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My first popcorn popper
Luposian
Top  #21 Print Post
Posted on 04/23/2021 11:18 AM
Last roast I did in the Nostalgia ?Coffee Popper?, took 7 minutes, from beginning to end. I?ll assume that?s way too fast? The beans taste like roasted coffee beans and smell like roasted coffee beans. I couldn?t tell you, in a blind taste test, if someone else hadn?t roasted them. The espresso I make tastes about the same in every way. No difference from what we?ve bought from our local roaster.

So, what nuances am I trying to bring out with a slower roasting process? Or, is it like espresso, where there really is no ?mathematical precision? to produce THE right shot of espresso, because personal taste is the bottom line? In other words, there is no absolutely RIGHT way to make espresso, because what YOU like (taste-wise) is all that matters?
Edited by Luposian on 04/23/2021 12:07 PM
"I got me a Coffee Popper! Whoo-hoo!"
 
renatoa
Top  #22 Print Post
Posted on 04/23/2021 1:35 PM
7 minutes to second crack and drop is indeed too fast.
Actually, even FC under 7 minutes is at the limits of acceptable, according to some theories... and preferences.
Nuances can be noticed if you stop roasting before City level. Second crack equalise most origins, as you already noticed, your roast smells and taste like those from your roaster. So you achieved "professional" results... Grin
Unfortunately this equalisation is not lossless, some would say you lose the best part of the coffee...
 
Luposian
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Posted on 04/23/2021 6:52 PM

Quote

renatoa wrote:

7 minutes to second crack and drop is indeed too fast.
Actually, even FC under 7 minutes is at the limits of acceptable, according to some theories... and preferences.
Nuances can be noticed if you stop roasting before City level. Second crack equalise most origins, as you already noticed, your roast smells and taste like those from your roaster. So you achieved "professional" results... Grin
Unfortunately this equalisation is not lossless, some would say you lose the best part of the coffee...

"...theories... and preferences."

And that's what I'm getting at. Are we striving for "perfection", when no such thing actually exists? It's all up to personal interpretation? I mean... why buy a Gene Cafe, when I'm getting perfectly acceptable results with my "Coffee Popper"? Just so I can make more per batch? Then it will likely start to lose quality before I finish it off, like with the stuff we buy from the local roaster!
"I got me a Coffee Popper! Whoo-hoo!"
 
renatoa
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Posted on 04/24/2021 2:42 AM
Our local forum has as motto "In the quest for the perfect espresso"
If you think you found the unobtainable, good to you.
Me, I feel dumber and dumber with every roast Grin
"Theories..." in some visual arts, as painting, photography, etc, we have a quote "you should know the rules to know how many you broke in your masterpiece..." Do you know how many in your roast ? smile
"No such thing actually exists" is a conclusion sometimes after a life of searching.
But in this case I am pretty confident that an unmoded popper can't deliver something closer to perfection, "as the local roaster". In our forum we consider the comercial coffee as the worst you can buy ;)
Else why we are roasting coffee at home ?!
 
Luposian
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Posted on 04/24/2021 3:13 AM

Quote

renatoa wrote:

Our local forum has as motto "In the quest for the perfect espresso"
If you think you found the unobtainable, good to you.
Me, I feel dumber and dumber with every roast Grin
"Theories..." in some visual arts, as painting, photography, etc, we have a quote "you should know the rules to know how many you broke in your masterpiece..." Do you know how many in your roast ? smile
"No such thing actually exists" is a conclusion sometimes after a life of searching.
But in this case I am pretty confident that an unmoded popper can't deliver something closer to perfection, "as the local roaster". In our forum we consider the comercial coffee as the worst you can buy ;)
Else why we are roasting coffee at home ?!

