glennk Senior Member Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 106 Location: lansing, mi Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Virtuoso Drip: Technivorm CDT, Aeropress Roaster: Hottop B
Posted Sun Feb 21, 2010, 10:43am Subject: Bean suggestions to hone roasting skills?
Which Single Origin(s) would be best to hone my roasting skills on? I bought 5lb. of Brazil Fazenda Santa Ines and have gone through 2lb., but I'm not sure this is the bester "starter bean". I'd like to buy 5lb. of a couple different SOs to "practice" with, maybe try GenX Coffee. Any suggestions on the best type to get?
Posted Sun Feb 21, 2010, 11:05am Subject: Re: Bean suggestions to hone roasting skills?
glennk Said:
Which Single Origin(s) would be best to hone my roasting skills on? I bought 5lb. of Brazil Fazenda Santa Ines and have gone through 2lb., but I'm not sure this is the bester "starter bean".
yakster Senior Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 826 Location: San Jose, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La Peppina / Gaggia Factory... Grinder: Vario / Kyocera Vac Pot: Yama 8 + Pyrex Lox-in Rod Drip: Chemex / CCD / Aeropress Roaster: Behmor
Posted Sun Feb 21, 2010, 11:42am Subject: Re: Bean suggestions to hone roasting skills?
Glenn,
What equipment are you using to roast and how do you want to brew the beans? Sometimes this will play a factor, since some beans are better suited for particular roasters. For example, hot air popcorn poppers favor bright flavors and I might suggest Ethiopian beans. I'm finding that my Behmor really works well for beans and blends I roast slower for espresso where that particular extraction really brings out a nice, balanced flavor. Also, I suppose it'd be good to know what types of coffee you prefer.
Samplers are good, especially if your not sure what types of coffee your drawn to, but you might also consider getting five or ten pounds of one bean so that you can really dial in a roasting style for that bean and see what a faster or slower profile, lighter or darker roast, more or less heat will do for that bean. If your jumping in and not just getting your feet wet, I'd do both. When I first started roasting, I fell in love with a particular Rwandan bean and bought a 20 # sack. Had that for longer then I should have, but a very nice bean. I also made the mistake of buying every bean I thought looked good at the beginning so I'm having to force myself now on a stash reduction program to roast down what I have in cold storage before I buy anything more (and I'd really like to buy some of that Brazil Moreninha Formosa "Raisin" Coffee).
Good luck!
-Chris
p.s. I wasn't sure if I should reply to the thread you started here or on Home-Barista, but since I'm already logged in here and there is another reply to this thread, I'll just start here. There's no real need to start the same thread on two different sites... maybe if you didn't get a response in a week or two you might try a site that's more suited to the question, but this is pretty general and could fit easily on either site.
johnboddie Senior Member Joined: 28 Nov 2008 Posts: 106 Location: Virginia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Brasilia Mini Classic,... Grinder: Rocky, KitchenAid Pro Drip: Cuisinart (non-grinding)
Posted Sun Feb 21, 2010, 12:17pm Subject: Re: Bean suggestions to hone roasting skills?
Brazilian beans seem to be fairly forgiving to the roast variations of those of us starting out. What you might want to consider is working with the Brazilian beans a bit longer and developing consistency at different degrees of roast. I started out roasting to Vienna, but have since found that an FC+ gives me a brighter taste out of my FR+8. I use my roasts for espresso.
Now that I'm starting to be consistent, my learning curve on different beans is much shorter than it was with the Brazilian. I'm roasting Ethiopian along with Brazilian these days, and I'm enjoying the difference in flavors. I only had to go through four roasts with the Ethiopian before I was able to get consistent FC+ batches.
Jmanespresso Senior Member Joined: 18 Jan 2009 Posts: 1,935 Location: Westchester NY Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale Vivaldi II Grinder: Mazzer Major - Vario Vac Pot: Yama-SY5/SY8/TCA5 Drip: V60, Beehouse, CCD Roaster: Hottop B
Posted Sun Feb 21, 2010, 12:55pm Subject: Re: Bean suggestions to hone roasting skills?
Wet Processed Centrals is, generally, what I would suggest to get going. Less Chaff, and the progression through the roast is pretty clear.
A solid Colombia, Costa Rica.. something like that.
The Samplers from SMs are a good place to start, but I also might suggest picking up a 5lb sack of something that will take a wide range of roasts well.
Sweet Marias is a great place to buy beans, and particularly good when you're starting out, because of the amount of information Tom gives you on the beans. Full info on the Farm, and everything from Dry Aroma, to roast level suggestions, along with cupping info. There are a bunch of GREAT places to buy beans(And GenX just got added to the top of my list), but Ive not seen any other place with the same information that SweetMarias offers.
My last suggestion, is about quantity. This speaks to the roaster you have...
If you are using a PopCorn Popper, the IRoast, FreshRoast or Nesco/Zack&Dani's... Then buying 1lb bags of beans is ok.. you'll probably get 3 batches out of bag, which isn' bad.
If you're using a Behmor, Gene or Hottop... Id suggest buying 2lbs, minimum.. unless you know the bean well. 1lb green, is less then 1lb roasted number 1, and 2, with the roasters that take larger batches, you get maybe 2 batches out of a one pound bag. Not very much to play around with a coffee.
I personally buy 2lbs of one bean, minimum, and usually go for 3 or 5lbs, depending on the bean. My Stash includes beans from all regions, but Brazil, Ethiopia and Sumatra in particular, I always have a good amount and variety, as these are easily my favorites.
Follow Your Bliss
Coffee makes your constantly overcome your prejudices and re-evaluate your own "received wisdoms" when it comes to judging cup flavors. -Tom Owen, SweetMarias
rabbit Senior Member Joined: 3 Sep 2008 Posts: 198 Location: maine Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: v.3 miss sylvia Grinder: maestro plus, vario Vac Pot: presspot Drip: not yet.... Roaster: fresh roast sr300
Posted Sun Feb 21, 2010, 9:59pm Subject: Re: Bean suggestions to hone roasting skills?
with each order i buy a 4 lbs sampler pack.....which is 8 half pound bags that the roaster people pick for me.....it`s an easy way to find new coffees and it makes you roast at different levels.......again they pick the coffee,so i never know what i`ll get.......
glennk Senior Member Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 106 Location: lansing, mi Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Virtuoso Drip: Technivorm CDT, Aeropress Roaster: Hottop B
Posted Sun Feb 21, 2010, 10:37pm Subject: Re: Bean suggestions to hone roasting skills?
Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm presently using a heatgun and bowl, but I'll be buying a roaster, soon; probably a Hottop B or a Quest, so I AM diving in, so to speak. I agree about sticking with one or two beans and roasting a lot of roasts to "dial in", that's my plan. Strictly brewing with a TV, haven't explored the world of espresso, Yet. I also love the samplers, bought an eight lb. from SM and a four pound from Roastmasters along with 5lb. of Brazil Fazenda Santa Ines and 2lb. of the La Minita Costa Rican. There will be a sampler in every order I place for at least the forseeable future. I've bought a lot of roasted beans and I like pretty much all the SOs I've tried, just some more than others.(Won't judge my tastes on my own roasts,yet) As with food and cigars, I really like variety,one of the many reasons I decided to start roasting in the first place. As for roast level, everything from City+ to Full City+. I just don't want to try to learn on an origin that's hard to roast well or roasts unevenly,etc. I do really like a lot of the Kenyans and also seem partial to the Papaua New Guineas I've tried. Any thoughts on these?
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