Recommended detailed information on proper coffee roasting (books,dvd,etc)

[lespresso]

I have researched number of sites and publications on the internet but unfortunately I couldn't find a decent source explaining roasting from start to finish in details.I would like to ask numerous experts on that forum
for help to get information on proper coffee roasting (books,dvd,etc).Thank you in advance to all who reply.

[Rainman]

I'm not sure you'll ever really find as detailed of an explanation of the process anywhere like you may be looking for, but one of the better books on the subject is written by Kenneth Davids- "Home coffee roasting: romance and revival". Great online places are at sweetmarias.com and here. Just browse through the home roasting forum (pay particular attention to anything commented on by the moderator- Jim Schulman) and the same over on coffeegeek.com. Once you've read enough to get your curiosity going, start roasting and take lots of notes-- most of what I've read serves as a starting point, and you develop experience by your own taste or those you roast for.

Hope this helps?

Ray

[lespresso]

Thank you very much for a valuable information Rainman.I have some information about Kenneth Davids book from Amazon.The book, especially revised, got number of positive reviews.I'm guessing you been in home roasting for a while( please forgive me if that is incorrect-that is based on my limited information about you)would you be very kind to share some of your experience in what information or techniques have you utilized when you started your home roasting.All experts information are welcome as well.Thanks in advance to all who replied.

[Rainman]

Well, I'm far from an expert-- I just don't roast that much, and committed the cardinal sin of not taking many notes in my early years. I do know what I like, though, and that is probably the biggest reason I keep at it... that, plus it's a lot of fun. Depending on your resources (I have no idea how much you are willing to spend, what you already know, or how much "putzing" time you have on your hands), you can either buy a hot air popcorn popper, an iRoast or any number of roasters and just have a go at it. Did you get a chance to snoop around on the sweetmaria's web-site? That place would be a great place to start. Once you've got some experience playing around with some samples, then start looking here for different threads as I mentioned earlier- they'll help you stay on track (as well as comparing your roasts to those of the pro's as a benchmark).

Ray