How did you learn to roast?

[Spice]

Hello All,
There seems to be several ways to learn to roast the bean. Trial and error,
popcorn machines, classes that range from 5 to 2 days. Right now I am leaning
to the trial and error. How did you go about learning? Thanks :?:

 

[farmroast]

First, I guess it depends on your goal and your level of seriousness.

 

[Spice]

I am very serious, planning a "retirement" eventually and that means a gradual
trasition from my day job.

 

[farmroast]

Get yourself a decent controllable little drum roaster with good temp. monitoring abilities. For best bang for buck I'd suggest a Quest M3. For much more money you could get a small tabletop pro gas roaster or on the other end a hottop.
Sweet Marias is a great place to get quality beans and they have very helpful very detailed descriptions of each lot with roasting tips. They also have a large library of good information.
Connect with the very active online amateur roasting community. Home Barista forum roasting section has some very talented and experienced roasters that are very helpful. Plus they have a large archive of roasting and roaster discussions to review.

 

[Spice]

Thank you, that is very helpful. May ask how you learned?

 

[eldub]

I'd recommend buying the book, "Home Coffee Roasting," by Kenneth Davids.

 

[farmroast]

Thank you, that is very helpful. May ask how you learned?

I pretty much went the route I described but was also into new roaster designs so built my own hybrid roaster and advanced roast monitoring system. Started in '05. There's a lot more info to be found than when I started. A lot of it is just roasting and cupping the roasts and adjusting with guidance from others experience. It takes a lot of practice and keeping track of what your doing. Hundreds and then thousands of roasts. There's still a lot not really understood about roasting. The reason you wont find too much definitive information.

 

[ppkgan]

Where do you buy the unroasted beans? Are they easy to come buy? The Quest M3 looks like it is super easy to use and would make my coffe that much more fun.

 

[topher]

I got lucky and scored an apprenticeship in 93. I wasn't really instructed much from my "teacher" but was happy to get behind the machine. I did that for about years. I went the trial and error route. A lot of notes and tasting. Keep as many notes as possible. Good luck and lets us know your progress...if you have any specific questions let us know...maybe we can give you some pointers.

 

[farmroast]

Where do you buy the unroasted beans? Are they easy to come buy? The Quest M3 looks like it is super easy to use and would make my coffe that much more fun.

check out Sweet Marias for green unroasted beans

 

[coffee.lover]

I learned coffee roasting watching my grandmother doing it an old-fashion way, when I was very young. Today method is different, and every bean has its own characteristic, not to mention, machines have different technical specifications. But it boils down to careful listening, looking, smelling and feeling the beans while roasting.

 

[ppkgan]

check out Sweet Marias for green unroasted beans

Cool will do this seems very interesting to say the least.

 

[MyMugsHalfFull]

Ummm.. Well, I'm gonna feel like a class A "Heel" but... I uh... Never learned how to roast.. I get the wife to make my coffee....

And she does a damned good job of it too. I know, I know, I really should have learned to do it myself, but... Something about coffee that you didn't make, makes it taste better

Especially if made by someone who loves you...

 

[AaronS81]

I have become interested in roasting as well. I have noticed that the Green Mountain Coffee company offers jobs where you learn to roast. I would like for this to be a career change for me, but I wish they had jobs where I lived.

 

[bprotsman]

I started on some home roasters buying green off the internet. Then I went and worked with ye olde Topher for a few years on various roasters. It's been a blast. Learn all you can from those around you that have experience, it will come in hand at some point.