Homeroasters - Home Roasting Coffee Community » MEMBER Introductions and Profiles » New Members say hello or you may update your profile.
Who is here? 1 guest(s)
 Print Thread
Newbie from Yerevan, Armenia
vahegan
Top  #1 Print Post
Posted on 03/23/2014 8:45 AM
Hi everyone!

My name is Vahe Ganapetyan, and I live in Yerevan, Armenia.

I am a newbie, in home roasting, and I am very glad to have just discovered this forum!

I purchased an espresso machine (Saeco Intuita HD8750/19) this January, and then started investigating into coffee. Upon some reading on the subject, I found out about the benefits of fresh roasted coffee, and decided to go home roasting.

In the process, I decided to make my own popcorn-machine based roaster machine, adding an Arduino-based PID control. I just posted details of my project in this thread.
 
allenb
Top  #2 Print Post
Posted on 03/24/2014 7:25 PM
Hi Vahe and please accept a late welcome to HRO! I'm not sure we've had many members if any from Armenia and hopefully we'll have more in the future. Do you know of others in Yerevan that homeroast? I've looked over your popper and it is very impressive and well executed.

Post often!

Allen
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
ginny
Top  #3 Print Post
Posted on 03/25/2014 12:01 PM
Vahe:

that is one fine roaster; may I ask where you get some of your beans from?

also nice video up posted, thanks.

ginny
 
vahegan
Top  #4 Print Post
Posted on 03/27/2014 2:39 PM

Quote

allenb wrote:

Hi Vahe and please accept a late welcome to HRO! I'm not sure we've had many members if any from Armenia and hopefully we'll have more in the future. Do you know of others in Yerevan that homeroast? I've looked over your popper and it is very impressive and well executed.

Post often!

Allen


Hi Allen!

When I was a kid, I remember my granny used to homeroast in a large pan on the stove. Many people did that at the time. Then, we went to a local grinder with my granddad, and he made for us a very fine powder for turkish-style coffee. That's what most people tend to drink here. We did this once a week, to always have a fresh coffee.

I don't know of anyone else to homeroast here nowadays. They buy it from the store, or from a local grinder who always has a small variety of roasted coffee. Actually, when I tell people what I do, they think I am crazy. Most say, why all this technology, PID control etc. for a simple coffee roast? :)
My DIY roaster thread
My work-in-progress roaster project
 
vahegan
Top  #5 Print Post
Posted on 03/27/2014 3:01 PM

Quote

ginny wrote:

Vahe:

that is one fine roaster; may I ask where you get some of your beans from?

also nice video up posted, thanks.

ginny


Hi Ginny,

Thanks for the words of praise, but my roaster still has a long way to go. Thanks to this forum, my understanding is improving and I hope so will be my roaster and the roasts...

Concerning green beans. Well, not many places sell them here. And what they offer, is just two varieties at most (usually one type of robusta and one of arabica). There are two main importers of coffee in the city, but they roast at their own facilities and offer for sale roasted coffee at their chain stores. The green beans they offer is probably mainly for those who buy for slimming purposes - at least, whenever I buy green beans at any store here, first thing they tell me is "we won't be able to grind it" :)

Fortunately, merely by chance I discovered that one of my former colleagues works at the office of one of the importers, so he arranged for me to pick up one-pound samples of their coffees in unroasted form and promised to let me know whenever they get fresh batches. But I feel that I am a pain in the neck for them as the office mainly sells in sacks to local stores, and the very small volumes I buy are just a sign of good will for them. I am trying their samples, mostly will do, but not just excellent coffee. Maragogeep was OK, as well as Honduras SHB19 and Uganda Bugishu AA. At the other chain I managed to buy a very good sample of Columbian Excelso. They also have Yirgacheffe and other types, but only roasted. The lady at the counter told they can probably arrange to sell unroasted if I buy sufficient amounts. I still have to find an approach to them as I don't want to buy large amounts without testing smaller samples first :)

The rest, I order from the Internet. Got 2 pounds of Yirgacheffe and PNG from coffee-lovers-dream-roasters on eBay, I recently asked my friend in the US to order an 8-pound espresso sampler from Sweet Marias (they do not ship to my country directly), he will ship it any day now. Unfortunately, USPS prices have grown too much lately, and shipping cost is higher than the beans...
My DIY roaster thread
My work-in-progress roaster project
 
Koffee Kosmo
Top  #6 Print Post
Posted on 03/27/2014 9:30 PM
Green beans can be stored for up to 3 years so in some cases shipping is less with more weight being shipped

Oh and welcome to the forum

KK
I home roast and I like it. Designer of the KKTO
Roaster Build information
https://homeroast...ad_id=1142

https://docs.goog...lide=id.i0
Blog - http://koffeekosm...gspot.com/

Bezzera Strega, Mazzer Robur Grinder, Pullman Tamper Convex,
(KKTO) Turbo Oven Home Roaster.
 
Web
ginny
Top  #7 Print Post
Posted on 03/28/2014 7:05 AM
Vahe:

I forget about shipping; being in the US and close enough to run over to Sweet Maria's I am very spoiled.

Perhaps we can find a way to get a box of assorted beans to you at a decent price.

I will investigate this abit.

Have a great weekend and thanks again for joining us.


ginny


rockon
 
vahegan
Top  #8 Print Post
Posted on 03/28/2014 12:52 PM

Quote

Koffee Kosmo wrote:

Green beans can be stored for up to 3 years so in some cases shipping is less with more weight being shipped

Oh and welcome to the forum

KK

Thank you, Kosmo,

Yeah, I know about the long storage :)

Quote

ginny wrote:

Vahe:

I forget about shipping; being in the US and close enough to run over to Sweet Maria's I am very spoiled.

Perhaps we can find a way to get a box of assorted beans to you at a decent price.

I will investigate this abit.

Have a great weekend and thanks again for joining us.


ginny


rockon


Thank you very much for your care, Ginny!

USPS prices have increased significantly lately. My friend is going to ship me 8 pounds sampler from SM and one pound of Kona coffee off the eBay by medium flat rate box, which is $61.75 shipped internationally.

I am thinking to try out these samplers to find out my preferences, then to think about some way of getting a larger order. There are lots of Armenians living in LA, and I know there are some companies that deliver to my country by the sea. One is United Shipping Group (http://www.unitedshippinggroup.com/). It is going to be slow, but the prices are quite moderate. When I am determined about which beans to order, I'll try to find a friend in LA area, to get the beans from SM and arrange with USG.

The bad thing is that I may have to deal with customs clearance when the coffee arrives, and that's a very big pain in the neck in my country. I hear it is possible to arrange with USG in advance, and they are able to solve the customs issues for a small fee, but this needs to be talked over. Will see when I get to that point. I still have quite some time to go since USPS is also rather slow - it will take around a month to get my samples box here...

Anyway, thanks again very much for your care. This is a very good forum and I really like it here. Just need more time to look around :)
My DIY roaster thread
My work-in-progress roaster project
 
Jump to Forum: