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New Members - May Start Here !
JETROASTER
Top  #276 Print Post
Posted on 11/17/2011 3:04 PM
Sounds better than any Red-Bull concoction!! Welcome !!
-Scott
 
ginny
Top  #277 Print Post
Posted on 11/17/2011 4:00 PM

Quote

I love coffee, mostly expresso, chocolate and beer


a a great Champagne and I'll be right over with a basket full of goodies.

:P
 
MikeHag
Top  #278 Print Post
Posted on 11/21/2011 7:14 AM
Hello all. New homeroaster here, based in the Highlands of Scotland. Spent the past year of so building up my coffee-related knowledge and skills in advance of opening a caf? in early 2012. Finding that there's a limit to how much I can understand as a barista without learning more about other links in the chain... roasting being one. I've read Kenneth Davids' Home Coffee Roasting book and tried a couple of pan roasts with beans I brought back from a holiday in Bali... an interesting start but didn't produce anything I'd particularly want to drink. Recently I've been lucky enough to find a Sivetz 1.25lb roaster for a good price and am holding back on doing a first roast on it until I learn more so I can record and improve rather than just brown the beans. Also have a Gene Cafe coming as a Christmas present but for now it will have to sit in the box.
At this stage I'm a little overwhelmed by the mountain of great info on this forum, and that's just fine in my book smile Much better than no info at all.
Cheers.
Mike

...here's the Sivetz gagging to be put through its paces:
i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/neeway2000/th_sivetz.jpg
 
allenb
Top  #279 Print Post
Posted on 11/22/2011 8:12 PM
Hi Mike, welcome to HRO.

You've gotten yourself a nice roaster with the Sivets 1.25 lbr. Not many that I know of who've gotten a chance to take one through the paces but I've heard great things about their ability to do fine roasts with the right control scenario.

Read as much as you can under "Dataloggers/Controllers/Rate of Rise Meters" for control ideas and under "Roasting Coffee" for ideas on profiles to get you started.

Be sure to ask, ask, ask for any questions on control schemes as we've got the best and the brightest here in that arena.

Allen
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
W0FMS
Top  #280 Print Post
Posted on 12/20/2011 11:08 AM
I'm new as well here...

I started off hating coffee. I really did. I thought Starbucks was the high end and Folger's was the common stuff. Both were awful and both are still awful.

I had surgery done that requires me to drink skim milk a couple of times a day, and I can't stand the stuff unless it's mixed with something. Yes I know it's "wrong" to drink coffee that way.. but you do what you got to, don't you? smile

Coffee seemed like a good low calorie way to go with a natural "kick", eh?

I've graduated in the last two years from hating coffee to grinding my own and it tasting a lot better, to then using a correct burr mill grinder and having it taste a lot lot better to seeing a video of using a corn popper roasting.. last month I decided to get a variety of green beans from Sweet Maria's and Burman's and I ain't ever going back. It's like Mother's milk. I now love it. With and without milk.

So, yes I'm still grinding with a Hario slim mill for finer grinds and for courser grinds (like French Press) a burr mill cheap Cuisinart.. but they work well and roasting in a West Bend Air Crazy $14 popper with really good results. I actually like my Moka pots the best for brewing but I brew many different ways. They only way I don't like is drip.

I did buy a TC-4 board and I have been gathering up K-type thermocouples and last night found my Solid State Relays. My mother caught wind of this new obsession--and sent my childhood corn popper, a 1980 date code WB Poppery I. So I'll probably be doing the fluid bed roaster PID control thing first.

I'm new, but I'm also an Electrical Engineer so I will likely go overboard and get there relatively quickly. This is an interesting forum and I have to say the TC-4's design of using a generic A/D and a I2C thermometer and doing the cold end compensation in software is clever. The Maxim IC I was going to use is more expensive for one channel than the two IC's that the TC4 boards uses for four.

I took me literally 5 minutes to change the software to hook to a DF Robot LCD shield I had already and run aBourbon on it. The DF Robot shield has some conflicting lines if PID controlling, but can be hacked and cut easily to move the three conflicting lines. I got it on e-bay for $11 shipped.

I suppose one thing I'd like to know though, from the experts here, is where should the "Environment" TC go on a air popper? Near the Nichrome? smile

Cheers-- glad to be a part of this hobby. This forum looks like fun.

