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renatoa
03/25/2024 12:38 PM
coffee drink, Ramper?

allenb
03/24/2024 12:10 PM
Siam3D Welcome

renatoa
03/23/2024 3:02 PM
welcome cup, andrewg

allenb
03/21/2024 5:10 PM
TRH629 Welcome

allenb
03/21/2024 5:08 PM
marimohead Welcome

In Memory Of Ginny
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Addicted to excellence
ciel-007
I love a great cup of coffee. Creating a great cup of coffee involves a demanding process with many fine steps. Over the years, I have discovered that too few businesses offer a great cup of coffee, and even fewer places care to try. I have also discovered that the greater my involvement in the steps of brewing a great cup... the greater my enjoyment of that wonderful elixir. I spent some time on the internet looking for a site that might help perfect my enjoyment of the art. After perusing some of the posts here last night, I feel that I may have finally found a haven... here at Homeroasters.
 
ginny
Thanks ciel:


we are not a huge group but we clearly try to help each other out when we can. as you can see we have a bunch of very creative folks around here.

thanks for joining us and post away.

Welcome

ginny
Edited by ginny on 04/04/2012 2:07 PM
 
ciel-007
Thanks Ginny. Because of my increasing dissatisfaction with the coffee sold in commercial establishments (and their unjustified high prices), I began investing in quality equipment a couple of years ago. I started with a Brewtus II espresso machine, and a Mazzer Mini E grinder. Then I began my quest to find quality roasted beans. Although there are a few coffee roasting establishments in my area, I quickly discovered that the quality of the roasts was not consistent - sometimes excellent... but most often simply mediocre. As a result, I have decided to begin roasting my own beans, and this site seems to be the perfect place to be.
 
jkoll42
Welcome to the club! Any thoughts about what your first roaster will be?
-Jon
Honey badger 1k, Bunn LPG-2E, Technivorm, Cimbali Max Hybrid, Vibiemme Double Domo V3
 
ciel-007

Quote

jkoll42 wrote:

Any thoughts about what your first roaster will be?


Yes, I've ordered a Gene Cafe roaster.
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
ginny
Good choice we have many Gene Cafe users here and a entire section with tips, tricks and mods...

-g
 
ciel-007

Quote

ginny wrote:

... we have many Gene Cafe users here...
-g


After doing some reading about affordable roasters, the Gene Cafe emerged as an attractive compromise. It may be noisy (I already have a mechanic's stethoscope standing by to hear FC) but the it seemed to offer excellent time and temperature controls, and an exceptional view of the roasting beans.
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
Army Coffee
I LOVE MY GENE CAFE!!!

Great pick and there is tons of information on here as well as on Sweet Maria's

You will love the GC Experience. When do you get it?

Drew
NEC ASPERA TERRENT

North TJ-072 2kg Roaster, Hottop 8828B, Gene Cafe Roaster, Baratza Vario Grinder, Breville SmartGrinder, Behmor Brazen, Cona "D", Bialetti Moka Express, Aero-Press, Quick Mill QM67
 
ciel-007

Quote

Army Coffee wrote:

You will love the GC Experience. When do you get it?

Drew


My GC should arrive this week. Have you tried using your GC to roast blends, or have you been restricting your roasting to single-origin beans?
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
Army Coffee

Quote

My GC should arrive this week. Have you tried using your GC to roast blends, or have you been restricting your roasting to single-origin beans?


I still consider myself a Newbie when it comes to Roasting. I am still on Single Origin working my way around the World. Most countries have been hit and some have not been as good as others. I try them all at various Roast Levels and my wife and I talk about each and every one. Lately, I have been blending single origins at different Roast Levels. As an example, we had a Malawi Coffee that was rather plain and too try and add depth to it, I blended 50% City Roast to take the Origin Character and 50% Full City Plus to get a deeper chocolate out of it. My wife and I liked that blend better than the single Roast Level.

We really Like the Ethiopian Natural Harra and have blended that 50/50 with another favorite of our from Guatamala...we refer to this as the Guatalopian and we love it!

I have not ventured into the world of Blending other than that. We are living this dream one day at a time and love sharing our journey on here and the SM Forum.

Can't wait to hear about your initial experiences...Lots of great ideas on here that you should follow. Doing a Empty Run to check your Times is a great example. Buy a Kill-o-Watt to keep an eye on your power drops. I have not bought a Variac as they are $$$ and my power is good where I am stationed.

Hope this helps...

