luca wrote:Yeah ... I tend to home roast about 1/2kg every week. I tend to start off with an idea for a blend and tweak it each week. Every now and then I'll get coffee from another roaster or roastery to try, so I'd usually have two or three blends going in any given week. I'm getting better at guessing how they need to be dosed/tamped etc in relation to each other ...

About half an hour ago I threw together a mini blend that is similar to the first blend you mentioned... sorta. My beans are also home roasted, and mainly for milk drinks.
Predominantly Kimel, then Huehuetenango, then Bugisu, finished off with a dash of slightly older Terrazu.
I've got some Indian Kappi Royale (with cheese) that is about 3 days old, so I might try something even closer to the blend you mentioned in the next few days. This is the first time I've tried robusta, are you roasting it fairly dark? I wasn't sure if there was a desirable origin flavour to maintain?

The next round of experimental blending will involve:
Kenya Dorman AA
Colombian Buckamaraga
Guatemalan Huehuetenango
Indian Kappi Royale Robusta
Indian Tiger Mountain

I went a bit overboard last time I roasted
I think I've got just under 3kgs of the coffee mentioned above... I may have to start sending out samples for outside input. Luca can you make a sound like a Guinea Pig

I have been trying to limit myself to using no more than two blends at a given time. I designate one blend as somewhat of a "default" blend that I can really work on my dosing and other techniques in an attempt to really learn and understand what I'm doing with that coffee ... I've been using Black Cat for that. The second blend is one that I change up to see the different coffees that are out there ... as of late, it's been a lot of Terroir Northern. I've had really good fortune with it both straight and as a macchiato.

HB wrote:Yes, I'm on the east coast. Steve at Ecco Caffe informed me that USPS erroneously applied the mysterious charge because the shipment crossed the Mississippi. The actual charge is closer to $5-$6 for east coasters.

I had an order from Ecco last week where I paid $9.80 for USPS shipping (priority) for 2# of coffee, and I live in CO. I just checked their site and the same order's shipping charge is now $5.15 .... very cool ... THANKS ECCO!

Matthew Brinski

framey wrote:This is the first time I've tried robusta, are you roasting it fairly dark? I wasn't sure if there was a desirable origin flavour to maintain?

Yeah, I tend to roast robusta fairly dark. But I find that Robusta is often very overpowering no matter what you do and how little you use. Tends to get better as you let it rest, though ...

Cheers,

Luca

In trying to decide on the brand I'd use, I went around to various coffee shops, tried them and asked the baristas what they were usinig. The one I liked best was PT's Bella vita espresso. (there are in Topeka Kansas, and Kansas City Mo.) After using all I tried some other brands; they were ok, but not really great. So I went back to the PT. It's a full house roast and has a really rich flavor, good crema. It's aroma has chocolate overtones.



Dale
La Pavoni/ Europiccola

I like to get "into" each blend, so I tend to stick with it for a while trying to explore it as it develops post roast. On the other hand I find changing roasting batch within a blend isn't all that different from changing blends, you have to reset anyway. So I usually get a pound or two of one blend, what I can consume in less than two weeks, drink it, backflush and go shopping again for whatever's available(not that much to choose from in Norway )

zak42 wrote: I rarely buy from east coast roasters because its expensive and/or slow to get it over to the west coast.

I'm on the West Coast and get 2 pounds of Caffe Fresco for 4.20. Doesn't seem to be all related to distance.

I rarely order the same thing twice in a row. Sometimes I return to another old favorite, other times it'll be something new just to give it a try.

I chose other. I stick with Black Cat for the most part. Every couple months or so, I try a pound of something else and then switch right back.

Lets see, right now I have espresso Havana, espresso Nuevo, espresso classico, Sumatra lake tawar, Bolivia COE calama marka, aged Sumatra mandehling 2003, Bello blend and ambrosia. That means I can drink a different coffee each day and two in one day.

Variety is the spice of life.