What Country of Origin for Easy First-time Roasting?

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
vze26m98
Posts: 264
Joined: 10 years ago

#1: Post by vze26m98 »

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

User avatar
TomC
Team HB
Posts: 10534
Joined: 13 years ago

#2: Post by TomC »

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.
Join us and support Artisan Roasting Software=https://artisan-scope.org/donate/

User avatar
Boldjava
Posts: 2765
Joined: 16 years ago

#3: Post by Boldjava »

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....
I like Tom's idea about Klatch as their roast will set the bar for your experience.

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.
-----
LMWDP #339

User avatar
SlowRain
Posts: 812
Joined: 15 years ago

#4: Post by SlowRain »

I can't suggest an origin, but I'd go for washed coffees over dry-processed ones.

User avatar
farmroast
Posts: 1623
Joined: 17 years ago

#5: Post by farmroast »

Guatemala, tends to have a wide range and is pretty durable to some abuse.
LMWDP #167 "with coffee we create with wine we celebrate"

User avatar
achipman
Posts: 190
Joined: 10 years ago

#6: Post by achipman »

SlowRain wrote:I can't suggest an origin, but I'd go for washed coffees over dry-processed ones.
Why washed over dry?
"Another coffee thing??? I can't keep up with you... next you'll be growing coffee in our back yard." - My wife

User avatar
SlowRain
Posts: 812
Joined: 15 years ago

#7: Post by SlowRain »

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.

User avatar
achipman
Posts: 190
Joined: 10 years ago

#8: Post by achipman replying to SlowRain »

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! :oops:

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