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  • Getting your roasting down pat - how long?

    I realise this is a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, but I'm wondering for people new to home roasting, how many batches did it take before you were getting results you were happy to drink?

    I ask because the whole concept intrigues me and I'm keen to try, but I love the beans I'm using at the moment (took me about 2 years to settle on these), and I'm worried that I'll go through batch after batch after batch and not get to where I'd like within a reasonable time. Ie if it took me a few months to get things sorted I'd be happy, but if it takes over a year of trial and error then I think I'd be a little frustrated.

    Any advice? I'm thinking I'd jump in with a Behmor if I were to do it. TIA.

  • #2
    Two....burnt the first lot, quite liked the next (not perfect but very good). For every minor roasting defect (or heroic choice of beans in blend) you get the advantage of known freshness.

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    • #3
      Two - wow that's not bad. I can handle that! I guess if you go in conservatively with bean choice that would reduce the risk as well? I was thinking Guatemalan SO...

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      • #4
        Not trying to gazump Barry, however have yet to burn a roast after seven years at it.

        Started with a heat gun, dog bowl and wooden spoon and quickly progressed to a Coretto which I still use weekly.

        I suspect if you can cook your well ahead of the game.

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        • #5
          Just 2 roasts. The first was under because I didn't want to burn them but got the hang of it after that. I have the Behmor which is very easy to use.

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          • #6
            I don't think it even took one for me BUT that doesn't mean that I haven't had dud roasts along the way.

            Just do it, never know until you give it a try.

            I also still buy from my favourite roaster in VIC a few times a year

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Yelta View Post
              I suspect if you can cook your well ahead of the game.
              That's my issue identified then...

              Honestly, with about two dozen behmor roasts and about as many popper roasts behind me, I can say that getting it "drinkable" was easy, but getting results that are equal to a high-quality commercial blend like Campos' or 5Senses' offerings still else's me and I've taken to buying roasted beans again.

              When I say equal, I mean both in terms of peak flavour and the length of time over which beans are able to produce delicious coffee. I've had occasional MJ blends that match my favourites from the commercial guys, but only over a 2-4 day period, usually centered around the 7-10th day after roasting.

              I find that the blends I buy remain delicious over a greater period, anywhere from roughly seven to ten days total.

              Not sure what results others are getting.

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              • #8
                Just 2 for me also (but I have only done 6 roasts in total - brand new behmor just before christmas).

                I stuffed up the first roast because I was too impatient to wait until I had a set of scales and badly underestimated the weight I was roasting. That lot went in the compost but the 5 since then have been good. I had anticipated having to bin a large proportion of the 2.5kg bag of beans that Andy supplied with the roaster, but have been delighted with the results so far.

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                • #9
                  Welcome Arcade...

                  Way before I knew about CoffeeSnobs; absolutely carbonised the first batch, the next batch was just black and oily and then the third batch... Wow! This is great! I have been getting better at it ever since but still learn something pretty well every time I have a roast session. Never gets dull and boring plus you get to consume some wonderful coffee from CS BeanBay while you're doing it.

                  The only way to learn is to have a go and don't worry if you get the first couple or few batches wrong, keep notes of every batch - good or bad - and try to improve with each batch you do. Heaps of info to be found here on CS and heaps of willing helpers to assist getting you on to the straight and narrow road towards coffee nirvana.

                  Main thing, is to have fun...

                  Mal.

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                  • #10
                    Thanks Mal. It seems my fears have been allayed by everyone, I thought I'd be fumbling around for months and months before getting a half-respectable result. I really like the idea of being more involved with my coffee, so will dive in shortly.

                    I'm also amazed at the variety of green beans available. I had no idea until I looked into it.

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                    • #11
                      All great advice above for you Arcade. If you are thinking of the Behmor the payback time alone simply from buying greens vs browns is pretty quick, which makes it a pretty risk free endeavour (assuming you buy greens from here and are paying $35-$40 p/kg for retail browns).
                      If it took you 2 years to settle on a blend you obviously know what you like (and fair to say not satisfied if you don't get it, justifiably so!), however, the fun/joy/mystery/excitement of home roasting will quickly blur the lines of an average roast to a good roast. Believe me, when you taste that first cup and say "oh yum, I roasted that!" it makes any average tasting roast disappear from memory and you continue to chase the better roasts. The good-but-not-amazing roasts will still taste good and for the most part all be easily drinkable, just put them down to experience.
                      My hot tip for if (when!) you get a roaster...start reading all the descriptions on the greens in beanbay, read the tasting notes from the forum and simply pick things that sound yum. Copy the profiles/settings others have used with success, its a good place to start and you'll be learning more than you think just from sitting hunched peering through the glass watching the little fellas hypnotically roll around.....I think I'm gonna go roast some coffee!!!

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                      • #12
                        I'm the dunce here... but in my defence (got to protect the ego) I did purchase a fully manual roaster. It took me a few weeks to get going (I was doing up to six roasts per session) but within a month I was getting really good results. I really enjoyed the learning process and get a lot out of roasting at home. I posted on my first few roasts (don't read the post if you are easily discouraged).

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Arcade View Post
                          Thanks Mal. It seems my fears have been allayed by everyone, I thought I'd be fumbling around for months and months before getting a half-respectable result. I really like the idea of being more involved with my coffee, so will dive in shortly.

                          I'm also amazed at the variety of green beans available. I had no idea until I looked into it.
                          Arcade , I. As a newbie to roasting purchased a Baby roaster from Mark at Coffee Roasters Australia . At their shop I was given a lesson on how to roast by time,heat control,smoke,smell &sight.Having gained all this Mark introduced me to Coffee Snobs for. My starter pack of greens,My first roast was successful and subsequent roasts improved.I still roast by these basics I my KKHG roaster & many kilos of roasts completed and have never had to bin any.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Dimal View Post

                            Way before I knew about CoffeeSnobs; absolutely carbonised the first batch, the next batch was just black and oily and then the third batch... Wow!

                            The only way to learn is to have a go and don't worry if you get the first couple or few batches wrong, keep notes of every batch - good or bad

                            Mal.
                            I was a member of Coffee Snobs long before I started roasting and read almost everything posted about roasting coffee, I suspect this gave me a real head start.

                            This is a pic of my first roaster, pretty basic but taught me a lot.


                            As Mal says, the only way to learn is to have a go, no matter if you mess a couple of batches up, you'll get there in the end.

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                            • #15
                              It's a fun experiment for me to try out a pop corn popper first and chatting with my local roaster about it on top of reading the posts here in the roast section.

                              Have since bought a behmor too from Andy and the start up pack was great to test different regions. I've sort of have a basic idea of what to get from different beans now but it's just more trial and error. You will get the OMG it's tasty to WTF was that roast.

                              But that's the fun of it.

                              Now I do a single roast of blends I enjoy with a small batch of experimental blend each time so atleast I have coffee for the week.

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