Advice for a wannabe roaster?

[PinkRose]

Thanks for sharing your first experience. Practice makes perfect!

I hope your first batch isn't as bad as you think. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Rose

 

[eldub]

How did you cool the beans? (I would put them on a room temp baking sheet and in the freezer for a few minutes until they cool, if'n I was you.)

 

[cAPSLOCK]

Looks like a fine roast. I predict you will be pretty happy with the coffee. Probably a little lighter than many SB roasts though, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's the fun of it really... sometime later you can try darker, lighter, etc...

 

[jaredgibson87]

Pink rose, if it tastes half as good as the beans smell, I'll be happy


Eldub, I used the cooling pan on the hot top. The fan and the rotating arm cooled them cool enough to hold within 3-5 mins

 

[jaredgibson87]

Well, couldn't wait till tomorrow morning. Ground about 4 tablespoons worth of ground coffee for my French press. Added about 10 ounces of hot water and brewed as I usually do.

The coffee itself, as viewed through a clear glass mug is its about as dark as black tea (a bit lighter than I'm used to). The coffee was pretty thin tasting but wasn't horrible. It's got a good bit of acidity to it, and didn't come out tasting sour or bitter, like I expected.

Im not sure if the thinness or lightness is coming from not enough coffee to water or if it's just the nature of the brand I bought. Anyway, I don't think I did bad for my first try

 

[PinkRose]

It sounds like you did okay for your first attempt at roasting!

You'll notice a difference in the taste of the coffee that you grind and brew today and tomorrow (if you have enough left).

I just looked at the Roaster that you bought (Hottop Basic) on the Sweet Maria's website! It's a beauty!

Have fun playing with your new toy!

Rose

 

[CoffeeJunky]

HOttop is nice but they smoke alot. Just becareful roasting too many batch inside of the house.
I would recommend to roast them in the porch or back yard.

 

[jaredgibson87]

I didn't finf the smell from roasting offensive; it was strong, but not bad. But then, I love the smell of roasting coffee; there's a local coffee shop that roasts their coffee in the lobby, and I love being there when they're roasting .


But my sister wasn't so thrilled. She was all like "are you burning popcorn?! Turn the oven off! You're cooking coffee?! Why!? You work at a freaking Starbucks! Why!?"

Guess I'll be roasting outside from now on

 

[PinkRose]

Do you actually work at Starbucks, or was your sister just harrassing you about the burnt coffee smell?

 

[jaredgibson87]

Well, pink rose, it's a Starbucks in a Target. I mostly work at the starbucks, but it's not uncommon for me to be running to and fro all over the store. One of the perks of being able to do every job in the front end of the store, I guess

I can understand her frustration with the coffee smell. When you buy your candles at kirkland's for $10 a piece, you probably don't want your apple cinnamon vanilla whatever masked by the scent of a newbie roaster burning up some Kenyan

 

[PinkRose]

Variety is the spice of life. You get to work with coffee and then you get to do other things too.

Once upon a time, many years ago, I worked at Target helping to set up a new store. During those few months, I never had a problem deciding what to wear to work. I still have some of my red shirts and kacki slacks.

Do you have a place outside where you can roast your coffee?

Does the smell of your sisters "apple, cinnamon, vanilla, whatever candles bother you? I think a compromise is in the future. But if it's her house, then she wins!

 

[jaredgibson87]

lol its my house, but this is probably one of those pick your battles kind of things. i actually didnt think it would be so overwhelming, but we do have a small porch sheltered from wind, so ill be roasting ourside since we dont have one of those oven hood vent things, and im not convinced roasting enough coffee at a time to last a week justifies the cost of getting one

also, i enjoy the candles, but i find kirklands a little overpriced

 

[douglycett]

I have a behmor and I have having trouble getting a very "grassy" taste out of EVERY coffee I roasted even at the full city, fc+ levels. I believe it was from drinking to early. I usually wait a full 3-4 days now before I cup the coffees, its a hard wait but I hav found that the coffee tastes the best between 3-10 days after roasting, no more no less.

 

[ZChipp]

Honestly iv been using a popcorn machine for about 6 years at home and its been amazing!
Its great being able to experiment with the different origins, roast grades and then comparing them all!

And now im looking at buying a 1kg commercial roaster to start my own micro-roastery!