Interesting observation relative to roaster type and shot quality

[Scotto]

Hi there, folks. Until recently, I have been roasting in an iRoast2. With a thermocouple and lots of practice, I have gotten very good at achieving the sorts of roasts that I like. I have roasted many many pounds of SM's Donkey Blend over the past few months, working on my espresso pulling techniques. I generally aim for a FC+/Vienna roast (455-460 degrees on my thermocouple), and get decent, but not stellar shots.

One thing that has been plaguing me from the beginning has been early blonding of the shot. I use a Silvia/Mazzer Mini combo, and get good looking pours initially, but they always turn blond on me about 15-20 seconds into the pour. I have observed things with a naked PF, and there is no serious channeling or other defects, they just blond early with these beans/roast/setup for me. I can taste a bit of unwanted astringency from this that I find very annoying.

Anyway, I recently picked up a Gene Cafe and have done a few roasts with it. Using the same beans and a similar roast level, I was amazed to find today that I had no blonding whatsoever through the shots I poured tonight. Everything else was the same - same beams, grind, dose, tamp, and temperature. But oh what a different looking pour! The taste is different as well, as I would expect from two different roasters, but I didn't quite expect such a change in the shot extraction. Any thoughts on this rather pleasant finding? I had been off pondering picking up new baskets for Silvia to get more coffee in there, etc. and now it appears that won't be necessary.

Color me happy,
Scotto

[DaveC]

All too often people are satisfied with roasters that turn beans brown, however, as you have just found, it's how they turn them brown that really matters. I would think what you are experiencing is the result of a bean roasted slower, at lower temperatures and a different profile than with your previous roaster.

I personally believe the Gene to be one of the better home roasters on the market when used correctly (certainly far better than the basic hottop) and this is not just my opinion, but that of a number of people involved in blind tasting...both hottop and Gene owners. All the Gene owners sold their Hottops and now own Gene Cafes.

Some of the theories behind roasting or the way they are applied by the home roaster are not always correct, this is because of misinterpretation, myth, or even a lack of basic knowledge about how their particular roaster is working (and they don't all work the same). This coupled with an unhealthy obsession with temperatures and times, but often a total disregard for whats happening during the roast often gives poor results. to be fair many roasters (domestic machines) don't give you any feedback, or if they do, there isn't much you can do about it.

Your Gene is a great roaster and the real fun is going to be in learning how to use it to extract the best you can from the beans. Step one to achieving this is to not roast the way they advise you to in the userguide (unless you want scorched beans and dried out roasts).

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/hom...ngd:home-roastingd

Check out the Wiki and certainly do a search for "Gene". I do have a lot more articles I want to put in there and some other roasting techniques I have found to work well in the Gene....it's just getting the time (and inclination).

Enjoy your Gene!

[Niko]

Interesting thread.
I started a similar one on another website comparing the Hottop and Gene Cafe, most people seemed to prefer the Hottop. Maybe because there's simply more Hottop users out there? I don't know...
Reason I started it was because I wanted to ditch my iRoar2, mostly because of sound, I can live with the smallish capacity. I have no problems (most of the time) in achieving what I want out of a bean but my ears cry every time.
One person noted that he sold his Gene because he preferred the air-roasted flavor of the iRoar so he used the money to buy two new iRoast2's. Maybe he didn't give it a chance or it was a lack of basic knowledge like mentioned above, whatever it was he got rid of a good roaster for a lesser quality (I thought).
I'm still looking for a better roaster without having to "build" anything, the brand new programmable Hottop looks good but its price is Hot Over The Top. I also heard people say that the Gene Cafe is a glorified iRoast, meaning the roasts taste the same as an air roaster. Again, I find that hard to believe...

[Grant]

I also heard people say that the Gene Cafe is a glorified iRoast, meaning the roasts taste the same as an air roaster. Again, I find that hard to believe...

I would not believe it....the only two roasters (other than my BBQ), I have owned have been my IRoast I and my Gene', and the tastes produced are not the same. I find the Gene far closer to a professional "drum" roast in quality, smoothness, body, etc.

[Niko]

I would not believe it....

I didn't.
That's why I haven't dropped the Gene from my list of potential roasters yet. The newest Hottop is what I'd like but it's that hard to swallow price that stops me.

[DaveC]

I didn't.
That's why I haven't dropped the Gene from my list of potential roasters yet. The newest Hottop is what I'd like but it's that hard to swallow price that stops me.

I honestly think you would be wasting your money on the new Hottop. Certainly not worth all that extra money and I am not sure would produce a superior roast to the Gene either as good (or possibly inferior). The Gene is a hard roaster to roast well in and it's easy to get it wrong.....but when you nail the roast, the results are great.