Coffee thread

[Brian Elfert]

Like one poster I’m having a sense I shouldn’t drink coffee as I have been having some Intermittent but noticeable heart/chest pains. I know go to the doctor. Not a chance right now and probably Not for a long time.

You really should contact your clinic if having heart/chest pains. Medical care for things like heart issues has not stopped. Your clinic can decide if you need to be seen by a doctor.

[Gail Ludwig]

I roast my own. Use a HF heat gun and a thrift shop bread machine. I can roast 1-2 pounds in about 8 minutes. I made a bean cooler from a 5 gallon bucket and my shop vac.....2 minutes to cool a couple of pounds of coffee. i buy some of my coffee from George at the old Green Coffee coop, but they don’t sell much any longer. i now get most of my beans at this location: https://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/

[Michael Drew]

I enjoy a good espresso based coffee in the AM. Just one. It's usually a latte or Americano. I aquired this habit over a decade ago, and I just can't seem to function well without it..... I have a semi-auto machine and a Barista grinder. An expensive entry fee, but when I do the math related to buying a daily foo-foo coffee for about $5, plus tip, it doesn't take long to pay for the initial investment.

I was buying freshly roasted beans from Paradise Roasters [ https://paradiseroasters.com/ ] until my better half bought me a roaster for my birthday a couple years ago. The roaster is a Gene Cafe model [ https://burmancoffee.com/product/hom...offee-roaster/ ], and works well. It is time consuming though. It takes me about two hours to roast enough beens to get me a two week supply. I buy my beans from the same place [https://burmancoffee.com/ ], and I enjoy trying different beans from all other the world. I would have never thought there were so many variations to the end product. Time and Temp combinations are unlimited. It can be overwhelming, but it is fun to experiment.

[Jim Becker]

I enjoy a good espresso based coffee in the AM. Just one. It's usually a latte or Americano. I aquired this habit over a decade ago, and I just can't seem to function well without it..... I have a semi-auto machine and a Barista grinder. An expensive entry fee, but when I do the math related to buying a daily foo-foo coffee for about $5, plus tip, it doesn't take long to pay for the initial investment. .

I pretty much used the same "math" many years ago when I first started enjoying my beloved morning latté. The machine cost paid back pretty quickly even if in the beginning it was more about not going out for breakfast on the weekends like we did early on. That money adds up, so a really nice machine is a great substitute and lasts for a long time. I only grind what I'm going to use for a single beverage at a time.

[Kev Williams]

So, a couple of things:

First, ya'll got me interested in roasting beans. However, (a) the prices of roasters I've searched out can get way out there, and (b) while I haven't done a lot of searching, I haven't found raw beans that cost less than Winco's fresh roasted beans @ $6.98 a pound.

That said, roasting beans sounds interesting nonetheless. So do I need a 'dedicated' bean roaster? Or-- Hiding in one of our storage units is an old, barely used Ronco Showtime rotisserie, AND a barely used George Foreman rotisserie, both of which have tight-screened baskets perfect for holding coffee beans... is there a reason these wouldn't work?

[Andrew Joiner]

The math got me into the aeropress. It's like a french press on steroids. No coffee maker mold build up in the tubes and tanks. I buy any brand of dark roast beans that are oily, stocking up when it's on sale around $5 a lb.
When I go to special coffee shops I'm usually disappointed. The aeropress makes better coffee at home.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

So, a couple of things:

First, ya'll got me interested in roasting beans. However, (a) the prices of roasters I've searched out can get way out there, and (b) while I haven't done a lot of searching, I haven't found raw beans that cost less than Winco's fresh roasted beans @ $6.98 a pound.

That said, roasting beans sounds interesting nonetheless. So do I need a 'dedicated' bean roaster? Or-- Hiding in one of our storage units is an old, barely used Ronco Showtime rotisserie, AND a barely used George Foreman rotisserie, both of which have tight-screened baskets perfect for holding coffee beans... is there a reason these wouldn't work?

Try looking at genuine origin. You will need to buy a 65 pound bag, but they have lots under that price. Some of it is stuff I would not have any interest in, but up around $5 you can start seeing some interesting stuff (to me anyway).

You do not need a dedicated roaster. You can roast coffee in a frying pan over a camp fire if you want to. For years I used a hot air popcorn popper. If you have a hot air popper, be aware using it for coffee will probably ruin it for popcorn.

If it is something you are going to drink every day eventually you end up wanting a machine that was built for that purpose. It will last longer, do a good job with less babysitting, and contain the mess (coffee beans give off a kind of chaff as they roast).