Fred
 
ginny
Top  #281 Print Post
Posted on 12/20/2011 11:37 AM
Hi Fred:

Thanks for joining us here at HRO...

If you want a speedy response to you query is would be best to go to:

http://forum.home...rum_id=133

start a thread an ask away.

Your question can get seriously lost here in the area.

Cheers,

ginnyGrin
 
teemark
Top  #282 Print Post
Posted on 12/21/2011 11:54 AM
Hi to all -

I've been home roasting for the last 2-1/2 years, but somehow didn't find this site until a few days ago. I started with the Freshroast (so many design flaws), a couple air poppers, and now a Hot Top. The Hot Top is an older model, KN-8828D, my goal is to upgrade it to the KN-8828P next Spring, although I also want to build something using the arduino controllers.

Most people I know think I'm crazy to go to so much trouble over coffee. I'm glad to find a place where other, equally crazy people, congregate online Grin
 
Russell
Top  #283 Print Post
Posted on 12/22/2011 5:00 PM
Hey everybody!

Greetings from Virginia! I've been home recovering from hip surgery since early Nov. I bought book about the history of coffee to pass the time. One thing lead to another and I discovered home roasting. I have always loved coffee and I never really thought about roasting my own. I am having a blast! Right now I have only have a hot air popper and my trusty 1960's avocado green oven. There is so much to learn about roasting and so many possibilities. Thank goodness I found your forum. I could stay on here for hours reading...

Russell
 
allenb
Top  #284 Print Post
Posted on 12/22/2011 6:15 PM

Quote

teemark wrote:
Hi to all -

I've been home roasting for the last 2-1/2 years, but somehow didn't find this site until a few days ago. I started with the Freshroast (so many design flaws), a couple air poppers, and now a Hot Top. The Hot Top is an older model, KN-8828D, my goal is to upgrade it to the KN-8828P next Spring, although I also want to build something using the arduino controllers.

Most people I know think I'm crazy to go to so much trouble over coffee. I'm glad to find a place where other, equally crazy people, congregate online Grin


Big welcome Teemark! Wow, 2+ years browning beans without HRO? Well the next 2+ will be much more fun and hopefully you'll find ways to achieve the killer roasts people dream of. (if you haven't already achieved it yet).

Please post a new thread describing what direction you want to go with the new build with Arduino and many here will chime in.

As far as folks thinking you're crazy to go to so much trouble over coffee?
Unfortunately, coffee is the only beverage that accepting sub-par quality is seen as admirable and pursuing excellence is viewed as fanatical. Of course, some of us here at HRO might be a little crazy and my wife is sure I am!

Allen
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
allenb
Top  #285 Print Post
Posted on 12/22/2011 6:22 PM

Quote

Russell wrote:
Hey everybody!

Greetings from Virginia! I've been home recovering from hip surgery since early Nov. I bought book about the history of coffee to pass the time. One thing lead to another and I discovered home roasting. I have always loved coffee and I never really thought about roasting my own. I am having a blast! Right now I have only have a hot air popper and my trusty 1960's avocado green oven. There is so much to learn about roasting and so many possibilities. Thank goodness I found your forum. I could stay on here for hours reading...

Russell


Welcome to HRO Russell! Hope the recovery goes quick. You've come to the right place and I guarantee you will spend many more hours combing HRO's wealth of roasters and roasting wisdom. If you love coffee then after you've sipped some pure gold from your popper you will be more in love with it.

Post questions and how the roasting's going often and don't forget to post pictures.

Allen
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
WalterWayne
Top  #286 Print Post
Posted on 01/17/2012 11:02 AM
Hello All,

My Name is Walter, and I'm a Northern California roaster and the other half of the Ken and Walter blend team! :) I went through everything as Ken worked on his first Sono, and what a learning experience it was for him!

My machine of choice will be the Gene Cafe, which I plan to start learning everything about even before I order one! (The Red one please). Small lab roasting, developing the techniques, working on the best profiles for a blend we can take to market, appeals to the mad scientist in me!

Anyways,
Glad to be here!
- Walter
 
JETROASTER
Top  #287 Print Post
Posted on 01/17/2012 11:37 AM
You've come to the right place! Good to have you here. -Scott
 
John Despres
Top  #288 Print Post
Posted on 01/17/2012 7:19 PM

Quote

Russell wrote:
Hey everybody!

