[cjr888]

Boy, and all this time I thought beat's avatar was an old Ducati engine, when it is actually a kick started, two barrel coffee roaster!

Same, I never really looked at it, but always figured it was a high-tech engine, or an ElectronLuv amplifier.  Which is more expensive would be a toss up.

Am I reading this right?  Do we have amongst us a wholesale coffee bean distributor who will give his fellow AC buddies sweet deals?  

If so, would you supply us with a list please? Please feel free to make some money (not too much though) on it too...

I'll 100% second this...might benefit all, but if not, please PM me, or others please chime in with excellent online resources for ordering great coffee.

[Andrikos]

I only drink tea.   If I've gotta gag down a cup o' coffee, I need some major cream & sugar.

Whew! I thought I was the only wimp in the forum for a minute there...

[beat]

Hey wait a minute!!!!

this was supposed to be about cartridge abuse when playing drunken DJ...but it divided and now this! Yeah, I can hook people up if you wanna. Keep in mind the prices I pay are before roasting where you lose like 20-30 percent water weight depending on how dark you take it. Roasting at home is easy too but you wont get excellent results (if you are a coffee snob) with out spending a little money on a decent roaster. If you start with good beans and use an air popcorn popper (5 bucks for the Popcorn Pumper at the thriftstore) at least you will always have freshness and control over degree of roast and will surpass 90 percent of what is out there for retail. Pm me if you are serious, I'll walk you through it.

[EchiDna]

stumbled in here...

woah... you guys are in a league I'd love to join on the coffee scene!

any links to check out?

someday I'm gonna try that sumatran civet cat dropping coffee (I forget the name!) - supposed to be the world's best
the description hardly inspires confidence, but anyway....

Here in Singapore I can not get many good South Amercian or African beans, but I can get the New Guinea and Sumatran stuff real cheap, no problems  

Can anyone recommend me a good/cheap home roaster?

[Tyson]

beat,
What about a coffee grinder?  I've been eyeing this for a while:

http://www.coffeebeancorral.com/detail.asp?product_id=SolMPlus

[lonewolfny42]

Interesting site Tyson !! I like the Musings page....some nice memories !!

[Lost81]

Anyone tried the Senso Single Cup coffee makers?
It pressure brews a single cup or two cups in 1 minute.

It seems like a great idea if you are only drinking one cup of coffee in the morning.

The drawback is that it locks you into buying those pre-packaged coffee pods (but I can get them in bulk from Costco).


-Lost81

[bubba966]

someday I'm gonna try that sumatran civet cat dropping coffee (I forget the name!) - supposed to be the world's best
the description hardly inspires confidence, but anyway....

Looked up that Kopi Luwak to see what it sells for (figured it's not cheap!).

Seems to go for about $600/pound!

Those are some spendy cat turds...

[PhilNYC]

beat,
What about a coffee grinder?  I've been eyeing this for a while:

http://www.coffeebeancorral.com/detail.asp?product_id=SolMPlus

Tyson,

I'm not a huge coffee guru, but this grinder was private-labelled by Starbucks a couple of years ago...I bought one after having 2 others that weren't all that great, and I've been happy with it ever since.

[beat]

Hey guys,
Tyson, that is a great grinder, the steel they use in the burrs is top notch and because of the shape of the burrs it offers a nice consistent grind without much friction. What you want to do is get it as fine as you want without generating any heat so you dont deteriorate flavor by messing with the oils and moisture. Echidna, the alpenrost will do the best job for the money. It is contained in this link at the top of the page. This one is killer though ;
 http://sweetmarias.com/prod.hottop.shtml
It is probably overkill for most of us to use at home. Any of those at sweetmarias will do an ok job but most are nothing other than a glorified popcorn pumper which can be had for 5 bucks. I like drum roasters better than fluid bed (air) in commercial purposes because you can control humidity and temp alittle better. there is a lot of great info at that site and is fun to surf around. Some day I'd like to try that kopi luwak. Supposedly it is so nice because the critter only eats the best of the cherries from the plant. as far as the digestion goes, basically it does the same thing we would do in the fermentation and washing processes anyway..still kinda weird.

[jqp]

Glad to see this has turned into its own topic, and that there is so much interest.

As I said I have been roasting for a few years with my hot air roaster. I must admit that I always use half and half (cream) with my coffee and artificial sweetner (pink or yellow stuff). Guess I am not really a purist in that sense, but I can definitely taste each different bean/roast.

