Thread: Coffee Enthusiasts

Of interest... the local roaster had a sign with a special deal on a dark roast.
The sigh began with
WOOPS
He got distracted and what would normally be a light or medium roast was
a seriously dark roast. Darker than his normal dark.

He runs a business so tossing without tasting was out of the question.
The free "house cup" for those that buy a pound or two was this WOOPS
roast... I tried it and liked it.

I think the point is that even professionals have a miss.
And sometimes the WOOPS turns out. I doubt he will try to roast
his peaberry this dark ever again but for a change I am enjoying it.

How many take five to seven roasted beans and glue them to
a tongue depressor with notes on the bean used, how roasted
and early impressions?

Also when cupping a home roast try to not be critical in
contrast to observant. No one likes a critic even self
criticism.

Walking the dog at the crack of dawn the neighbor commented "nice hair".
I got back and looked in the mirror and I had the best example of
"last year's bird's nest" I have had since sixth grade when Lana P tossled
my hair and remarked "last year's birdsnest".
Life is good... especially with fresh coffee. ;-)

Originally Posted by dimab

Hey. Is there anyone roasting in Behmor 1600+ around here?
I've done about 60 batches in it, and would be happy to exchange blends recipes and other tips.

Hi Dimab,

Kind of missed this post yesterday. I don't have a Behmor 1600+, but I'm interested in learning more about them as that's probably what I'll get when my poor over-worked freshroast packs it in. So if you or others have experiences to share, I'd love to hear about them.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

Hi Dimab,

Kind of missed this post yesterday. I don't have a Behmor 1600+, but I'm interested in learning more about them as that's probably what I'll get when my poor over-worked freshroast packs it in. So if you or others have experiences to share, I'd love to hear about them.

Hi.
Sweet Maria's have a lot of very extensive info on this roaster. You should read their summary page. Just notice that the Plus version has much more manual control in it. Also, in my experience I never had a problem roasting for dark roasts, but I do have a 220V version, and you do have to be with your finger on the "Cool" button for the last minute of the roast. Otherwise I completely concur on what they've written in the article. BTW, they have it on sale right now
In my opinion it is the only sanely priced 400gr roaster for home use. Great smoke suppressor as well: I live in a city apartment, so it's kind of important to me I usually roast one 400gr batch every other week, and prefer City or Full City roasts. But I did roasted Vienna and Italian as well. Another advantage - it's a real drum roaster (as opposed to hot air), which means the batch will hold fresh for slightly longer. On the negative: it doesn't have a sampler or BT probe - so the finish is mostly "by ear", but the roaster itself is rather quiet and one has no problem to discern the cracks. Another thing is relatively slow cooling and some coasting, as you have to cool in the same drum, but for the price of it I think the limitations are reasonable enough, and after initial learning curve I did achieve pretty good repeatability. It does have ET probe and even exhaust temperature sensor - to help you some.
Bottom line: I can definitely recommend it unless you can bite The Bullet

I liked mine really well and I could use it on the stove under the range hood when I had a house. Keep it clean! Gave it to a friend who was moving away.
~Richard

re: Sette 270:
After a few weeks with the Sette 270, and the enjoyment of its output; I did, finally, add one shim to the cone assembly. The cone assembly is designed for easy removal for cleaning and to allow shimming to a finer grind/ more latitude, across the range of particle sizes wanted. Removal of a factory shim would allow a coarser grind.
Results:
In the cup..Great!
The shimming was easy, quick, and a cleanup of the assembly was a good thing also.
For the first time since having a Mazzer, I managed to almost choke the Cremina.
The shim changed the grinder adjustment point to about half of what it had been.(the sweet spot is now at half the adjustment rather than the minimum setting.) The grind is still light and fluffy but about half the volume in the PF after tamping. FWW, I could easily do a 16+ gram dose if I should wish in the Electra basket. I've been using a 14gr dose so far; bean origin and size do make a difference in volume in the portafilter.
If your grind is not quite fine enough, then with the Sette, the shimming is a winner.
YMMV, JMO
~Richard

Was having some issues with my Baraza Vario grinder.
After the won't start part I figured out. Dang micro switches.......

Well it was making a horrible grinding noise when fine grinding the beans. So I called their techs. A great guy named Alex helped me out. We went through the machine, step by step disassembling and reassembling it. Still that horrible noise.
They are sending me a new grinder, and taking this one back. He was puzzled by us not finding the issue. Si he wants to go through it personally.
Great customer service to say the least!!! And I'm happy I went with this companies grinder.

I grind my coffee with a rock bottom cheap grinder. Can someone explain to me how and why an expensive grinder would be better?

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

I grind my coffee with a rock bottom cheap grinder. Can someone explain to me how and why an expensive grinder would be better?

If you enjoy coffee and what you have is satisfactory, there is no reason for change.
Otherwise coffee gets better through incremental changes. Better roasted coffees ground at the store. More consistent and proper temperature of brewing, then a better means of extraction/ brewing machine, then better, more consistent grinding of fresh beans. Yup; down the rabbit hole!
I've been searching for many years, and have a system that works for my tastes and those of friends. Do not lose sight of enjoying coffee whenever and wherever it may be found. Friends make even mediocre coffee brew better!
JMO, YMMV
~Richard

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

I grind my coffee with a rock bottom cheap grinder. Can someone explain to me how and why an expensive grinder would be better?

It all depends on what are you grinding it for: pour-over, French press, espresso, moka pot, drip, Turkish, vacuum, etc. etc. Most of the extraction methods are not very demanding to the grinding quality, but few of them are...
I guess the bottom line is the taste - if you like it, you don't need to change anything, or quoting the "golden rule of engineering": if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

It depends what you mean by rock bottom cheap grinder. You mean one of these rotating blade types? That's rock bottom cheap.

The problem with those is you get very inconsistent grinds and the heat that builds up is damaging to the grinds you get. Even with very undemanding brew methods you will get degrading quality coffee. Of course it all depends on your personal standard for coffee.

You also don't have to spend $2600 for a good roaster. The Gene Cafe is under $600 and you can get pro results with it and if you want a true drum unit the Hot Top is around a grand.