When I compare the home espresso roasting scene to the above, I start to see the problem as a scarcity of such leaders; with Jim being our OPEC With a non-trivial matter, such as home espresso roasting, we (those who doubt even the basics of what they've learned) can only offer our current data and observations and that's not something a knowledgebase can be built upon; a DB, maybe.

Max
This has been an issue for awhile. I follow the Roasters Guild (public site) and Coffeed that are sites with active pros and a good roasting thread will start, scratch the surface and then die. There have actually been members on RG who have proposed offering more roasting info. for beginning pros and advanced homeroasters who have then been emailed by other members discouraging such attempts. IMO part of this is the fact that roasting education is a substantial business and the other is that many local microroasters offer their products online too and competition becomes a factor. From what I've seen, the amount of espresso homeroasting Guru's is pretty small. For those of us trying, we just lack experience.

I've had fair success (for my still-being-educated palate, at least) with home roasting for espresso, simply by paying attention to where each bean is at its best in terms of flavor development, figuring out what flavors I want in the cup, then roasting origins individually and blending post-roast. Overall, I'm very happy with the way my espresso roasts are coming out and they're comparing pretty well to commercial roasts that I'm trying. For me, the keys to what I think is fairly successful home espresso roasting have been:

1. Develop your cupping skills, so you can recognize the flavors you want. When I'm working with a new bean, I'll do two small roast batches - one a lighter roast for traditional cupping and one a couple of snaps into second crack for cupping as an S.O. espresso. Between the two, I can decide where that particular bean will work best for me.

2. Learn the basics of blending (and I think that this is the most complicated part). What do you like in an espresso blend? What cup characters appeal to you? How do different flavor characteristics offset each other when played against one another in a blend? The only way to really get to know this is experiment. Start with each bean as an S.O. then blend them together in different proportions until you find what works best for you. Once you can do that with two beans and know how they affect each other, add a third. I'm currently playing with a pulp natural Brasil as the base, then a Sumatran and either a Central or an Ethiopian as the third note. The more I do it, the more subtleties I find. As hobbyists, we have the freedom to try things that commercial roasters maybe can't, because we're working on a much smaller scale.

3. Learn how your roaster works in your environment. I've seen enough posts from other Behmor owners who get results that are different enough from mine that I suspect your local power supply, micro-climate, and what color shoes you're wearing can all have an effect, and what works for somebody else might not work for me. Freeze small batches from one roast, then roast the same beans again a couple of weeks later to the same level, thaw the frozen batch and compare for consistency.

4. Check yourself against the professionally roasted blends that you like on a regular basis. Not to try and exactly match what they're doing, but to make sure you're there in terms of roast quality and consistency. I buy some stuff from Klatch or from Jones Coffee Roasters every couple of months to compare to what I'm doing.

5. Educate yourself. If you can find a local pro to hang out with and learn from, do it. Read, talk to other roasters. Hanging out here is good, but remember that not everything somebody else does is necessarily going to apply to your situation. The most important thing is to have fun with it. If you're not having fun, why are you doing it?

As always, YMMV. This is just what's been making my roasting adventures satisfying.

Thanks for chiming in, George.

farmroast wrote:There have actually been members on RG who have proposed offering more roasting info. for beginning pros and advanced homeroasters who have then been emailed by other members discouraging such attempts. IMO part of this is the fact that roasting education is a substantial business and the other is that many local microroasters offer their products online too and competition becomes a factor.

Ahhh, Ed! This supports my earlier thought above: SM's new forum could change things if Tom recognizes/values the opportunity. It's in SM's interest that we roast well -- so we don't quit/reduce purchasing from them. Heck, if they want to charge me for online lessons & tutoring, I'd happily pay!

Roasting for espresso is not THAT different than other brew methods.
I'm still puzzled a bit by the angst of your roasting adventures. So the Bolivia shot was sour/acid, and the roast finish was short at 2:45. Yes, this makes sense. Next batch run the finish to 3:30 or 4:00. Make small adjustments when you are close. Sometimes is seems you make too big adjustments (much longer dry time, etc) Only adjust 10-30% instead.

Do you have a good sense about cooking things in general? Can you boil water? Does your french toast puff up and turn golden brown? Can you get the marshmellow toasty and golden brown on a campfire?
Not really joking but serious, some culinary aptitude is essential to take on coffee roasting.

Yes, I do post about my unconservative roasting experiments, I learn a great deal by doing so. And I do enjoy cooking, not a great cook though, but can follow recipes to the T, now show me where those HT-B Bolivia profiles are

Well, I'll be a hack without a Hottop and no experience with your Bolivia bean and say that I think you are close with your first profile. I would suggest you try to run the finish out to 3.5-4 minutes and try for a finish bean temp of 430-440F. I can't imagine the rest of your profile is too far off the mark to cause problems.

I checked Tom's notes on this bean and maybe you should step back and ask what you are trying to do with this bean. A Typica, Lemon bright at City+, soft chocolate to nuts, mild intensity and light body, I'm not sure it is such a candidate for a dreamy SO shot. Take a bit darker to moderate the acid, but don't expect you will get much nuance, spice or complexity, or a thick creamy body from this bean. A soft milk chocolate, nuts, mild, with modest acidity and light body is where I might expect to get it. ....but there are always surprises.

another_jim wrote:snipped]

If you tasting a few or one cup, with one or a few people, use any method you please. Personally, I like to steep the coffee four minutes as in cupping or presspot, then pour it through a paper filter into a wine glass, so I can smell it more easily.

Jim, I've been "cuppign/slurping" my espresso varietal roasts before post blending, using the same filter technique, into a brandy snifter. Letting it cool certainly makes it easier to taste what's what, enabling me to better blend my coffees. Several times it has really changed my "would be" proportions.
It also points when I screwed the pooch...ruined some good beans, due to incorrect roast profiling. My fault, not the machine. Keeping decent records helps to prevent that from recurring so often.
This is a very useful thread.
Thanks.