What Country of Origin for Easy First-time Roasting?
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- Posts: 264
- Joined: 10 years ago
Greetings-
I'm sure this is covered somewhere on HB, but I haven't discovered the search incantation that will bring up the relevant posts.
I'm going up to my Mom's for ten days, and thought I'd try my hand at heat gun/dog bowl roasting in her garage. I've read the main threads for HGDB and HGBM roasting here, and got the impression that Sumatran coffees might be a forgiving green for someone's first forays into roasting.
My thought is to buy beans from somebody that can provide them both green and roasted, and compare my results to what they've done.
So are Sumatrans a good place to start, or is there a more forgiving green? Also, what about wet versus dry processed beans? Or light versus medium roasts? Any other thoughts about keeping my life simple at first?
Thanks and best wishes, Charles
I'm sure this is covered somewhere on HB, but I haven't discovered the search incantation that will bring up the relevant posts.
I'm going up to my Mom's for ten days, and thought I'd try my hand at heat gun/dog bowl roasting in her garage. I've read the main threads for HGDB and HGBM roasting here, and got the impression that Sumatran coffees might be a forgiving green for someone's first forays into roasting.
My thought is to buy beans from somebody that can provide them both green and roasted, and compare my results to what they've done.
So are Sumatrans a good place to start, or is there a more forgiving green? Also, what about wet versus dry processed beans? Or light versus medium roasts? Any other thoughts about keeping my life simple at first?
Thanks and best wishes, Charles
- TomC
- Team HB
- Posts: 10534
- Joined: 13 years ago
There are places like Klatch that sell the same coffee both green and roasted, and that would be a great way to start.
I think the Sumatra thing is only relative to how you roast it. Some coffees are delicate and can be tricky to roast. While a Sumatran bean might not be the easiest bean to roast, the wild pungency and crazy list of flavors the bean reveal can cover a multitude of sins, so it's not a bad place to start. I've had a recent Sumatran from Klatch over the holidays that came in one of their 3 pack gift trials when ordering a certain quantity of green coffee for free, and it was incredible.
Cup your roasts in a simple triangle cupping method, 2 coffees of one roaster, and one of the other, and take notes of what you can pick up from both. Mix up the orientation and do it again. It will be a fun learning opportunity.
I suppose very hard, or very dense, fresh crop high grown beans might prove a tad more tricky to nail down, but don't focus on that, focus more on dialing in the batch size and how you proceed thru your roasting method, and try not to change everything at the same time, keep your delta's organized and change only one thing at a time, and like I said before, take a lot of notes.
Taste, taste and then taste it again.
I think the Sumatra thing is only relative to how you roast it. Some coffees are delicate and can be tricky to roast. While a Sumatran bean might not be the easiest bean to roast, the wild pungency and crazy list of flavors the bean reveal can cover a multitude of sins, so it's not a bad place to start. I've had a recent Sumatran from Klatch over the holidays that came in one of their 3 pack gift trials when ordering a certain quantity of green coffee for free, and it was incredible.
Cup your roasts in a simple triangle cupping method, 2 coffees of one roaster, and one of the other, and take notes of what you can pick up from both. Mix up the orientation and do it again. It will be a fun learning opportunity.
I suppose very hard, or very dense, fresh crop high grown beans might prove a tad more tricky to nail down, but don't focus on that, focus more on dialing in the batch size and how you proceed thru your roasting method, and try not to change everything at the same time, keep your delta's organized and change only one thing at a time, and like I said before, take a lot of notes.
Taste, taste and then taste it again.
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- Boldjava
- Posts: 2765
- Joined: 16 years ago
I like Tom's idea about Klatch as their roast will set the bar for your experience.TomC wrote:...
I think the Sumatra thing is only relative to how you roast it. Some coffees are delicate and can be tricky to roast. While a Sumatran bean might not be the easiest bean to roast, the wild pungency and crazy list of flavors the bean reveal can cover a multitude of sins, so it's not a bad place to start....
RE: Sumatrans. I would differ on that one. Sumatrans don't visibly display the level of roast as well as other origins. They can easily be over-roasted if you rely on visible signs of level of roast, and can be tricky for a beginner. I would go with a hard bean, say a high-grown Colombian or Guat. Grab 5-lbs of it and keep drilling through it as a learning experience. Tweak the roast profiles (change only one variable at a time) and keep fastidious notes so you can compare the taste in a variety of profiled coffees.
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LMWDP #339
- SlowRain
- Posts: 812
- Joined: 15 years ago
I can't suggest an origin, but I'd go for washed coffees over dry-processed ones.
- farmroast
- Posts: 1623
- Joined: 17 years ago
Guatemala, tends to have a wide range and is pretty durable to some abuse.
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- achipman
- Posts: 190
- Joined: 10 years ago
Why washed over dry?SlowRain wrote:I can't suggest an origin, but I'd go for washed coffees over dry-processed ones.
"Another coffee thing??? I can't keep up with you... next you'll be growing coffee in our back yard." - My wife
- SlowRain
- Posts: 812
- Joined: 15 years ago
Dry-processed coffees can get away on you during first crack (meaning the temperature shoots up too rapidly if you're not careful). They're more delicate to roast. Washed coffees are more stable and can withstand more heat. I think this makes them preferable for first-time roasters or first-time roasting methods.
- achipman
- Posts: 190
- Joined: 10 years ago
Thank you! I've had some issues with the roast getting away from me during first crack. I think I was pushing too much heat going in and ended up with way too much momentum. One batch hit second crack 30 second after first!
Does anyone have any similar advice for coffees grown in lower elevations vs. those grown in higher elevations?
Does anyone have any similar advice for coffees grown in lower elevations vs. those grown in higher elevations?
"Another coffee thing??? I can't keep up with you... next you'll be growing coffee in our back yard." - My wife