Greetings from Virginia! I've been home recovering from hip surgery since early Nov. I bought book about the history of coffee to pass the time. One thing lead to another and I discovered home roasting. I have always loved coffee and I never really thought about roasting my own. I am having a blast! Right now I have only have a hot air popper and my trusty 1960's avocado green oven. There is so much to learn about roasting and so many possibilities. Thank goodness I found your forum. I could stay on here for hours reading...

Russell


Welcome, Russell!

I, too was hooked by a book. I always wanted to roast my own & my wife bought me Ken Davids' book... That was it.

Enjoy the site and feel free to chime in any time!

John
Respect the bean.
John Despres
Fresh Roast 8, Gene Cafe, JYTT 1k, Quest M3, Mazzer Mini, Technivorm, various size presses and many more brewers.
 
Web
John Despres
Top  #289 Print Post
Posted on 01/17/2012 7:21 PM

Quote

MikeHag wrote:
Hello all. New homeroaster here, based in the Highlands of Scotland. Spent the past year of so building up my coffee-related knowledge and skills in advance of opening a caf? in early 2012. Finding that there's a limit to how much I can understand as a barista without learning more about other links in the chain... roasting being one. I've read Kenneth Davids' Home Coffee Roasting book and tried a couple of pan roasts with beans I brought back from a holiday in Bali... an interesting start but didn't produce anything I'd particularly want to drink. Recently I've been lucky enough to find a Sivetz 1.25lb roaster for a good price and am holding back on doing a first roast on it until I learn more so I can record and improve rather than just brown the beans. Also have a Gene Cafe coming as a Christmas present but for now it will have to sit in the box.
At this stage I'm a little overwhelmed by the mountain of great info on this forum, and that's just fine in my book smile Much better than no info at all.
Cheers.
Mike

...here's the Sivetz gagging to be put through its paces:
i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/neeway2000/th_sivetz.jpg


Hey, Mike, how's that Sivetz working out for you?

John
Respect the bean.
John Despres
Fresh Roast 8, Gene Cafe, JYTT 1k, Quest M3, Mazzer Mini, Technivorm, various size presses and many more brewers.
 
Web
dbs
Top  #290 Print Post
Posted on 01/20/2012 10:33 AM
Greetings, everybody, from NYC. Have been roasting my own for just a couple of months now, and am spoiled for life! Can anybody give guidance for or against a Nesco Professional roaster? I bought one after getting mediocre results from an air-pop popcorn popper. The results now are light-years better, but am trying to expand my knowledge without busting the budget.

Also, does anyone out there use the old-fashioned "colador" brewing method? In Brazil they call it "coador." Just a pot and a filter, nothing else.

Looking forward to lots of fanatical coffee talk....

Sincerely,
David
 
JETROASTER
Top  #291 Print Post
Posted on 01/20/2012 11:40 AM
Welcome aboard David! Answers will be forthcoming I'm sure. -Scott
 
sabalism
Top  #292 Print Post
Posted on 01/20/2012 12:53 PM
Hi, I'm Jamie. I live in Tampa Bay FL. I always knew great coffee when I drank it, but I had it so rarely I thought it was some magic instead of just well roasted, quality beans, served soon after roasting, and ground just prior to brewing. Ok, maybe that is all kind of magical. The last time I frequented a coffee shop was 1995. Between then and last year I had about 50 cups total, with about 5 being memorable in a good way. Most of these cups were sweet, paled and probably flavored. The best cup I had was from my Coleman campstove brewer. I now realize it's likely because the water was actually hit enough that day.

About 18 months ago I drank daily from my friends Nespresso machine. This was really good coffee to me. I bought a French press, went to the grocery store, bought some Peet's, and brewed up some gross resemblance to coffee. I googled "why does my coffee taste like sh#$" and found Sweet Maria's. And the rest.....

So I roasted a while on a popper and an I-Roast 2 until I realized from reading the web that the body I seemed would be unobtainable that way. Tinkering and research led me here. Take me to your leader. smile
 
JETROASTER
Top  #293 Print Post
Posted on 01/21/2012 9:25 AM

Quote

sabalism wrote:
Take me to your leader. smile


Yes, but first;

Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
What... is your name?
What... is your quest?
What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Welcome aboard....even if you don't know the air velocity answer.Grin

-Scott
 
CoryM
Top  #294 Print Post
Posted on 01/26/2012 1:07 PM
African or European swallow?

