There's certain areas where the home version will beat every commercial version. When craft brewing started, the commercial US breweries were mailing it in, and the current revival of US beer grew out of the home brewing movement. One of the roots of the SCAA goes back to the first generation of home roasters in the late 70s who became professionals. At that time, there were only a tiny handful of good roasters that had survived the mass marketing of coffee.

But this is no longer the case with coffee. I'm a decent amateur cook as well as roaster. I almost never go to restaurants that are less than about $50 a head, since I can cook as well at home at less effort, never mind expense, as going out to them. However, the better I get, the more I admire what the very best chefs do. I can taste their stuff and, even when I don't quite like it, or think it not quite right, I realize these people live and sleep cooking -- they have tools, skills, originality and ingredient sources I can't hope to match.

The same has become true as I've become a better home roaster and barista. I rarely buy regular roasted coffee; but I appreciate the coffees from the top roasters more, even the ones not quite to my taste. My home roasting easily allows me to recognize skills I don't have. The same is true when I judge barista contests. I rarely go to cafes; but I can easily tell from my own home barista-ing when someone has skills I should admire rather than claim to equal.

I must confess I'm somewhat disappointed in people who post how much better their home roasts or espressos are than commercial ones. It shows an ungenerous and blind spirit. One of the biggest rewards I get from cooking, roasting, or making coffee is that it lets me recognize, enjoy and praise true excellence.

This is especially true since the professionals who post and read HB are all in this top rung. When they read how much better someone's home roast is, they either think they are being insulted or reading fools' prattle.

another_jim wrote:I must confess I'm somewhat disappointed in people who post how much better their home roasts or espressos are than commercial ones. It shows an ungenerous and blind spirit. One of the biggest rewards I get from cooking, roasting, or making coffee is that it lets me recognize, enjoy and praise true excellence.

I'll agree if you mean " the best commercial ones "

I'll wager there is a goodly number of amateurs here who have been told, on multiple occasions, "This is the best espresso / coffee / latte I've ever had." The exclaimers are all 'expert' on 'commercial' product, just not the best ones.

another_jim wrote:I must confess I'm somewhat disappointed in people who post how much better their home roasts or espressos are than commercial ones. It shows an ungenerous and blind spirit. One of the biggest rewards I get from cooking, roasting, or making coffee is that it lets me recognize, enjoy and praise true excellence.

This is especially true since the professionals who post and read HB are all in this top rung. When they read how much better someone's home roast is, they either think they are being insulted or reading fools' prattle.

Jim, that may be true (although I think a better response would be to laugh about it). But nobody on this thread has boasted that their home roasts are better than the commercial products of professional artisan roasters. So I respectfully suggest that this is a complete non-issue, and we give it a rest.

The more interesting question - and one that deserves its own thread on the Home Roasting forum - is whether home roasting is a worthwhile activity. If home roasts are indeed "substandard", as Ken clearly states, then it follows that the true coffee connoisseur will forgo this fruitless pursuit and purchase only roasted beans.

RapidCoffee wrote:If home roasts are indeed "substandard", as Ken clearly states, then it follows that the true coffee connoisseur will forego this fruitless pursuit and purchase only roasted beans.

Sadly, I have had to follow this philosophy. I've roasted a couple of batches of coffee just for fun, but I'm not a home roaster. When I toyed with the idea of jumping in I just decided that I did not have time to learn a new craft, and I decided to leave roasting to the one good local roaster who's been at it for 30 years . I occasionally go mail order when I know I can get it fresh.

I know I'm missing the satisfaction of the roasting process, which in itself is very enjoyable, but I just did not want to drink lots of substandard espresso until I leaned.

PC

another_jim wrote:I'm a decent amateur cook as well as roaster.

As usual, Jim is being waaaaay too modest here.

another_jim wrote: I must confess I'm somewhat disappointed in people who post how much better their home roasts or espressos are than commercial ones. It shows an ungenerous and blind spirit. One of the biggest rewards I get from cooking, roasting, or making coffee is that it lets me recognize, enjoy and praise true excellence.

