Home-Barista.com

(Edited 10.22.13: Our November effort in a Guat Huehue. Details are here - Roasting and Learning - November). Please join us.

Farm and TomC have both expressed interest in a collaborative roasting/learning. Let's see if the idea can get some traction. The concepts are simple:

(1) Buy or offer the same green. Each take the green around the block, kick the tires, and share our learnings. We do that too infrequently. See what we can learn about the origin, the green itself, roasting profiles, best profile for varying preparation/presentations, etc.
(2) Emphasis is on mutual learning.
(3) Improve our own artisanship.
(4) Member driven. Any individual can offer a suggestion, a bean, an idea. Doesn't need to be on a moderator's shoulder to drive.
(5) Roasts can be swapped but not required for participation.
(6) If you say, "I'm in," the expectation is to provide some notes from your cuppings, evaluations, your learnings.
(7) Novices and beginners are welcome. This is not an experience only for more advanced roasters. Don't be intimidated -- we will share responsibility to mentor and teach, not scold and criticize.

Suggested format would be to grab a bean from Sweetmarias or the Shrub. Both offer such stellar coffees. That provides the additional benefit of a base or beginning point. Just don't lean on their notes too heavily to the point you aren't trusting your own palate.

Tom is reasonable with his scores, though his notes are often too loaded with descriptors that few with whom I have cupped have found. I believe he has a more refined palate and much greater experience than do I which accounts for that and when I purchase, I know what I am getting.

Jump in here -- share your ideas. If a bulk purchase makes this more reasonably priced, I can do a distribution of SM's or Shrub's beans. Have no need to do that but can assess time involvement and see if that works. If another individual wants to offer that, please do. I would be glad to coach off-line on the logistics/time involved.

This sounds like fun. Back in the newsgroup days, Mike McGiness (Compass Coffee) and I were part of a group that swapped roasts; it taught us a whole lot.

I like this. It fits me much better then competition format. SMs and Shrub are where I get most of my beans and I am in need of ordering, I am down to 32lbs and feel naked.

I pretty much only drink espresso but I am always roasting for drip for my better half and all our family and friends, this will help me fine tune my non espresso roasting.

germantown rob wrote:....... I am down to 32lbs and feel naked.

I have a 5 foot long chest freezer filled to the top with vac-sealed green coffee The only other thing in there is a glass carboy beer fermentor and about 10 pounds of meat from Costco. The carboy is only in there because I'm running out of storage space elsewhere. I need to start roasting larger batches and donating it to soup kitchens or shelters or something.

Oh, and back on point. I can pick up a 50lb (or 100lb) sack of greens at Sweet Maria's/Shrub, for free, since it's only a 20 minute drive across the bay bridge for me. That would save a lot of $$$ on the intial shipping ( if we were to do a distro thru them and the savings on the bulk buy were really worth it).

But the total savings would seem unlikely. If I buy 50lbs and ship 5 lbs to 10 people, the end users total costs wouldn't be that much more than paying Sweet Maria's directly, and eliminating the heavy foot work for me. The stellar coffee's that Shrub sells, Sweet Maria's has as well, in smaller quantities, for not as major of a mark up. But all that can be factored out later on.

Sounds like a great idea, imagine the Marqaha done like that

I took a small unroasted sample of the Marqaha to Highwire last weekend to let Robert Myers play around with. I wish I would have bought 20 pounds of that coffee.

TomC wrote:I took a small unroasted sample of the Marqaha to Highwire last weekend to let Robert Myers play around with. I wish I would have bought 20 pounds of that coffee.

I am first on the broker's list for cupping any pre-shipment Yemen greens next year. Have no fear, we'll get you covered, TomC.

B|Java, <wide grin>

We need the bowing down emoticon. Thank you sir. It will be a coffee that will sell out in about 2 hours, if it's anything like the 5 pounds I bought.

I'm in on the collaborative roasting/learning. Next year's Yemen too.

BDL