My quest has always been to duplicate the freshness and taste of what we buy from our local roaster, for less. We've accomplished that... with a $20 popcorn popper in 7 minutes! 1lb of green coffee beans lasts us a couple weeks and every shot of espresso is as fresh as the best stuff we've ever bought locally and ground. I like being involved in the process of making a small batch (1/3 cup) of beans every few days (nothing but a wooden spoon handle, to stir the beans!), without the "math" that's involved with better machines and longer roasting times.

I was certain I'd get "almost there", with the Nostalgia popcorn popper, but have to invest into a more expensive machine (like the Gene Cafe). I'm please I don't HAVE to do that. Sometimes simplicity is the best way to do something. Will I ever get sometihng better? Probably. Just to see if I do notice a difference. But I'll wait until I've got $650 with nothing better to use it for, before I do that. :-D
"I got me a Coffee Popper! Whoo-hoo!"
 
renatoa
Top  #26 Print Post
Posted on 04/24/2021 3:51 AM
No need to repeat the Gene mantra as a reference machine... it don't worth the money, indeed. But there are really much cheaper ways to get better results.
Already advised you in the first page how to improve your popper with less than $20.
But this imply also learning, which seems to be an issue for you.
Learning, and also taste education. Obtaining results "like a commercial" isn't the best bragging in this field, imo. All home users from my community started roasting at home because they no more like the commercial coffee. None of them returned to a coffee shop to buy another bag. Two of them became world roasting champions, so go figure we have a competent community to talk on this subject...
 
Luposian
Top  #27 Print Post
Posted on 04/24/2021 4:26 AM

Quote

renatoa wrote:

No need to repeat the Gene mantra as a reference machine... it don't worth the money, indeed. But there are really much cheaper ways to get better results.
Already advised you in the first page how to improve your popper with less than $20.
But this imply also learning, which seems to be an issue for you.
Learning, and also taste education. Obtaining results "like a commercial" isn't the best bragging in this field, imo. All home users from my community started roasting at home because they no more like the commercial coffee. None of them returned to a coffee shop to buy another bag. Two of them became world roasting champions, so go figure we have a competent community to talk on this subject...

I only use the Gene Cafe as a reference, because it, to me, is the "best" unit I could get, for the amount of money I'm willing to spend. It also seems the most unique, in it's drum design and overall execution.

I don't like coffee enough to become obsessed with it. It's a "fun" beverage to have twice a day. But not something I write memes about... "Touch my coffee and you die!" kinda thing. From what I have read, it seems as though you cannot get all aspects of coffee in one roast. You can have "this" aspect, but not "that" one. You can have "these" qualities, but not "those" tastes.

In other words, of all the different aspects (flavors or qualities) of a coffee roast, "you cannot have your cake and eat it, too". You must pick and choose what you want or prefer. And, in that, it's suddenly the same situation as with brewing espresso. It's what YOU like. There is no ONE right way to do it. You do what YOU like... and THAT becomes your definition of "perfection".

And, to those of us who haven't got but the barest glimmer of what is "a good espresso" or "a good roasted coffee", maybe we are the most blessed of all, because our bar of expection is set so low, once we reach it, we're happy! I consider myself fortunate that I am able to duplicate (to my own pauper-level of taste comprehension) a taste that is virtuallly identical to what I've bought from our local roaster... what I call "lightly burned toast" (when a shot of espresso is mixed with a pat of melted butter in a shot glass). Once I matched that taste... I knew I could stop seeking and be perfectly content with my machine... as primitive as it is...
"I got me a Coffee Popper! Whoo-hoo!"
 
allenb
Top  #28 Print Post
Posted on 04/25/2021 12:57 PM
Hi Luposian, with coffee, as you know by now, there's 10,000 ways to get your green to cup and 1,000,000 variations within the 10,000.

Try this or that method or machine as you find you would like to try but above all else, have fun doing it and keep us in the loop regardless of what direction you go. I still use a ceramic seed roaster from time to time just to keep my senses tied to the bean and really smell and feel the process. Sometimes my bigger drum roaster separates me from what got me interested in roasting coffee in the first place.

Have a blast making good coffee! BBQ grill
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
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