[roger wiegand]

Lots of folks roast coffee in a cast iron frying pan on the stove. A perfectly reasonable way to try it to see if it's something you like doing. Think of it as Neander bean roasting.

[Rob Luter]

I went down the coffee rabbit hole years ago. We've done drip, percolator, Melita pour over, French Press, and Keurig. We've tried about every kind of bean and grinds from coarse to dust. I've come down to earth in my old age.

My daily cup is a Keurig combination of a Kirkland Pacific Bold and a Tim Horton's decaf mixed into a 20 oz Yeti Rambler tumbler. I nurse on it most of the morning.

On weekends I do a French Press using 1/2 regular and 1/2 decaf. The brand varies.

If I do coffee shop coffee (very rare) I prefer Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. It's full bodied but soft on the palate and not acidic at all. I find Starbucks and most of their contemporaries to be too strong, too bitter, and instant heartburn generators.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

Exactly!
Been roasting for ~15 years and aside from being Much cheaper ($5-$7 per pound) i'm in control of how dark a roast it i want. Some are better on the light side and others do better darker. I'll often roast a 1/4lb dark, start cooling half way through 2nd crack and blend with 1lb medium roast, cooling at the end of first crack.

2 roasters and 3 of my current favorites.

Attachment 434378Attachment 434379

I am another happy Behmor owner and home roaster. One of my co-workers turned me on to home roasting maybe back in 2007 or 2008 and I have never looked back.

I buy most of my green beans from Sweet Marias.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

Try looking at genuine origin. You will need to buy a 65 pound bag, but they have lots under that price. Some of it is stuff I would not have any interest in, but up around $5 you can start seeing some interesting stuff (to me anyway).

You do not need a dedicated roaster. You can roast coffee in a frying pan over a camp fire if you want to. For years I used a hot air popcorn popper. If you have a hot air popper, be aware using it for coffee will probably ruin it for popcorn.

If it is something you are going to drink every day eventually you end up wanting a machine that was built for that purpose. It will last longer, do a good job with less babysitting, and contain the mess (coffee beans give off a kind of chaff as they roast).

You can also roast with a heat gun and a metal bowl--I know several people who do that. You can get a good dedicate roast--like the Behmor 1600 Plus or Fresh Roast, from under $500. I know that sounds like a lot of $$$, but it is worth it.

I enjoy home roasting, but I am not a snob about coffee--drink what you like. I can say however, I can tell now between "fresh" roasted and anything that comes out of a bag.

[Jim Becker]

I had a small electric roaster a number of years ago and it worked fine, but I lost interest in the process and time required.

[Michael Drew]

So, a couple of things:

First, ya'll got me interested in roasting beans. However, (a) the prices of roasters I've searched out can get way out there, and (b) while I haven't done a lot of searching, I haven't found raw beans that cost less than Winco's fresh roasted beans @ $6.98 a pound.

That said, roasting beans sounds interesting nonetheless. So do I need a 'dedicated' bean roaster? Or-- Hiding in one of our storage units is an old, barely used Ronco Showtime rotisserie, AND a barely used George Foreman rotisserie, both of which have tight-screened baskets perfect for holding coffee beans... is there a reason these wouldn't work?

I'm no expert. But I can tell you that my last batch was roasted at 464 deg F, and 16.5 minutes with a 10 min cool down cycle. It's somewhere between medium and city. In my experience, so far, temps need to be over 400 deg, and you need to tumble the beans to get air moving around all of them. I bought 15 pounds of this espresso blend at $5.39 per pound, and it's excellent. https://burmancoffee.com/product/cof...blend/#reviews

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I'm no expert. But I can tell you that my last batch was roasted at 464 deg F, and 16.5 minutes with a 10 min cool down cycle. It's somewhere between medium and city. In my experience, so far, temps need to be over 400 deg, and you need to tumble the beans to get air moving around all of them. I bought 15 pounds of this espresso blend at $5.39 per pound, and it's excellent. https://burmancoffee.com/product/cof...blend/#reviews

Now I am understanding how some of you think it takes too much time.

Ours roast for 5-6 minutes, and then get dumped in a cast iron frying pan to cool. Temperature is whatever the roaster puts out, we control the roast by the amount of time it runs.

Beans come out the way we like it, and the whole thing can be done at the same time you are boiling water and grinding beans to make the morning coffee.

[Adam Herman]

we would like to get an espresso machine, any recommendations for a somewhat budget friendly model?

my normal morning joe is costco pinion coffee beans, burr grinder and drip. i have used aero press, antique hand crank burr grinder, french press regularly, when i was traveling for work and when i was home, had plenty of time.