Avanti Cocktail Shaker Roaster

[ernieg777]

Exactly a month ago we were at the Kallista (VIC) market where I bought some roasted beans from Chum Creek Coffee Co. and we got talking coffee and roasting and soon another snob joined in. When asked about my experience I expressed interest to start with a baby roaster but that I found them hard to come by secondhand. So the suggestion was made that I might as well go to Dan Murphy's to pick up a cocktail shaker for next to nothing. Yep, at $5.99 they are a steal but I deemed them too small. However a quick search on evil bay provided the best starting point - a secondhand Avanti (perfect snob brand) stainless cocktail shaker in a larger size for just $9.95

Add a bit of brass rod, stainless nuts, some stainless thimbles for the rod to turn in and some stainless hose clamps to create internal stirrers (shamelessly copied from the baby roaster mod posts) and you have a project.

Bought my second bag of beans at Kallista (VIC) market today from Chum Creek Coffee Co. - talked about the progress made and promised that would be the last bag LOL. So went home to finish the roaster and Monday I'll have to decide which beans to order from Andy to do the first roasts !!!

[kwantfm]

Looks very interesting! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[ernieg777]

First green beans are on order, picked some that said to be 'easy roasts' - Tanzania Machare as this supports the Faircrack people on the ground directly, Colombian Volcan Galeras Supremo because it is a mouthful (i.e. has good body) and Indian Monsoon Malebar to top of with crema. Can't wait to fire this up!

[chokkidog]

Congrats Ernie!,

Looks the goods, ........the barrel of the roaster resembles the shape of a traditional drum roaster.

Good luck with your roasts, don't apply too much heat and remember.........

your roasts will be much better when shaken, not stirred! ;-D

Post some pics when you can!

[ernieg777]

Beans arrived today and had to give this a try. Used a bit of all to season the roaster, it showed at least that my 'exhaust' works as the smoke and chaf came out.

Roasted first the India Monsoon as it is a big bean and I intended to take it quite dark. Started with 150 grams of green bean. It took a long time till first crack ~19 minutes as I had the heat on a low setting, not wanting to char anything. But in the end it came out OK although I can see a few beans that have spots where they have sat on the inside of the barrel in a hot spot for too long. So more shaking and constant turning required! Finished with 125 grams of roasted beans.

Second batch was the Columbian Volcan Galeras Supreme. Again used 150 gram of green bean. Increased the heat by one mark and that immediately showed as the first crack started at 13.5 minute mark and rolled on to the 16 minute mark. Second crack started at the 19 minute mark and I stopped there and cooled them. Couldn't help but notice that this is a more pockmarked bean, especially after I got the very smooth looking India Monsoon first. Roast is not completely even yet though but not too bad. Finished with 125 grams of roasted bean.

Last was the Tanzanian Machare Estate. Again 150 gram of green bean. Same heat setting as the Columbian. After a bit of smoke and chaf we arrived at first crack on 13 minutes which rolled on to 17 minute mark. Had lowered the temperature by one mark at the start of first crack as the amount of chaf / smoke gives the impression that it is going hard along. When I looked if it was ready I was surprised to see beans still covered in light chaf but they turned out roasted underneath. Ended up with 130 grams of roasted bean.

Will try them all in the cup tomorrow morning

[chokkidog]

Hey Ernie!

For first roasts in a cocktail shaker you've done a great job!

Crikey... for first roasts you've done a great job!

You will reduce the variation with good shaking action, no problem.

It might pay to stick to one bean and do half a dozen roasts of it; to see the effects of different technique,

you know...... whether to shake it over the right or left shoulder ;-D.

If you load the roaster with a charge of beans - cold and no heat, spin it a few times in the cradle then open it, you can see if any beans are getting
stuck in the stirrers or anywhere else.

Great work!

Looking forward to seeing your next attempts.

[Dimal]

Superb stuff Ernie...

Totally agree with Chokki, damn fine outcome.

Mal.

[ernieg777]

Had another try at the Tanzania Machare Estate bean taking into account the comment from Yelta in another thread re: the stirring of the beans. I have two hose clamps inside to stir the beans but they will only stir if there are beans or in other words if they are in the correct location. As the shaker has a fairly long body that has only a slight taper I decided to tilt it more towards the short / round end to keep the beans together at the spot of the stirring clamps. Also used a smaller batch quantity and the result is a definite improvement! The batch was more evenly roasted and I had less chaff left on the beans. Cupped it today as an espresso and it was lovely.

[chokkidog]

Hi Ernie,

Looks nice and even, well done. when you say "cupped as an espresso" what do you mean?

Cupping and espresso are two different things; cupping being an infusion and espresso an extraction (under pressure).

Looks like you could develop that roast some more; it looks like a cupping roast just past 1st crack??

Nevertheless, that's a great result!

[ernieg777]

Thanks chokkidog,

it was indeed just past 1st crack, but I extracted an espresso.

Didn't know the definition of cupping, learnt something else. That's the fun with coffee, always another bean, another flavour, another technique, another bit of equipment to try and learn more from it all.

I'm already thinking of further improvements that I can make to the roaster

to be continued.....

[fw000r]

Hi Ernie,

How has the cocktail roaster gone since March? Any updates or improvements?
I'm thinking about emulating the design.