This is especially true since the professionals who post and read HB are all in this top rung. When they read how much better someone's home roast is, they either think they are being insulted or reading fools' prattle.

Well said. It is wonderful that people have fun and get satisfaction from home roasting. But regularly buying roasted coffee from the best commercial sources is important to maintain a realistic perspective.

RapidCoffee wrote: The more interesting question - and one that deserves its own thread on the Home Roasting forum - is whether home roasting is a worthwhile activity. If home roasts are indeed "substandard", as Ken clearly states, then it follows that the true coffee connoisseur will forgo this fruitless pursuit and purchase only roasted beans.

I think home roasting is worthwhile for two groups of people.

The more obvious category is people who need fairly large amounts of high grade coffee, and who have a large roaster. There people can actually save some money. Roasters tend to markup their coffees by a fixed percentage going from green to roasted, rather than pricing cost plus. This means the savings gained from home roasting go up as one uses higher grades of green coffee.

The less obvious category is people who want to make a hobby of coffee in general rather than just espresso. To get into this in a serious way means cupping coffees. It is almost impossible to cup commercial roasts -- every roaster uses different profiles, and you end up comparing a combination of roasting style and coffee origin. Home roasting allows one to compare different coffees at the identical roast, or the same coffee at different roasts. This makes figuring out what's happening possible (although, alas far from easy); whereas trying to go the same experience from roasted coffees, no matter how professionally done, is more or less impossible.

I really think we talking about apples and oranges here.

I home roast because the interaction of doing so more than makes up for any technical deficiency my roast may have.

Pro roasts offer a level of technical quality and consistency that I may not get in my garage and that makes up for the lack of interaction I have with the bean.

I'm happy to have both on my counter and honestly can't see what all the fuss is about!

Roasting coffee has trained my palate to distinguish slightly under roasted from slightly over roasted and how different coffees are effected by different roast profiles.

It is not a level playing field. Home roasters have the advantage of being able to roast in small batches.

RapidCoffee wrote:Jim, that may be true (although I think a better response would be to laugh about it). But nobody on this thread has boasted that their home roasts are better than the commercial products of professional artisan roasters. So I respectfully suggest that this is a complete non-issue, and we give it a rest.

The more interesting question - and one that deserves its own thread on the Home Roasting forum - is whether home roasting is a worthwhile activity. If home roasts are indeed "substandard", as Ken clearly states, then it follows that the true coffee connoisseur will forgo this fruitless pursuit and purchase only roasted beans.

John,

For reasons I cannot fathom, you seem to want to take what I am saying out of context and then attempt to get me to explain myself. I'm not biting.

What I have said before and will repeat, is that there is huge variability in the quality of home roasted coffee, even if many or perhaps most home roasters assume that they are god's gift to roasting. Or, as an Italian friend of mine commented upon reading parts of this thread, "Dr. Illy is waiting for these home roasters to come over to Italy to explain what he has overlooked," or somesuch.

I home roast because it gives me many more choices of what I drink, than I can buy already roasted. It gives me access to basically the entire range of available green coffee, which I can experiment with and roast to my own personal preferences. I put a whole lot more money and effort into my roasting than the great majority of home roasters. (money: professional sample roaster with custom thermometry and smoke hood; time, A LOT). As a result, my roasted coffee is probably towards the upper end of the range.

Nonetheless, I would not confuse what I am capable of producing with what the top tier of professional roasters produce. Sure, on occasion, I reach that level. But it is as much by accident as are the occasional disastrous results I get. And these do happen, from time to time, and they tend to put me in my place.

Afterall, this is just a hobby, a passion, not something that my livelihood depends upon.

ken

Ken Fox wrote:John,
For reasons I cannot fathom, you seem to want to take what I am saying out of context and then attempt to get me to explain myself.

Sorry Ken, not my intent at all. The relatively new medium of electronic communication often promotes misinterpretation.

South Dakota has half the population of Idaho and almost certainly no higher a percentage of specialty artisan roasters. It's likely that that we home roast for many of the same reasons.