newbieroaster Senior Member Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 9 Location: Colorado Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Rancilio
Posted Tue May 13, 2008, 7:55am Subject: Re: Where to Purchase Beans?
It happens with alll my beans. Now I must admit two things. One, I am totally new to this, and two, I am a little hard of hearing, so if the 2nd crack is not as distinct as the first, then that may be where the problem lies. I just emailed Russ, from Coffee Bean Corral, where I bought my FreshRoast roaster about it, so I will see what he says about it as well.
Bear_B Senior Member Joined: 14 May 2008 Posts: 46 Location: Columbus, OH Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Francis Francis! X1 Grinder: Breville Vac Pot: Cona (I wish!!) Drip: no, French press Roaster: iRoast 2
Posted Fri May 16, 2008, 11:59pm Subject: Re: Where to Purchase Beans?
newbieroaster Said:
It happens with alll my beans. Now I must admit two things. One, I am totally new to this, and two, I am a little hard of hearing, so if the 2nd crack is not as distinct as the first, then that may be where the problem lies. I just emailed Russ, from Coffee Bean Corral, where I bought my FreshRoast roaster about it, so I will see what he says about it as well.
My guess is that this will be at least somewhat bean-specific. I have some very nice Sumatra Classic Mandheling for which first crack is practically nonexistent but second crack is like fireworks going off, and I've also got some Guatemalan Huehuetenango that's exactly the opposite -- first crack is really explosive (temp in the roasting chamber jumps by as much as 30 degrees! -- It's a real pain, actually), but second crack much tougher to hear.
As to the original question on the thread, where to purchase beans: One option would be to look for local roasters and ask whether they sell their beans green. I've done that here in Columbus and, to my surprise, all of the roasters I've asked sell their coffee green. The price varies -- some sell it for a 10% discount, while others sell it for $6-$7 a pound -- but it can be an improvement over beans plus shipping from Sweet Maria's, which runs around $8/lb. for me usually. And some of them have a pretty substantial variety. (Edit -- just re-read your second post -- did you mean there are no local home roasters, or no local independent roasters at all? If the latter, obviously, never mind.)
newbieroaster Senior Member Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 9 Location: Colorado Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Rancilio
Posted Sat May 17, 2008, 3:19am Subject: Re: Where to Purchase Beans?
With everybody's great advice, I am 'starting' to hear 2nd crack more often now. Also, Russ was very helpful too. And you are right, it is somewhat bean-specific, and it also seems to depend on if I let them go long enough, and then decide that they need to go a little longer, then it seems I don't ever hear 2nd crack, probably because they don't get hot enough when I start my FreshRoast back up to continue roasting them, to get them a little darker.
As for finding where to purchase beans, I just placed two orders of beans, and if I order from Coffee Bean Corral, they at least give you a discount on UPS shipping, whereas, Sweet Maria's doesn't, so you end up paying more from Sweet Maria's. However, one thing I do like about Sweet Maria's, is that when you order from them, is that they remind you on your label, not only the name of your coffee (duh!), but what flavor to expect, and how to best roast it to achieve the best flavor. Now, having said that, is it worth paying extra shipping for? Probably not, but I do like the extra personal touch. They also include a color post card, with detailed information of a trip recently taken, and why this picture is important. Mine was of a trip to a very small town in Yemen, and it shows how they process the beans on their rooftops, and have been doing this for many, many years. Along with that, I also got their newsletter, telling what they are up to at Sweet Maria's, and what we would be seeing from them in the near future. As a newbie, I kind of liked that.
We don't have any local home or independent roasters that I know of, however, we do have friends that buy coffee from a place in a town they go through off and on when they do their ministry work here in Colorado during the summer. I hear they do sell both roasted and green beans, and have recently put up a web site, which I am in the process of trying to get. I hear they have some very good coffee. I am eager to find out more information about them. If I do find out their web site information, I will pass it along!
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