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  • Planning ahead for coffee consumption

    Gday all,

    How do you plan ahead in terms of when and how much to roast?

    Ive been caught out by how much coffee myself and my roasting mates (2 of them) - along with all our guinea pigs - have gone through. Im nearly out of green beans from the starter pack (300g left) and weve only been roasting for 2 weeks. More on the way, and I cant wait for the imminent Bean Bay! (It IS imminent, right, Andy? :P)

    I know some people use a MS Access-based database for recording all their roasts and bean stocks. Personally I found it too unintuitive and complex for my needs so I wrote a simple spreadsheet instead.

    The spreadsheet handles green bean stocks, roasts completed, and estimates our available stock of brown beans that are 4 days post-roast or older. Sounds good, but its very much a work in progress because we havent been able to settle on an average daily consumption - my mates poor Silvia pulled 18 shots on Saturday, 26 shots on Sunday, and back to an average of 4-6 thereafter...

    Our problem at the moment is that we didnt roast enough beans 4-5 days ago so were currently drinking the Ugandan Bugisu we roasted 3 days ago (and I know for a fact that its better after 5-6 days!).

    Anyway, to re-state my question: what method(s) do you mob use to ensure that you have enough browns at all time? And dont say "roast every day" because, a) Ill call you something rude, and b) we dont all live together and can really only roast (together) on the weekend.

    Just after others experiences.
    Cheers
    Stuart.

  • #2
    Re: Planning ahead for coffee consumption

    I generally try to roast 2 batches each weekend.
    Each roast yields around 600g. 1.2k in total.
    Usually these go into 4 sealed bags (one-way valve thingies) and go into the pantry until required.
    My aim is to be a week or 2 ahead with my roasting unless I do a variety that I have a specific resting time in mind for.

    Just the 2 of us will go close to consuming 600g in a week.
    Visitors etc. might take us over the 1kg
    Sometimes a bag or 3 is given away.

    If we get to a point where we have a few extras in the pantry, then I might only roast 1 batch for the week or sometimes none at all. Although I do get edgy when I have not roasted any for a week - I spend time panicking that there will be a RUSH of visitors to drink it all down. Paranoid? Paranoid? I wouldnt be so paranoid if it wasnt for the fact that everyone is looking at me! - but I digress

    Basically, I have learned the hard way, it is better to dump small amounts of beans past their prime because you have plenty, than have no beans (or a roast too young to enjoy).

    I also have a spreadsheet, but it is really a tracker of inventory more than anything.

    Hope that helps.

    Brett.

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    • #3
      Re: Planning ahead for coffee consumption

      I too have a spreadsheet that is mostly for green stock recording and roast dates and times.

      I dont use it for brown stock.

      I too get nervous if I havent roasted for a week but my consumption generally runs at about 500g a week so I "know" when Im running low (I need to roast tonight).

      To make sure I dont run out of greens though I currently have about 70kg on hand.

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      • #4
        Re: Planning ahead for coffee consumption

        I roast approx. 500gm (2 x 300gm batches in the Genecafe), twice a week.

        We use about 1 kg/week, so if I roast every 3-4 days, we manage to rest most batches at least 7 days.

        Public holidays and lots of visitors throw me out.

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        • #5
          Re: Planning ahead for coffee consumption

          I roast about 500g a week in the Gene Cafe in two batches (usually on the weekend). Seems to keep up with our consumption rate. If we are expecting guests or friends put in a request, then I just add another batch to the list.

          Sometimes I will do a roast midweek, if it looks like we will come close to running out. I like to let my beans rest for about a week before I start consuming them, but I have been known to only wait 2 days if I am short.

          I have a spreadsheet, mainly for managing green inventory, and keeping track of roasting notes.

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          • #6
            Re: Planning ahead for coffee consumption

            I try to roast two batches each weekend each just over 400gm of brown in each.
            Last week i didnt as i was away so will find that this week i will face the prospect of roasting saturday and potentially starting consumption of that roast on Sunday.
            Not the best but not much i can do about it, given that i leave the house for work at 5:45am and dont get home before 6:30pm midweek roasting isnt really an option for me.

            Even if i have too start using a batch too early, it is still better than the alternatives of no coffee or stale supermarket options.

            Ma

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