Green Bean Starter Pack...?

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

OK, no worries. What I did when starting out was try roasting a single origin or two that Andy's notes (or forum threads) suggest work in milk. Then I started replicating blends that you'll find on this site (e.g. KJM blend...that thread is well worth a read, particularly the start of it). Sometime I pre-blend the beans, on other occasions I'll roast a small quantity of each of 2, 3 or 4 beans, so that I can vary the proportions in the resulting blend or try each a single origin. So, for example if you've been sent the Brazil Pulped Natural, and Ethiopian, the Peru, and the Colombian, you could do worse than to separately roast roughly equal quantities of of each (or at least the South Americans) then try each as a SO, then try some diff blends. There is a downside to my approach.....you spend more time slightly adjusting the grinder. I really like Brazils as the base of most of my blends (the India Elephant makes a nice change though in this respect). Note, I have an i-Coffee roaster which is at its best for quantities b/w 150-250g.

It's good fun no matter what.

[AtomicGrog]

Thanks for the reply.

I have a starter pack from Andy (maybe I should have mention that, sorry) but I've no idea what the contents would do for me or if they represented a good mix.

I used to frequently go for a starter pack of roasted beans and I found they varied quite a bit (I rather liked the variance to be honest, it's nice to try different roasts).

I'll check to see what I've got in the pack and see how it aligns to your comments.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Why don't you order the starter pack and get 4 different beans selected by Andy?

Failing that if you really want smooth...here's my 2 bob's worth.
4 bags: either of the brazils; peru ; colombian or mexican; sulawesi blue
or a bit more variety
either of the brazils; peru or colomb or mexican; sulawesi blue; any of the Ethiopians (Yirg / Gambella / Sidamo / Harrar) or Tanazanian

You can make a smoother version of a Mocha Java from the second list by using a 50% brazil base / 25% each of Ethiopian and Sulawesi.

You'll work out what you like as you go along
Cheers
BOSW

[AtomicGrog]

I look in this group with bemusement - There's such a huge range of beans being posted that I couldn't even start to think that I could or would want to try them all.

Question I have, is what should I gather as a starter pack? I'd like to have 2-3(4?) bags of green beans to use as a base, to mix and have fun with.

If it helps... My use is principally latte's with the occasional espresso. I prefer smoother rather than acidic and will typically over-dose my shots for the extra sweetness.

Thanks,

Atomic.