To roast or not to roast?

[bennett]

As part of my gradual journey of coffeesnobbery, I feel the time has come to start roasting. My main reason for not roasting up till now is that I felt I could not achieve the same results at home achieved by some of our esteemed sponsors and site owner himself .

I buy brown from only a handful of trusted sources. Occasionally, through no fault of the roaster, deliveries fall through the cracks etc and beans arrive late and sometimes I get left with no coffee -This is my biggest driving force to start home roasting. Apart from the obvious satisfaction of roasting your own coffee.

I am considering either a Behmor (when they become available again) or a Gene Cafe - I am not asking advice about which one etc, nor will I try a popper to see if roasting is for me - I have read through enough threads about whats available, pros and cons etc.

One of my main concerns is that I wont be able to achieve the same quality as the coffee I buy.

So my two main questions.

1. I have two kids under 5. I havent got time to scratch my nose - will I have the ability to play around and perfect my roast - or am I making a mountain out of a molehill and roasters such as the Behmor or Gene are quite easy to get a good result out of?

2. Once perfected (if ever..) how comparable will my results be to a good quality commercial roaster eg site sponsors or Andy?

Sorry about the long post.

[shapeshifter]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

You will never get results as good as seasoned professional roasters, after all it is their job/career/life passion BUT you should get something that is completely satisfactory and occasionally, hopefully more than occasionally absolutely fantastic to you and your taste buds.

I dont have either or used either but they do have basic settings that can be used, from what I read they do need tweaking though to get a roast that you want, how long that takes and how often I cant answer, Im sure one of the regular roasters that use them can answer these ones for you.

Oh and you never know unless you give it a go! 8-)

[sorrentina]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

I am certainly no roasting expert- however I do roast my own and I do want to make the best coffee I can. From my experience home roasted beans are nearly as good as those roasted commercially or as good. I can rarely tell if their is any major difference. I am not going to say that commercial roasters dont have special skills: when it comes to blending, and deciding on the best profile for a given bean- I am sure that there is still a great deal I have to learn, and I am sure that a skilled roaster can get more out of certain beans than I can. However I do buy beans from roasteries every few months to check them against my own roasts. In general I find that mine stand up, and sometimes exceed the beans I buy. I have never done a test like this and been blown away by large differences- if there are any they are too subtle for me to worry about.

I used a Behmor for a year or more- and found that it wasnt too difficult to use- or too time consuming. I always roasted 400 grams and used the same setting. I also cooled the beans in the machine rather than removing them for cooling. Others use more complicated methods but my profile always produced good results for me. I only burnt a few batches and it was always my own fault.

After 3 years of roasting I have never looked back. I have a huge stash of beans from all over the world and can get some beans roasting as soon as my stocks get low. This is the one thing I really appreciate about home roasting. Tonight for instance it is a Sunday- my roasted bean jar is getting low- only two days of beans left. Not a problem. In a moment I will roast up 500 grams and jar them up. I can have beans whenever they are needed and I know exactly how fresh they are. Sometimes it is hard to tell how fresh a bean is at a roastery- some roasters are quite clear on this- other suppliers I have used have said they cannot say exactly when the bean was roasted.

The next thing is the money I have saved. I drink too much coffee- and if I had to buy it all from roasteries it would be a somewhat expensive habit to maintain... A behmor or similar will quickly pay for itself if you drink a fair amount of coffee.

[shapeshifter]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

What Jack said ;D

[jaybee]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

You will never get results as good as seasoned professional roasters

I have thought about this on a number of occasions, and whilst it is undeniably true that their skills and equipment far outreach my own, I and all home roasters are not constrained by the need to produce tonnes and tonnes of cofee with a consistant and distinctive flavour.

This means that we have access through Beanbay etc to some of the best green on the market, without compromise, and even with an entry level roaster like the iCoffee or Behmor we can produce a roast that is much better in the cup than the pros. Just dont ask us to get that same taste every time ;D

[bennett]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. I guess as a coffeesnob I am torn between having full control over the process vs an end result which may not be as good as a pro roaster.

Maybe Im overanalysing the situation. :-/

[GrahamK]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

Bottom line, its not rocket science to get to a decent enough skill level to roast great coffee for yourself, despite all the technicalities & jargon discussed on the various forums. Intuitiveness and common sense will usually suffice, and the lack of consistency can actually be a bonus sometimes, making it more interesting.

GrahamK

[Pavoniboy]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

I agree with the above. Although most of us home roasters dont have the knowledge, experience and skills of the pros, we still tend to get exceptional results.

I find because I have access to absolutely primo beans from beanbay and others - I get amazing coffee at home. Whilst a lot of cafes and roasters supplying cafes need to be more economy conscious in their bean choice - choosing cheaper beans and beans they are more likely to be able to continue sourcing to keep their blends tasting the same and thus produce coffee that isnt quite as good as some of mine - even though the roaster is better than I am. At least this is the case in my area - I assume it can be quite different in the major cities who provide single origins as well as their house blends and are catering to the more discerning coffee drinkers.

However, that said, you should still be able to get close to the pros (even the ones using primo beans) in your result in the cup. I think of it like stereo systems - once you get up into the better end of things you have to spend a lot of money to get a small difference. I feel with roasting you can get exceptional results at home with a little practice, to then improve to the level of the pros will take a lot of time, effort and experience to gain that little bit extra in your roasts.

