2nd week of temp housing, 30th floor, Manhattan.
Doing my own roasting is out of the question at least until Jan/Feb '09. I've bought some very decent Counter Culture, and some brilliant Hairbender at local shops. Neither "Everyman" nor "9th Street" carried decaf beans, so I placed an order w/ Intelli for their decaf espresso.

Both coffees are, on average, better than my own roasts (no big surprise), but I'd estimate that 30% of my roasts nearly match or maybe are a nudge above the commercials.

I'll probably get over the "sticker shock," but I miss the supply-control of roasting at home. On the other hand, did I mention? I've had some outstanding home espresso.

Back to the decaf. Evening cappas and nearly all guest drinks are decaf. I ordered 2 lbs to spread the shipping costs. But I've never frozen coffees, and decafs are particularly susceptible to decline over time and less-than-optimal storing. I'd appreciate knowing how others handle this. Wish I could specify that the shipper would pack my order in 6 or 8 ounce bags so I could just pop them in the freezer after ordering several pounds without opening and handling.

All of the above is taking place with my new Dalla Corte Mini. More on that in future posts.
Martin

Martin
What has been your roasting method? I assume your problem is smoke suppression in recent location. A Behmor may do an adequate of that but others would need to add details. A Foodsaver home vacuum can allow you to repackage in smaller amounts and the bags are more resistant to freezer burn.
farm

Martin wrote:I ordered 2 lbs to spread the shipping costs. But I've never frozen coffees....

Time to start, Martin! For convenience (i.e. to minimize cross-town driving), I normally buy two pounds at a time. As soon as I get home, I tape over the valve on one bag and toss it in my freezer. Lasts for weeks that way.

BTW, this is a great week for you not to be in L.A. any more. The whole county (plus O.C.) is bathed in a cough-inducing haze. Not smoke precisely, unless you are very close to the fires, but a nasty haze, filled with particulates, that you can smell everywhere and is predicted to last for days. The streets are pretty empty. Sensible people are staying home, breathing filtered A/C air. Not as bad as losing your home, of course.

"Tape the valve." Makes sense. Freezing seems to be a respectable route to go, in moderation. Probably, the biggest challenge is not to freeze everything in sight in a way that's comparable to my 75# stash of greens when I entered roasting heaven.

Today, I detoured down the 6 train to Gimme (public transportation! whatta concept). The barista suggested re-bagging into smaller portions (Gimme sells 1 lb, not 12 oz bags), --a large issue being moisture, condensation, and from what I've read elsewhere, a shorter shelf-life of unfrozen beans. OK, I can do that.

From what I gather, the Behmor is kind of a heatgun in a can. If starting out today, it's the machine I'd likely buy. However, at this point of my learning curve, I don't know what I'd gain.

I can't quite sort out the added value of vacuum bagging--at least for my consumption routines. I might "invest" in some vacuum paraphernalia, if only to justify home roasting when weather (and possibly a balcony) permits. Besides, what could be bad about more gear?

Martin

Martin wrote:Today, I detoured down the 6 train to Gimme (public transportation! whatta concept).

Gimme's Master Roaster, John Gant, is one of the most respected air roasting advocates in the country. If you make it up to Ithaca, I'm sure you could have a very interesting discussion with him about heat guns, dog bowls and small-batch commercial roasting.

I met John at an SCAA show. He had been a corporate lawyer in San Francisco and literally walked away from his job at lunch one day to roast coffee (with a few detours for Asian treks!).

Gimme's Master Roaster, John Gant, is one of the most respected air roasting advocates in the country. If you make it up to Ithaca, I'm sure you could have a very interesting discussion with him about heat guns, dog bowls and small-batch commercial roasting.

Marshall
Convection is a definite plus in roasting. Does John use a Sivetz? The thing I don't like about the little 1.25lb Sivetz is the amount of energy it seems is needed. I can roast about 30% more weight with less than half the energy and adequate convection for any desired profile.
Ed

farmroast wrote:Marshall
Convection is a definite plus in roasting. Does John use a Sivetz? The thing I don't like about the little 1.25lb Sivetz is the amount of energy it seems is needed.

Yes. They're 40-pounders. Doesn't Sivetz have a patent on air roasting?

I would guess he has some sort of patent. The Sivetz is much about using the heated air to also agitate the beans, fluid bed. But convection roasting can be done in many other ways
Ed