the operator at Folgers.

I also understand if you add milk and sugar to your coffee it does not matter if it is an Ethiopian Harrar, Panama Gesha, or a Columbian Robusto. Then, I would say do not spend the money it is a waste.

 

Sleepy Monk from cannon beach Oregon is a good roaster. But my favorite is Blue Star roaster from Twisp Washington!so good!

 

Spending the money on a decent grinder and espresso machine is worth every penny

 

Sleepy Monk. That is Victor, he was 'THE Victor' of Victor's Coffee in Bellevue Washington. Yes.

I always missed Victor after he left.
I was passing through Cannon Beach one time and got there just after he closed. He let me in the back door, and mixed the blend from fresh roasted coffee, just for me.

 

100% agree with this.

My friend is wanting to buy a roaster so I may go half with him on one so we can start roasting our own beans and experiment. We also home-brew so we'll do some coffee stouts and all that good stuff with it.

 

If you are handy, you can make a fluidbed roaster. Well, you could even if you are not handy.

 

ya I think the same recipe/roast can be found now with middle fork roasters

 

My Chemex just arrived from Amazon..one more reason to wake up tomorrow...

 

But it's so much easier just to buy pre-made

 

I like George Howell brew method.

 

Expensive. I can not afford it.

 

I am in NC now.

 

The fluidbed roasting setup you shared was quite impressive. I got started with the original Hottop and about the only thing I added was a Variac mostly to try extend times between 1st and 2nd crack. Don't really get into roasting profiles and temps. I know on a Probat that typical roasting time is between 18-20 mins., so on my drum roaster I'm fine if I get somewhere in that range. Pretty much all my roasts are C+ - FC. I tell myself when the Hottop dies I'll upgrade, would love to get the Probat Probatino 1 kg roaster. That way I could easily supply me and friends and probably end up with mine being free. 1500+ roasts on the Hottop and still going strong though.

 

San Franciscan makes a 1 lb for 8500 dollars last I heard.

I never cared about names for roast.
4-5 to dry, 300°
8:30 or so to 1C
I finish 1:30 -1:40 after the start of 1C.

Very light roast.