Thread: Coffee Blending and Roasting

I started with an air popper. There is the stir crazy/convection oven setup, the old cast iron skillet and spoon, BBQ rotisserie roasting drums are a popular option. I made a rotisserie roaster with a hotrod toaster oven. Made a stainless roasting drum, added a third burner to get more heat in the roast chamber and made a few more mods. Worked quite well. Now a days I use a HotTop for my roasting but I would love to get my hands on a one pound sample roaster. Unfortunately, they tend to run around $2K used and abused.

I've toyed with the idea of making my own blends and roasting but frankly, with a local roaster who has 10 to 20 single origin coffees available freshly roasted and who make a mean espresso blend and a gorgeous decaf espresso blend that works just as well as a drip coffee, I just don't see where I can do any better on my own. Still, the bbq rotisserie cage roaster looks the most appealing to me, the smaller hot air units just don't do enough beans for my consumption and I have limited time for more hobbies!

Regards

Kaptain "It's nice to be spoiled for choice once in a while" Zero

I home roast with my Frankenroaster, but I'm pretty much a single source guy. I did try blending once, but it was a bad experience, and I don't have the time to experiment. Mrs. TULIP and I like coffees from Yemen and South America. I had a really good Hawaiian that a buddy brought back for me that was superb, but I won't spend the money on green HI beans myself.

A good local roaster is wonderful. Unfortunately, there are none in Dayton. But I also enjoy the experience. Roasting, cupping, blending etc… the hard part is finding a good greens supplier. A lot of them are pushing the leftovers and taste like it. Many of the artisan roasters will sell their blends or SO’s in the green if you ask. I have a list of suppliers that I like. When I get a moment I will toss together a few links and post them for anyone that is interested.

I started out roasting with a Fresh Roast, then moved to a modded Poppery1 before getting a Gene Cafe roaster. The chaff collection is very good on the Gene Cafe, and it can take your beans all the way to the dreaded 'third crack' if you really want to. If I didn't ever want to do dark roasts, I'd probably go for a Behmor roaster.


Wayne

Canonfodder, please, any references would be appreciated and highly valued! One can never have too much good input from those "in the know".

I get my green beans and most of my supplies from Sweet maria's. They have a good selection of green beans both regular and decaf plus plenty of source material on the beans and helpful hints. Kind of like the SRP of coffee beans and roasting.

I've roasted my own beans exclusively for a few years now. I don't blend, single origin for me. Mainly because I have a small roaster (iRoast) and don't have the time or desire to really get into blending. I like Sweet Marias as the site is a wealth of knowledge; I only buy organic though, so I've been ordering my beans from here for 2 years.

You can even roast beans in a stainless steel bowl using a heat gun although getting an even roast takes practice.

One thing I never realized about roasting until I started doing it........it smokes....the smoke is not pleasant. If you guys can roast indoors in your oven, etc I don't know how you can do that. I roast in my attached garage with the door open.

Chris L

Sweet Marias is one of the long time venders. They have good greens and put a lot of work into sourceing good lots of coffee, but they are on the west coast. His prices are a little higher than others but I have never gotten a skunky green from him. The shipping cost is the killer for me.

Coffee Wholesalers is another good distributor that I frequent. They carry a lot more than just green coffee.

Paradise Roasters is one of the best roasters in the country. Miguel works some magic on his coffee. He also sells green but if you want to sample a coffee that was roasted by a true master, you need to get a pound from him.

Green Coffee Coop is another good place. A bunch of home roasters that get bags of greens and sell them for wholesale prices. There is no normal stock so you have to frequent the page to see when a shipment is coming in. when we do get coffee, it only lasts a few hours and is all sold out.

Rileys Coffee and Fudge is another good one. Barry is a friend of mine and one of the founding members of the SCAA (specialty coffee association of America) and a judge for the barista association competitions. If the coffee passes his test, it is good. June, his wife, makes some killer fudge as well.
Metropolis Coffee is roaster/café in Chicago. If you are ever in Chicago, you have to stop by and try him out. He sells both roasted and green, Redline is one of my favorite blends.

Coffee Bean Corral has been around for some time. I have not ordered from him but hear he has some good greens.

Coffee Project carries greens and other supplies. You can even get coffee Arabica saplings. One of these days I will get a couple and put one in my office and one in the house.

PT’s Coffee sells both roasted and green. They have some good coffee.

A good friend of mine is half of the team at Coffee Cuppers. While not a distributor, they are a reviewer of coffee and only review greens from other distributors. If they say it is good, it is good.

These are just a few and most everyone I have dealt with before. There are a lot more venders out there but I doubt you will go wrong by using any of the listed sources. I have used other venders, but these are consistently good. As with any agricultural product, quality changes from year to year so start with a pound of green to evaluate the coffee first, and then order what you want. Keep in mind; greens do go bad so you will not want more than a year’s supply.

Home roasting has also gained a lot of momentum the last few years. Some of the best lots of coffee will only be available for a few weeks and then be all gone for the year. Another important note, if vender A has coffee V but sells out, going to another vender that also stocks coffee V can be iffy. Coffee changes from hill to hill, elevation to elevation and even from tree to tree so just because the coffee came from the same farm or origin does not mean that it will taste the same. Coffee is sold in auction lots, so ‘Daves coffee farm Harare lot #1356’ can and usually does taste different than ‘Caves coffee farm Harare lot #1357’. So buying by name alone can get you some skunky greens.

Yes, I roast and +1 on Sweet Marias!

I don't blend because it hadn't occurred to me...my preference is Ethiopian Harrar.

Husband and I do have our differences over coffee. He likes it weak, I like it strong. Also, he can't stand dark roasted beans, while I will occasionally dig a French roast although mainly I go for regular City roasts.

Price on shipping isn't that bad when you buy the big 20 or 30 lb. burlap sacks of green beans. It costs much more to buy them in Austin at Whole Foods Market.