Are there any other home roasters in here?
What do you find the benefits are of roasting at home vs pre roasted?
this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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There's a lot of benefits, at least for me. I got into home roasting because I wanted Jamaican Blue Mountain (after a friend had gifted me some). Found out how much it cost, then as I went down the rabbit hole, I found out that I could get green beans for significantly cheaper than roasted.
Now, I find that I enjoy trying all different kinds of single-origin that I've never heard of/seen from bigger roasters. I've had coffee from Nepal, Puerto Rico, Yemen, Java, Sulawesi, and countless other farms around the world.
Cost is also a factor. I can get a pound of Jamaican Blue Mountain for as little as $20, whereas roasted (depending on estate) can be $40-$80.
It can be a pain in the ass, if I realize I'm out of roasted beans and want a cup of coffee. It takes a good 30 minutes to roast and cool, but in the end, trying something new is worth it!
Oh, and forgot to mention - green beans also last significantly longer. 8-12 months versus 1-2 months for roasted. I can buy in bulk, save money, and have fresh roasted for the week!
I think you might have sold me on trying out home roasting. Ive been enjoying trying out different brands since I got a machine a year ago. Cost looks roughly half of buying roasted!
where have you gotten beans from Puerto Rico?
I got them from homeroastcoffee.com he hasn't had them since. They don't seem to be exported from Puerto Rico all that often, and it was definitely before Hurricane Maria.
Most store bought coffee is stale. Whole bean roasted coffee has the same shelf life as bananas before exhibiting off flavors. As someone that goes through a pound a week I was buying from specialty roasters that roast to order like Counter Culture. Green beans store better and I can buy high grade beans for $6/lb. Behmor paid for itself in a few months.
I have finally found my people on lemmy!
I roast on an SR800 with the OEM extension tube. I've accumulated about 25lbs of different greens so far. I've been really enjoying a washed Colombian for espresso and natural Kenyan for filter. I really can't justify buying roasted at the prices they're selling at anymore.
Nice. What equipment do you use for roasting? Good results?
I have a Fresh Roast SR-500, with the extension tube (long story about getting that after it had been discontinued). Usually get my beans from homeroastcoffee.com but I just ordered some from coffeebeancorral.com
I get pretty consistent results, but it took a lot of fiddling to figure out my process for best results. I now get a pretty consistent result with 8 oz of green beans.
Looks good!
I got started with a whisk, a pan, and a colander for cooling. You really don't need anything expensive to get started.
I am currently using a $20 air popcorn popper, and while there is some variance between roasts the result is still loads better than store bought imo.
I roast my own beans too. I use a genecafe. It’s a weekend ritual that I’ve been doing for years. For the two of us, who both drink a lot of coffee, I roast 2-3 batches of coffee a week.
Just roasted three small batches for the next few week. Enjoying some Colombian, Ugandan, and Guatemalan.
I roast in an old popper, but I've fallen off the wagon... I have a bag of beans from Sweet Maria's just waiting for me. Maybe this post is the kick I need...
I home roast on a diy drum roaster for my household and a couple neighbours/family. I need to modify the roaster still. Its direct drive and I'm burning through the gearhead from the wobble of my poor metal working.
I'm a home roaster but it's been about a year since I've roasted any.
Same here. Found a local roaster that I really liked, so I was buying their roasted beans for a while, then decided to roast some Nepalese beans (hadn't had them in a while, and it is my favorite cup). Back in to it now for a least the next 5 pounds of beans!
Using my Kaffelogic weekly.
I go through a pound a week and have a 1st gen Behmor 1600 that won't quit. Roasted 3 lbs of Rwandan Kivu Friday night
I keep thinking about a drum roaster, but am of the mind "if it ain't broke..." My superautomatic holds about 10 oz of beans, so 8 oz at a time is perfect. I haven't tried anything from Rwanda yet, but I haven't really found an African coffee that I truly like yet. On this journey, I've found out that my favorites regions are Nepal, Haiti, and Yemen. Unfortunately, I think other people are finding those less-than-common beans, because their price has been rising as of late. Used to be I could get Haiti for around $10/pound, now it's $20-ish.
How do you brew it? Would it not take time and beans to dial in the espresso machine for every different origin?
I primarily use my super automatic. I won't lie, my palette isn't developed enough to dial in beans based on origin.
Very nice! I myself hope to start roasting coffee too, not exclusively but as part of the hobby.
Ikawa Home here. Usually buy greens from RoastMasters. Just did nine batches of beans from Ethiopia, Brazil, Guatamala.
Transition to home roasting was partly the money savings, but mostly getting different sets of flavors from coffee regions.
Ah yes, the old "it's gonna pay for itself in 3 years tops" paradigm :D
Exactly what I told myself!!! 😄
The same truism applies to the two group 24k gold Slayer machine......... right?
How do you like the Ikawa Home? I’m very tempted, but the app reviews are pretty brutal. How’s it working for you?
Great so far. I'm on Android, so I can start with a recipe from Ikawa and then tweak temperature and fan profiles as needed. Ikawa includes a sampler pack with the roaster, and none really blew me away, at least with the recipes provided, so I started buying bags from another green bean vendor closer to me. I prefer light medium so usually stop shortly after first crack. But I'm still trying to learn how to use rate of rise, and lower slower development to get different flavors from the same beans.
I’ve roasted beans once before, albeit at a roast your own bean shop, not at home. Made an Ethiopian Yirg and think it was to 215F or so. Came out medium-light. Was pretty good but I think if I did it again I would’ve gone a little darker. What’s your favorite bean and roast combo?
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