Drew
NEC ASPERA TERRENT

North TJ-072 2kg Roaster, Hottop 8828B, Gene Cafe Roaster, Baratza Vario Grinder, Breville SmartGrinder, Behmor Brazen, Cona "D", Bialetti Moka Express, Aero-Press, Quick Mill QM67
 
ciel-007

Quote

Army Coffee wrote:

... I have not bought a Variac as they are $$$ and my power is good where I am stationed.

Drew


Thanks for sharing some of your experiences - that's much appreciated. Currently, my favorite blend involves beans from 4 single origins in varying proportions; I have been wondering if I might be able to save myself a lot of work/time by pre-blending before roasting. As it turns out, I bought a used variac some years ago for hobby purposes but have seldom had an excuse to power it up. Perhaps that may change when the GC arrives.
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
ciel-007

Quote

Army Coffee wrote:


... I have been blending single origins at different Roast Levels. As an example, we had a Malawi Coffee that was rather plain and too try and add depth to it, I blended 50% City Roast to take the Origin Character and 50% Full City Plus to get a deeper chocolate out of it. My wife and I liked that blend better than the single Roast Level...



Drew, what a great idea. I shall have to try this when I receive my GC. Thanks for suggesting it, Ciel
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
troposcuba
Just a not for ya on the blending... I was talking to my local specialty roaster (also my main green bean supplier). This guy is good. We were talking about his blending process. He told me he always roasts single origin, brews them all up and starts blending "wet". By that I mean he adds one spoon at a time to a clean cup (warned me to either use separate spoons or wash them between to avoid cross contamination) to reach a blend he likes. At that point, the ratio of liquid or dry coffee will be the same.

as far as roasting already blended, your results will vary with that. I have done it, but don't anymore. The differences in beans will require a different roast profile for each variety. that does not work so well already blended. The other part is it makes it difficult to taste them individually and get to the bottom of what each has to bring to the table.

enjoy, and welcome!
Sean
 
ciel-007

Quote

troposcuba wrote:

Just a not for ya on the blending... enjoy, and welcome!


Thanks Sean.
Before ordering my GC, I spent a couple of years buying various SO freshly roasted beans, and experimenting via "wet" blending. With the aid of my Brewtus II and my Mazzer Mini E, I discovered a blend of 4 SO beans that my subjective palate found to have exceptional balance and flavor.

I expect that roasting beans with the GC will be a lot of fun; however, there will likely be many occasions when I simply don't have the time to conduct 4 separate roasts... and hence my motivation in seeking to discover a protocol for preblending my four favorite SO beans before roasting, and still achieving that exquisite balance in the final roasted product.

Time and experimental trials will tell if the GC and my creativity are capable of delivering. It really great to be here to lean and to share, Ciel
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
aaronotb
Hi all! I've gone about this the wrong way, posting in a forum first, then making this, my second post, the introduction. I'm another (super happy) Gene Cafe roaster. I started out with a stovetop hand crank, then modified and used a couple of air poppers. Then I wanted more control to allow me to play around with profiling. I live in a condo but have a good range hood; my living situation limited my options. I went with the Gene as I thought it would be a great way to really start learning about roasting, and because it is so easy to vent into the hood. I couldn't be more delighted, the machine has been fantastic and I've learned a huge amount. The Gene gets a bad rap because you can't put in a probe, and because cooling is slow. Dumping the roast and manually cooling is easy, and the chaff collector is great. Anything under $1k will have a binary electric heating element. The Gene gives the user fantastic control over environmental temperature, and forces you to pay attention to the development of the roast. It is manual, no programming. I love it.

I am one of these super anal, obsessive types - apologies in advance, you are forewarned at how annoying I can be. However, I keep good logs, am fascinated by the roasting process, and am trying to learn as much as I can and to constantly improve! Anything you can do to help me along would be wonderful and highly appreciated. Mahalo!
Quest M3, K-10 PB, SJ, '67 Cremina, Isomac Millenium
 
ciel-007
Hi Aaron and welcome to HRO. I think you will love your GC. As you said, there are many features that make the GC an attractive choice. I especially like the fact that it is easy to judge the successive stages in roasting colors through the transparent drum. Ciel
Ciel... seeking Heaven in my cup with ................................................................................................................. EXPOBAR Brewtus II - MAZZER Mini E - MAHLK?NIG Vario - GeneCafe - RAF-1 Extreme (Modified B-2 HOTTOP) - BellaTaiwan XJ-101
 
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