Can anyone recommend which bean/beans (preferably SM beans) would be best for roasting practice? In other words, beans whose flavors/aromas/etc. are potent enough in a proper roast, that a novice who is trying to get a feel for his setup can know when he is on the right track because there are strong flavors that will come through. A bean with a gentle learning curve. I have been roasting with Brazil Ipanema, not getting much out of it in the way of flavor (it ranges from completely flat, to mildly flat with a hint of something that doesnt taste quite right), but am thinking that perhaps because it is a milder bean, that the various "sweet spots" for my roaster would be harder to gauge, and take much longer to find. Perhaps a bean whose characteristics are strong enough to come through at a wider range of temperatures/times/etc would better help me to at least be in the ballpark with my method. Any thoughts?

Noah
Do you have a way to measure bean temp in your bread machine? This will help with the learning curve. There are a lot of BM/HG setups in Australia on their forum called "Coffee Snobs", they call them a "Corretta" named after a member. You should be able to get some ideas there on improving and understanding your setup. BT will give you an idea of the rate of roast progress. Knowing the BT rate of progress will also help others to tweak your profile. Tom at SM explains in his detailed bean descriptions which beans will work with a wider range of roast degrees, have stronger flavors, have a good uniformity, a clean cup and also fit your taste preferences. Roasting takes a lot of trial and error, practice and learning, period.

There's two answers here.

1. Dry process Yemen and Ethiopian beans are fault tolerant and make good espresso almost regardless of roast. Moreover, no matter how good the roast, they will look uneven and scruffy. Finally, high quality Yrgs and Sidamos, dry or wet process, are currently the best coffees available anywhere. If you want to use your roasts right now for espresso, I'd recommend this.

2. Generic Colombian Excelso or Supremo will roast evenly and respond sensitively to profile changes. The beans will also display roasting faults most accurately. They are not too expensive either. High quality and well prepped Centrals (or single estate Colombians) are just as useful in this regard, but usually cost a few bucks more. If you have an office, church, etc where you can bring these roasts for brewing, this is a good way to go.

Thanks for the advice... I think I'll order some Burundi and Monkey blend....just kidding! Actually you answered both questions before I even knew I had two questions! I'll be executing both suggestions and looking forward to the results.

farmroast, I know, I know, I NEED a temping device. It's been on my to-do list. I roast almost exclusively with the soup can/drill method now (Corretto and I did not work well together!), so am a little unsure still on which device would best suit my setup and how best to use it. Infrared or K-type thermocouple? what do you think?

Jim, I took your advice and got the following coffees from SMs, each of which I have roasted a couple of batches of:

Ethiopia Organic Dry-Process Birbissa
Honduras FTO Marcala -Beneficio Santa Rosa
El Salvador Siberia Estate Bourbon

I get yellow beans at roughly 5 minutes, first crack between seven and eight, and usually end about 10 seconds into second crack (which comes around 12 minutes). So far, I have been very happy, or rather finally happy with the roasts (the Ethiopian for espresso was exactly the kind of success I was looking for), but now I am wondering if you (or anyone else of course) could give me some sort of overview of the common defects that I can look for in the final cup in the two central coffees.

Thanks again for the advice.

I'm glad the Yrg worked out. I haven't tried that one yet, and I'll give it a shot.

The central beans should have no wrinkles and no charred spots. If you do them for brewing (neither is an espresso coffee on its own), pulling them ahead of the second, the splits and the chaff should still be light (they go dark from burning oils in the 2nd, if they go dark earlier, it may indicate a too heavy hand with the heat gun).

Brew the coffee in any way you prefer and let it cool. If it's a good light roast, there should be no papery or bready tastes (indicating too slow a roast), no ashy tastes (too dark, hot, or fast), no acrid, chlorine, or green tastes (not enough drying). The coffee should be crisp and sweet, reminiscent of white wine or lemonade (darker roasts tend to taste better hot, and just get mostly caramelly when cool).

If you really want to confirm your roasting chops (and get humiliated the first few times), go to Terroir and order the same coffee green, then roasted (while you roast the same day). Terroir roasts are light, powerfully acidic, strongly flavored, and not too sweet. They are a great benchmark. I mostly prefer to roast a little mellower and sweeter; but if my roast is missing some of the flavors and aromas I get in theirs, I know I have a problem. Paradise, Intelly, and I think PTs also do this, for some of their coffees, and the comparison makes for just as much of a "reality test."