Also home roasting doesnt require consistency in the cup each time as mentioned above, it doesnt matter that theres variation between your roasts as long it still tastes good to you. And with small batch sizes it doesnt even matter if you ruin a batch - its not much moneys worth down the drain and youre not trying to keep up with orders for other businesses who are relying on you - so the pressure is right off compared to a commercial roaster.

I use both a corretto and a Behmor. The corretto for when I have the time to put into the roast, and the Behmor when Im too busy and I just need to set it running and stay close by to hear first crack, so I can then go slow her down a bit between cracks and be ready to dump it into the cooler on 2nd. As I roast in the garage, I usually simultaneously wash or polish my motorbike, or fix something, or study whilst Behmor is roasting. Its good for busy people but you still need to stay nearby. I have more fun with the corretto but it requires my constant attention.

So, yes you can get great results. Maybe not quite as good as the pros but I am sure you will not be disappointed - you will get close to their results. You will have heaps of fun and you will take more pride in the result in your cup. You should definitely start home roasting!

[kbrookes]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. I guess as a coffeesnob I am torn between having full control over the process vs an end result which may not be as good as a pro roaster.

Maybe Im overanalysing the situation. :-/

Definitely!

Im motivated by similar reasons as yourself - and by long term cost benefits.

Youve dismissed the popper idea, but its a great CHEAP way to stick your toe in the water and find out how much fun it is.

I was given a popper $(12 Kmart variety) and a few hundred grams of greens by a fellow enthusiast who has since moved to a behmor and then a KKTO.

My wife absolutely loves the third roast I did, although Im not entirely happy with it - doesnt suit my palate, but its been 30 mins since I had my morning ristretto and I can still taste it... So its growing on me.

The point is that while I vastly prefer the Sumatran Kuda browns from Pioneer Roastery, on my my third effort Ive roasted something acceptable to me and that my wife loves and had fun doing it. My wife wants nothing to do with making coffee, but loved the roasting process and were both keen for this to be something we can do together.

The great thing about home roasting is that you can really take it to any level you want - you can roast in a popper with nothing more than your ears and a stopwatch and get decent results. You can buy or build a KKTO or a corretto and go the full data-monitoring and profiling approach. You can buy commercial machines and take their pure-set profiles as gospel or create your own.

I think that if youre wanting the behmor or gene cafe as a set and forget type of device, youre missing the point of home roasting and will by consequence miss out on the rich variety you can achieve - which only comes with experimentation and passion, no matter what machine youre on.

The same friend who gave me the popper gave me some of his home roasts - and Indian/PNG blend that was just fantastic and a Mexican that was nothing short of sensational. All done in a home-built KKTO and achieved with years of experimentation. Theyre easily the equal of any professional roast Ive had.

He couldnt have gotten that by using his behmor as a set-and-forget device on the standard settings.

[Kafine]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

Very easy to get very nice coffee. Every roast gets better and i have had only two failures. Cheaper and more involvement in the whole process of coffee making is fantastic. I love it.

[sorrentina]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

He couldnt have gotten that by using his behmor as a set-and-forget device on the standard settings.
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I dont want to poo-poo your friends results- but I wouldnt be so quick to dismiss the Behmor- or other set and forget roasters. There is actually no such thing as set and forget roasting as far as I have seen. Whether its a Behmor or a KKTO you need to take charge and decide when you want your roast to end- and if/how you will blend- and how long you will rest the bean, etc... I think PavoniBoys analogy about stereo equipment is spot on: once you get to the high end of roasting it takes both a nuanced taste bud and keen mind to note the differences from cup to cup- everything is pretty good and whatever differences there are are getting to be very subtle...

Another thing I have found: it is not rocket science to make an outstanding roast (I should know- my grandfather was a rocket scientist- I am not- but my roasts are delicious ).

A final thought: home roasters maintain their resale value pretty well. So if you decided to grab a machine and try it out the experience will only cost you a little if you decide it is not for you.

[kbrookes]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

That was kinda my point tho, SC!

That using any set-and-forget method isnt going to produce the best results you can achieve. I said that he could not have gotten it using set-and-forget - no matter if youre using a popper, behmor, KKTO or a bloody great barrel over a fire, it needs some human input if its going to be anything other than generic, let alone a good roast.

[commanda]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

It has been said before, but Coffeesnobbery is both a journey and a destination. The fundamental difference between ourselves and "Professional" roasters, is that the latters focus is on the destination. A bag of beans that resembles the last bag of beans, or the same bag last year.
We have the wonderful freedom of not needing to meet that criteria, and every roast we do can be a new adventure, every cup to be enjoyed as a singular moment in time, perhaps to never be exactly repeated.
Do I strive to emulate any of the great Professional roasters, and turn out the same thing repeatedly? Not likely.

To roast or not to roast? is not the question.
Why arent I already roasting? is a better question.

Amanda
(founder of the NTSC (Not Twice Same Coffee) company)

[kbrookes]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

Only on CS, would a forum autocorrect S and then C to Second Crack - I was referring to Sorrentino Coffee!

[bennett]

Re: To roast or not to roast?

I appreciate everybodies input. Kelsey, I understand your point. I never assumed a behmor would be like a microwave set and forget. I am happy to put in some input into the process. I think my main concern has been generally answered. I was worried that even my just ok roasts would be undrinkable by CS standards. But it sounds like minor inconsistencies are tolerable when home roasting and the result in the cup can still be acceptable.