I'm Cory and just a few weeks into this roasting adventure. For Christmas, my wife bought me some good coffee (freshly roasted Colombian Huila and Mexican Chiapas) from a good local coffee shop. This opened my eyes! The local roaster got started with a popper and gave credit to Sweet Maria's for the kick start. SO......

A few hours on the SM site and I was amazed and excited by the idea of roasting my own. As an IT system architect, I loved the idea of something tangible and sharable along with all the great sensory enjoyment. I bought a popper and a 4-pound sampler from SM and got the ball rolling.

After a few weeks, even the poor results are better than *$. I'm working on converting an old Breadman that I had in the garage gathering dust, and having an overall blast.

Thanks to everyone here for the amazing information and insight. It's been great lurking so I thought I would jump in and make myself known.

Thanks again and happy roasting!
 
JETROASTER
Top  #295 Print Post
Posted on 01/26/2012 2:50 PM
African....naturally. Welcome aboard !! -Scott
 
jkoll42
Top  #296 Print Post
Posted on 01/26/2012 2:52 PM
Welcome Cory!

African swallows are non migratory. Post away!
-Jon
Honey badger 1k, Bunn LPG-2E, Technivorm, Cimbali Max Hybrid, Vibiemme Double Domo V3
 
Army Coffee
Top  #297 Print Post
Posted on 02/02/2012 7:41 PM
OK, I have ben a Coffee Drinker forever...Think that is a product of the Army. Currently live in South Carolina but have lived all over the world and "Been There, Done That".

I am never without my Coffee Mug. That said, I have always accpeted the good and the bad with coffee. Some places make it great and Others Suck. Regardless, I will drink it because I like Coffee!

Was traveling and had my first Vac Pot from a Cona and I had to buy one. In searching for a Cona on line, I ran across Sweet Marie's and their pages about home roasting and have been hooked ever since!

Been roasting out of a Popcorn Popper for a few months to see if I really was going to like it (As Sweet Marie's Suggests) and finally have taken the plunge in purchasing a Roaster.

Bought a Gene Cafe and still waiting for it. Started searching for forums to finds other Coffee Freaks and it got me to where I am today.

I am a Combat Infantryman who knows what I like. That does not mean I will not try anything once, but I am never afraid to tell you what I think. Nec Aspera Terrent is my Motto...a Wolfhound will know what it means, but I have no fear on this earth!

Truly excited about being on here and meeting fellow roasters. Hope to have many great years of roasting on my new Gene Cafe when it arrives!

Giddy Up!!!
 
seedlings
Top  #298 Print Post
Posted on 02/02/2012 10:26 PM
Great stories from fantastic new members! Welcome friends.

CHAD
Roaster: CoffeeAir II 2# DIY air roaster
Grinder: Vintage Grindmaster 500
Brewers: Vintage Cory DCU DCL, Aeropress, Press, Osaka Titanium pourover
 
John Despres
Top  #299 Print Post
Posted on 02/10/2012 8:08 PM
Welcome, Drew! Roasting can be as much of a hardship as you make it for yourself, but don't be deterred, we'll help with whatever you need.

John
Respect the bean.
John Despres
Fresh Roast 8, Gene Cafe, JYTT 1k, Quest M3, Mazzer Mini, Technivorm, various size presses and many more brewers.
 
Web
xengineer
Top  #300 Print Post
Posted on 02/20/2012 6:45 PM
Hi HomeRoasters! My name is Charles Nemeth, retired electrical engineer, living in Toronto, Canada. I am relatively new to the entire coffee-universe as I only started regularly drinking coffee and espresso about 10 years ago. After spending some time in Costa Rica and tasting different local beans, I got hooked on good coffee. I quickly realized the difference freshly custom-roasted coffee can make, and after researching the possibilities and especially finding Homeroasters, I decided to make my own roaster. This is what lead me to sign up here now and share what I think is a new take on an old idea: after performing some electrical and thermal measurements, I modified a Stir-Crazy popper and make controllable and repeatable roasts without using the Turbo convection oven. I have done 5 batches, up to 200 g, of Costa Rican Tarrazu until now. My wife and I brew the espresso using a simple Bialetti, and we love the richness of the flavor.
If there is real interest, I will post the details of the Stir-Crazy modification, which is fairly simple and inexpensive. Just post a reply if interested, with the suggested forum where to post it.
Happy roasting!
Charles
 
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