New to Roasting

[scollops]

Am just looking at getting a Gene Cafe roaster - still cant commit, need some advice on getting, storing green beans, types of beans, is this cheaper long run as opposed to buying the odd 250 - 500g coffee beans. Getting beans regularly, questions questions....only because its a big investment ....any help much appreciated.

[gregpullman]

Re: New to Roasting

Hi Scollops,

Is getting <what> cheaper than buying the odd 250-500g coffee beans? Buying green is certainly cheaper than buying roasted if thats what you mean, and youll almost certainly find that buying green a couple of kilos of green at a time is cheaper than buying small lots (if you can find someone to sell you 250g of green). Please clarify your question if those stabs in the dark havent answered it.

Andys greens are always good value and come in 2.5kg bags. That sounds like a lot "what if I dont like them, what do I do with the rest?", I used to think the same but have never come across any coffees that have tasted like sardines or asparagus, so given youll probably like whatever you get its great having at least half a dozen more roasts available from the same bag to try a different roast profile, or just enjoy all over again what you did last time.

Greens being a quarter of the price of roasted, youll find that any roaster will eventually pay for itself. Yes it is a big investment - the main thing to make sure IMHO is that your lifestyle allows for enough time to roast. Nothing worse than having greens and a roaster and being out so much you never have time to use it and still have to buy pre-roasted! There are plenty of CSers here who are happy Gene Cafe users so if youve done your homework and are satisfied thats the best device for your particular needs then Id say go for it!

Good luck!
Greg

[coffee_mum]

Re: New to Roasting

the main thing to make sure IMHO is that your lifestyle allows for enough time to roast

Ditto to all of what Greg said, but especially the point above.

A cheaper option to see if you like roasting and can make the time for it would be to grab a popper and a starter pack, by the end of the 2kg of greens youll know whether roasting is for you or not, and also what type of beans you like. And if you dont use more than 200g in a week, which would be 3 roasts in a popper, it may be all that you need, but any more than that and you would be looking at something bigger.

BTW Ive had my Gene for 15 months and love it, yes some beans are quieter than others but if you watch the smoke you will get to know when the cracks should be coming. At 2.5~3kg a month he has paid for himself already

[beanflying]

Re: New to Roasting

Storage of Green beans is easy clean, cool, dry and away from heavy UV. The thinking is that they last for 3 years without much of a problem.

To the $$ and cents, Greens normally cost $3-4 / 250g roaster load compared to "good quality" blends or single origons at $9-12. So at 2 bags per week you will have the Gene paid for in a around a year. If your worried about the initial cost then grab a heat gun, stainless bowl and a wooden spoon and one of Andys $20 Green starter packs and have a go

BF about to go outside and save some $$ by roasting on my day off after I sort out which ones for this week 8-)

[scollops]

Re: New to Roasting

Awesome cheers for the info - just to clarify the cost thing - was more of making the move from my normal purchases of coffee to roasting my own. i guess the added value of being fresh helps...just one more thing how do you get blends etc with beans....or am I thinking to hard here..

[coffee_mum]

Re: New to Roasting

just one more thing how do you get blends etc with beans....or am I thinking to hard here..  

Its easy, roast 2 or more beans in a session, either mix then bag, or bag & mix after degassing, that way you can try them as SOs and as a blend. Theres lots of info here on CS regarding suggested mixes and what goes well together, the fun is in exploring your beans and letting your tastebuds guide you as to what you like

[gregpullman]

Re: New to Roasting

Start with single origins i.e. one bean. Far easier to get right than a blend. Take careful notes of the roasting process (times, temperatures, when first crack and second crack occur, at what point you eject the roast etc), then record the colour of the finished product on the CS colour chart and tasting notes every couple of days after roasting over a couple of weeks. Youll find the flavour changes with time.

Do this with a few different roast times / profiles per bean, then repeat with several different beans (ideally from different regions). Youll find each has different flavours at different ages and roast levels, and that it might be nice to have a bit of something else in the flavour. E.g. bean A has lots of fruity sort of flavours but not much body, while bean B has lots of body and sweetness but not much else. Mix them together in a 50/50 blend and you have a blend with both body and fruit. You can then expand to go further into three bean blends if you want to, or change the ratios if you just want to add a touch of something rather than it being a major component. You can even blend the same bean at different roast levels if you find different roast levels bring out different characteristics youd like together.

With respect to how do you blend, coffee_mum has mentioned two methods, both of which are post-roast blending techniques. In time you may be able to do pre-roast blending. This is more difficult than post-roast as you cant change the roast level per bean, but if you find youd like to blend a couple of beans which both require the same roast time you can blend them before roasting. Ive never done this but I understand the flavour you get is different to when theyre roasted separately. You might like to contact Serge at Go Barista about this as I think he does all his roasts pre-blended.

Greg

[hotshod]

Re: New to Roasting

Hi Scollops,

My advice would be look at building a Corretto.

Less than $100 and ya roasting , depends on what ya have lying about, If your not in a hurry youll find nearly everything you need at second hand or Vinnies stores.
My initial setup cost $45.

Corretto roasting is great fun , and the end result is fantastic.

Hotshod