As beat has said, you can get a good roast out of these hot air things. The key is to 1) keep the lid on so no heat escapes during the roasting process; 2) keep the beans flowing uniformly by picking the unit up and shaking it in a circular motion to rotate the beans at the beginning of the roast untill they begin to get lighter and more slippery, and by tilting the unit while roasting by putting a pencil under one side while roasting. Each type of bean is different and is best with one of 16 different stages of roast http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.html. Many beans can be roasted to a few different stages, for variety. (Yes you can tweak coffee). These roasters seem to each have their own personality due to lack of quality control, but once you figure yours out you can get consistent roasts. There will also be a slight smoke from the roast, but I find it pleasant so I just do it right in the kitchen.

I tend to go for a Full City roast because that is about all my little roaster can accomplish without baking the beans (bad) forever. It works for me since my Yigachaffee seems best at Full City. And the Hawaiian I like is also good at Full City. The nice thing is I can get them there in about 8-9 minutes since I am only roasting less than 1/2 cup of beans at a time. Sometimes I do 3 batches in a row if I am ambitious.

As for cost - it is cheaper than buying the "good stuff" in the coffee shop or grocery store. Green beans are usually less than half of the same type of retail roasted beans and the electricity for roasting is not too bad I think. And definitely cheaper than buying hot coffee from S*bucks or C*bou

Now the one thing I have never figured out is how a blade grinder can heat the beans too much from friction. I have felt the grounds after grinding and cannot detect more than a few degrees of temperature increase, if any. Then I scald the beans to death with 200 degree water. So what was the damage again? Also when the beans are piping hot after a 400 degree roast, a little friction won't matter will it?

So beat - are you a retail or wholesale distributor, or do you just have a good connection? I would love to try some of your beans!

[lonewolfny42]

beat

Any of those at sweetmarias will do an ok job but most are nothing other than a glorified popcorn pumper which can be had for 5 bucks

A little tag on to the above....what about this ?  Thanks !!

[mgalusha]

I was fortunate enough to receive two bags of beat's coffee. He said his newer roasts are better (these are quite dark) but I can say that I've enjoyed both of them. Had several cups this morning for breakfast.  

As for the Kopi Luwak, it looks like one person has figured out how to dispense it directly...

[datman]

I sell the Solis Maestro Plus in my store and can highly recommend it.  The only thing you need to be aware of is to NOT adjust the grind (particularly fine grinds) while it is off.  This can stress the plastic and cause the grinding mechanism to break loose in the earlier models.  Because it is gear driven and operates at a lower speed, the coffee being ground does not heat to the point of volatilizing its essential oils or worse, actually burning from friction.

As for the blade grinder significantly heating up coffee, I do not find this to be the case.  However that being said, the real problem with blade grinders is the lack of consistency in the grind.  This is particularly  problematic in finer grinds.  An inconsistent grind never produces the best cup of coffee.

Popcorn poppers used as roasters can be effective, but you must be aware of their tendency to cook the beans and often dry them out.  As someone who has been a professional coffee roaster for the past 15 years I find this to be the major difference between home and commercial roasters (aside from capacity.)

The other thing to be aware of is how much the coffee is roasted.  A dark (Full City or darker) roast largely removes the varietal specifics of the bean in favor of the roast itself.  For many people this is highly desireable.  Personally I prefer a somewhat lighter, longer roast that accentuates the characteristics of the bean over the darkness of the roast.  Its all preference, and as long as the coffee is fresh, it's good.

[beat]

 Mike where did you find that? that is hilarious. What Louis said is right on about the inconsistency of grind being more of a factor than friction. But if you have half assed burrs that are clogged and caked (from not being good and sharp) you will not be doing your beans any justice they may deserve.. sharp burrs will stay sharp longer if you keep em clean. Once they start to dull they cake up easier and friction increases..this is where I was going with the whole friction/heat thing. Having super clean everything is the only way to have a perfect cup. This is why some methods of brewing are better than others inherently. There is no best..Just as in audio gear. Some days I prefer my french press, some a vacuum pot, but mostly an americano (espresso shots with a little water) ..I think Tyson would like this as he likes a little water in his scotch to critically taste the subtleties. Anyway..what louis said about roasting is on par too with air roasters..they can go alittle quick and dry out...I always got better results roasting outside in winter for this reason with my corn popper, it drug the process out alittle..this is why the home drum roasters are nice (but not essential). Fresh is better no matter how you look at it, even if the roast is slightly off. BTW, coffee is only "good" for a week by my standards. I dont care how you store it. What is most impt is storing your green beans in a humidor/wine cellar type of way, Always buying new crop, and roasting as needed. Past crop coffee can often be had for as "cheap as free" but the sad thing is alot of roasted and bagged coffee is consumed old enough to be considered past crop. I have people coming in wanting to buy a couple pounds at a time even though they are in almost everyday and I always tell them to just get a half pound at a time, just buy more often. I always try to illustrate to people that roasted coffee should be thought of as just another perishible food item.