dcforman Senior Member Joined: 25 Sep 2007 Posts: 43 Location: Columbus, OH Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Nuova Simonelli Aurelia 3... Grinder: Nuova MDX, Nuova MCF,... Vac Pot: Eventually Drip: Press Roaster: Popcorn
Posted Thu Jul 3, 2008, 3:15pm Subject: Learning to Roast...
Hey all, I need some advice...
I am a half owner of two independent shops. My partner and myself have begun to talk about taking the leap and starting to roast our own coffee. Problem is, though I have 5 years of experience (primarily espresso) and a fairly extensive knowledge of coffee (which is always growing, of course), I have zero experience roasting (minus a few batches in a popcorn roaster). I was wondering if people could give their input on learning to roast. Would you recommend some type of classes, an internship of some sort, home roasting for a while, or something else? Unfortunately, leaving the business for longer than a couple months is most likely out of the question. Off the bat, we'd be roasting for our shops only...
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd also like to hear some stories from any other shop roasters who have decided to roast after being in business for a few years (and perhaps any recommendations for packaging)...
If you want to do this in a faster way, look up Boot coffee and the offered training classes. Don't bothered with roasting classes offered by the roaster manufacturers - the material often are only applicable to their machines and it's won't help you understand the fundamentals as much as Boot's classes.
I would not really recommend taking the home roasting route as many things you learn on home equipments are not really transferable to pro machines. The home rigs are also not accurate and repeatable enough to be a stable platform for learning how to roast. There are some home setups that can be modified to be usable, but that required a deep understanding of the roasting process and technology.
Be prepare to spend a minimum of a year or so (roasting 3 to 5 times a week) to get a basic grasp of coffee roasting, and couple years to understand the seasonal affects on greens and roast behavior due to weather conditions.
Do not rushed into buying equipments until you have a good grasp of the basics....
The learning process of roasting coffee can be pretty steep. I began about 5 years ago with no prior knowledge whatsoever. I got a hold of a couple of books from the SCAA. The main book that I still use today is called "The Roasting Concepts" which includes articles from many well respected roasters. The book takes a good look at the reactions that occur during a roast, various types of roasters, and the roasting process in general. I'd recommend you get a copy of that.
The roasters guild is another great source of information. I've been a member of the guild for a few years now, and it has been of great use.
Equipment..........you'll get as many opinions as there are roasters on what roaster is best.
Its a tough go to start.......but it pays off in time!!!
Thanks for the replies. I definitely know it's going to be a long road to becoming familiar with the roasting process. Boot coffee looks promising, and i'll be picking up a copy of "the roasting concepts". Can anyone suggest some more reading material?
Just about anything Boot had written for the past Roast magazine issues are worth picking up. If you don't mind paying for premiums and reading thru some heavy duty science stuff, "Coffee Roasting" by Gerhard A. Jansen is supposed to be pretty good as well.
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