Why you should (or shouldn't) home roast

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
Laura
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#1: Post by Laura »

Slight change of direction, but this sort of thing is all the better reason to roast your own. I can source quality green that I know will suit me, then dial it in to give me exactly what I like in the demitasse and simply not stuck with the commercial roasted garbage commonly available. There is so much variance between commercial outfits I seriously doubt many of them have that much figured out.


...split from Why are certain coffee beans labeled for espresso? by moderator...

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cafeIKE
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#2: Post by cafeIKE »

Home roasting is more than buying good green and turning it brown. Most home roast equipment is not up to the task. If you can't measure and control all parameters, it's a crap shoot. I have home roasting pals and NEVER in 20 years have I had a sample that I'd pay money for.


There are plenty of roasters who've been roasting a long time and still supply quality roasts. Takes a bit of effort to separate the beans from the chaff.

These all have great espresso roasts.
Wolf Coffee in CA
Cimarron Roasters in CO
Columbia River Coffee Roasters in OR
Nossa in OR [Great offee, but I don't buy there any more due to their politics]
Level Ground in BC
49th Parallel in BC
Sterling in OR
Tony in WA
...

jpender
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#3: Post by jpender »

Sure, there's lots of bad roasted coffee for sale but there's plenty of really good coffee too.

I'd love to be able to roast my own but it's another hobby in itself with up front costs, a learning curve, and a regular time investment. Maybe I'd be good at it, who knows, but my suspicion is that I'd make okay roasts, not spectacular ones.

I took up pizza making never expecting to be good at it. Surprisingly to me it turns out I can make a pretty decent pie. But I only did it out of desperation. Where I live pizza is really bad and very expensive. If it got to be that way with roasted coffee, well, then I'd take up roasting too. But that's not how it is. Plus I can source roasted coffee from all over whereas pizza more than about 20 miles away is just too far.

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cafeIKE
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#4: Post by cafeIKE »

Making great pizza is a doddle compared to coffee roasting. A week v. years...

jpender
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#5: Post by jpender »

cafeIKE wrote:Making great pizza is a doddle compared to coffee roasting. A week v. years...
I can believe that. But while there are a number of good roasters nearby for whatever reason pizza is a challenge here. I've tried at least a dozen places and they are all terrible. I don't understand it.

Buying good, locally roasted, coffee here is a doddle compared to finding a decent (never mind great) pizzeria.

malling
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#6: Post by malling »

cafeIKE wrote:Making great pizza is a doddle compared to coffee roasting. A week v. years...
Well still most seem to be completely incapable of making a passable pizza. Most pizze in the world is a poor interpretation of one.

Capuchin Monk
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#7: Post by Capuchin Monk »

I've tried store bought roasts, even the premium ones at premium price because of the raving reviews. It turns out I don't prefer those so called top choices. So what do I do? Back to home roasting.

As for pizza, I guess it's the geography. In New York City (+ northern NJ), where a big influence of Italian heritage is in the US, there are many real good pizza places even just around the corner. The locals consider that the regular. Other places in the US I've been, it's not the case. Some places are really bad and the locals consider that the regular. :shock: Having been to Italy and tried the pizza there, at least I have a reference point to compare to. BTW, when I was there, I drank mostly cappuccino so my espresso reference isn't really established. :|

jpender
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#8: Post by jpender »

I wish it were easy to just try it out. I guess you can use a popcorn popper or something like that. But I'd have to be outside on the driveway with a long extension cord because of the smoke and chaff.

Nunas
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#9: Post by Nunas replying to jpender »

Yes, it's best outside, but not necessarily a requirement to be outside. One of my early roasters was a FreshRoast SR500, which is basically an air popper modified for roasting coffee. Here in Canada, it's sometimes rather cold to be outside roasting. I created a cardboard extension for our range hood, to extend the smoke capture area out and downwards. It was held on with tape. I put the SR500 under there and had very little coffee smell in the house and no smoke. The SR500 has a chaff collector, so I had none of that either. The FreshRoasts are arguably ideal machines on which to learn roasting, as one can hear and see everything that's happening to the beans.

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Brewzologist
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#10: Post by Brewzologist »

I've been roasting on different machines for 12 years, fumbling along for most of it. Six years ago I decided to up my game and equipment, and only in the last year have I started believing my roasts are consistently better than most local roasters I try. (but maybe I'm just slow to learn...) I've read many books, learned how to cup/taste and identify defects, and installed software and hardware to improve my system. I've studied my roasts and studiously improved my craft, and I roast consistently in a well controlled environment. In short, I've spent a lot of time and money. Why? Because roasting is a hobby in and of itself to me.

Technology has improved a lot in the 6 years since I got my current roaster, perhaps reducing the learning curve somewhat. But I'm still thinking you'll have to spend a bit for a system that will have the capability to consistently deliver solid results.

Still, I know others who instead seek out and buy roasted coffee from the best roasters worldwide. Folks who network with others to buy the best of the best as roasting companies and quality change. And they're happy with this.

So to me, the most important question to ask yourself is why you want to home roast?

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