Hi all!

I'm new to this whole roasting thing. I have been a coffee snob for years and love my coffee. I just bought my first home roaster and Sumatra raw beans. I cannot believe the difference roasting my own beans makes. Wholly molly! I now know exactly what I will get my close friends and family for Christmas. I understand I can roast several different types of beans to different darkness and have each taste just the way I like. This will take lots of playing around and tweaking. The model I got was the Fresh Roast sr-500. It only took 6 minutes to roast start to finish. Wha-hoo!
I would love your feedback on roasting styles.

Thanks! Laurie

What do you mean feedback on roast styles?

I would love advice on choosing beans and roasting variations to get different flavors out of the same beans and also various beans.

I would start with the vendor from which you bought your roaster and beans. If you haven't done so already, you might want to try out some of the coffees from the List of our favorite Roasters so that you can help your vendor with comments like, "I prefer roast flavors," or "I love/hate the bright flavors of Kenyans," as well as letting them know how you brew your coffee.

If they can't get you going in a good direction, there are several sources of green beans out there that can be great to work with as a customer. One that I work with is Sweet Maria's as they are local for me. I can't comment on other sources, but I am sure that people here have their own favorites.

Welcome to H-B and homeroasting Laurie,
There's so much fascinating stuff that can be learned about roasting coffee. The fastest way to get started is reading through the FAQ's and favorites at the top of this section and then do some exploring through past threads and trying some specific searches.
enjoy and again welcome!
farm
ps. Sweet Maria's has good descriptions of various beans/origins tastes/flavors and what to expect at different roast levels(click on one and go to the "full review" for that bean lot). They also have a wealth of other coffee information.

Pardon me if I jump on this post with a question.

I'm still a bit of a noob and would like to step into home roasting. I noticed while reading one of the forum posts someone mentioned beginning home roasting with a heat gun and a bowl as a very basic way to start. Could someone expand on that for my benefit.
1 - What kind of heat gun, the type you use to strip paint or heat shrink tubing?
2 - I would assume a stainless bowl?
3 - do you just stir the beans with a heat blower or stir with a wooden spoon?

Curious minds want to know.
Thanks,
jw

I do my heat gun (HG) roasting in a fry basket, which is nestled inside of an aluminum rice cooker pan, which is in turn in a large stainless mixing bowl - I put the big bowl in my lap and the small amount of contact between the two bowls insulates my legs from the heat of the roasting.

I use a Masters Appliance ProHeat 1100 heat gun. I would use a brand new heat gun, not one that was previously used for glues, paint stripping, or who knows what else. Heat guns are available in different heat ranges - make sure yours can make it to the higher temps required for roasting, and can push some air.

Instead of stirring during the roast, I flip the handle of the fry basket to agitate the beans. I work on a rhythm of flip flip flip, then rest while moving the heat gun in a circle around the basket.

I used to just move the basket over a fan for cooling, shaking the beans over the fan, but I've built a better bean cooler that sucks air through - it is made from a large diameter rack fan mounted behind a percolator basket.

This link details all the basics:

http://homeroaster.com/heatgun.html

I followed many of these suggestions and was able to get some very good roasts after a few months.

One footnote: it is definitely an outdoor method - you end up with quite a bit of smoke towards the end of the roast regardless of how far you go.

Good luck and have fun-

Marshall_S wrote:it is definitely an outdoor method - you end up with quite a bit of smoke towards the end of the roast regardless of how far you go.

I agree, but I think that having your nose in the roast is a great way to learn - just you and the beans. Very intimate.

I don't HG roast very much anymore since I can get much more repeatable roasts with my other roaster.

Oh, another point - cooling is important. Don't roast more than you can cool quickly! Before the percoolator, I roasted around 250g. With the percoolator, I can do a whole pound, though it pushes the capacity of the fry basket. I usually lose a few beans after they expand.

Marshall_S wrote:This link details all the basics:
http://homeroaster.com/heatgun.html
Good luck and have fun-

Marshall, Exactly what I was looking for, good write-up. I plan to acquire the supplies (Sweet Maria's is only 5 miles from where I live) and give it a try very soon.

Thanks,
jw