I am currently waiting for my first batch of green coffee that ordered. I am doing some research to help guide me into my new adventure.

I have found a couple really helpful resources. The one I find most helpful right now is Sweet Marias. HB is also a great resource, I have noticed though most of the discussions lately are not focused on what to look for and basic technique for someone who has never roasted before.

I was wondering if anyone in the HB community know of any resources that helped you out when you first started. I have a feeling this is mostly a hands on type of learning process, but i would like to obtain as much knowledge as I can.

I have found other mentioning, Home Coffee Roaster by Kenneth Davids, is this book worth getting?

BTW, I am using a West Bend Air Crazy popper, I want to test the 'water' before spending the money on a 'real' roaster.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Best advice is to jump in and roast and find what you like. And rely a bit more on the search function on the forum, so as to not ask the same question that must have been asked several dozen times before.

My apologize for being that person, I try not to be. Most of the general introductory information I have came across using the HB search function tended to be older (2007-2010). Not saying older information is invalid or not helpful, it certainly is. I probably should have better worded my OP to inquire about any recent resources. Maybe, I over looked the more recent discussions. I will take another look.

Anyways, I am looking forward to jumping into roasting, I am anxiously awaiting

IntrepidQ3 wrote:...

Anyways, I am looking forward to jumping into roasting, I am anxiously awaiting

I didn't find KDavid's book that helpful when I began. What I found helpful is:
1. gathering with other homeroasters in your area and cupping together. Absolutely invaluable. Put an announcement in the "klach" sections of the forums you frequent and start, even if there are just two of you.
2. grab five pounds of a Guat, a Colombian, or a Costa Rican and learn your roaster. Try different profiles and cup them in comparison to one another. Take copious notes on how you profiled each.
3. read a ton of stuff on Tom's library: http://www.sweetmarias.com/library/
4. taking a cupping course with Trish Rothgeb and Nick Cho.
5. rubbing elbows at high end shops and express your interest in learning.

Tom's advice may be more wise than you believe at first look. You will endure paralysis by analysis and then find out all kinds of new things once you start roasting. I did that and realized all that I read helped, but it didn't really help roasting technique. You just gotta get in there. Once you do that, all the info will make much more sense to you.

The very basic advice is still good: use all your senses: sight, smell, sound (listen for the cracks)
and write down your observations.

Boldjava wrote:...What I found helpful is:
1. gathering with other homeroasters in your area and cupping together. Absolutely invaluable. Put an announcement in the "klach" sections of the forums you frequent and start, even if there are just two of you.
2. grab five pounds of a Guat, a Colombian, or a Costa Rican and learn your roaster. Try different profiles and cup them in comparison to one another. Take copious notes on how you profiled each.
3. read a ton of stuff on Tom's library: http://www.sweetmarias.com/library/
4. taking a cupping course with Trish Rothgeb and Nick Cho.
5. rubbing elbows at high end shops and express your interest in learning.

These are great ideas. I am unfamiliar with the term 'klach', would this be analogous with the knockbox section here?

Also, unfortunately, where I currently live I have only found 1 cafe that seems like they know what they are doing. Meaning, I can willing drink a straight shot and ask for another. I have just moved to tampa, so hopefully I will find more I can visit.

Thanks for the very one for the other advice. I have been digging deep in the forums. Found some new stuff I skipped over, still older discussion, but helpful non-the-less.

IntrepidQ3 wrote:These are great ideas. I am unfamiliar with the term 'klach', would this be analogous with the knockbox section here?
...

My German speaking Großmama would crown me. "Klatsch," chitchat, social, our "off-topic" forum venues. Post there.

I can't hold a candle to most of the roasters on this forum. I will say their suggested approach to dive right in, is spot on. I've been roasting on a HotTop I found on Craigslist ($550) for about a year. My first 3-4 batches were terrible. I burnt the hell outta them (looked like little black rabbit turds) and frankly I didn't have a clue what the hell I was doing. I still don't.

I have a tendency to order 10-15 different types of beans from Sweet Marias just so I can get as large a variety as possible. I also track everything I've ever ordered including basic info all of my roasts. In addition, every once in a while I'll order from a roaster, to do a compare/contrast between them and me. My last batches (2-2lbs) were from Metropolis outta Chicago, where I also got 5 lbs of their Greenline their espresso blend in green bean form.

Home Coffee Roaster by Kenneth Davids was a good primer to coffee basics, bean harvests and their seasonality, and different roasting methods, but it didn't really get into roasting methodologies for each type. Sweet Marias and Home Barista have been by far my regular resources.

Newly harvested green beans, freshly roasted (give them a day or two of rest) before you actually grind/drink is really hard to beat, regardless of all other variables. You may find you enjoy some stuff more than others, but frankly I enjoy and dig everything I roast. Maybe I'm just not that particular.

Took a little look thru some bookmarks and found one that you may find very helpful:
http://bit.ly/61jZdc
Disclaimer- I haven't read it. I started with a Behmor and never went the popper route but just scrolling down the page it looks like there's tons of good info there.
Second disclaimer- I hope it's ok to post a link to another forum. Hoping it's ok since it's a how-to article.