Advice for a wannabe roaster?

[jaredgibson87]

Well, I've been working at a Charbucks in a Target for over a year now. I've went from hardly being able to properly steam milk or taste the differences between
their coffees -- or any coffee shop, for that matter -- to being in love with the preparation of coffee. I've been working at this specific Target for about 3 1/2 years, and until I actually figured out what the hell I was doing behind the counter at this particular Starbucks, I hated coming to work every day (I worked
in electronics before moving up front to the Starbucks).

I've also been going to other coffee shops in the area and trying out different coffees. While I find it hard to pick out one kind of coffee I like above all others, I am learning to taste the differences between a Kenyan, a Sumatran, or a Colombian, or what-have-you. While I havent progressed to the level of blindly drinking a cup of single-origin coffee and saying “This is a Brazilian coffee,” I am finally at the point where I do want to actively learn more about why and how a specific coffee or blend tastes the way it does and how roasting and brewing work together to make the perfect cup of coffee.

I'd like to start roasting my own coffee beans at home. I've decided that at first I should start simple: roasting on the stove or gas grill in a cast iron Dutch
oven. This seems like the most simple way to understand the process of roasting without buying a dedicated roaster. I can watch the beans as I stir them, smell the smells, and hear the cracking as they heat up, and then cool them after taking them off the heat source.

Assuming I buy a few pounds of one specific kind of coffee, be able to roast it properly to make a good cup of coffee, and enjoy the process enough to continue my endeavor, I'd like to upgrade to something more professional, and maybe in to selling the fruits (err, beans?) of my labor.

This has been floating around in my head for the last few weeks, and I felt like I should come back to this site after such a long hiatus from introducing myself to ask “am I thinking this through properly?” I know if I go down the path of home roasting, I might find that this isn't for me. But then, I might enjoy it enough to
expand my knowledge and tools further and attempt to make this a small scale business venture.

Now, after typing freely for a few minutes, I'm not sure if I'm looking for advice on what to do next or buy or if I'm looking for philosophical guidance in the art
of roasting, or perhaps I'm looking for all of that. I guess the question I'm asking to those with the wisdom and technical knowledge of roasting is “Am I heading in the right direction as far as wanting to get in to roasting? Or is there some fundamental element that I'm overlooking before I begin?”

 

[Redswing]

cool, jg87. gotta check out sweetmarias.com. nothing out there like it. but beware, i started on their site about 4 years ago and now i recently purchased a used roaster for $10k, and am finding my way into a future full-time occupation. more than the caffeine is addictive...

 

[John P]

Skip the pot stirring. Buy a small roaster, like the Gene Caffe or one of the Hot Top ones. The Quest M3 is also a great choice and one of the best home roasters on the market.

If you're not willing to spend a little money, you're really not interested in roasting.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I think differently about home roasting then John. John has good point by investing in 200- 1000 dollar machine but what i have done is started out with Whirly Pop over the home cook top. Yes it does roast pretty well. You will be able to tell first crack and second crack. There are disadvantage of having cheaper set up but you will learn much more about coffee roasting that way. If you are interested in becoming a coffee roaster, you should learn it proper way(investing in real roaster). Home roasting is fun and i bet after few roating on the cook top, you would want to buy yourself good roaster.....

 

[cestrin]

Just to add my 2 cents since I was in your shoes ~6 months ago, I bought a $300 Behmor that came with 8 lbs of beans and haven't looked back (I think Sweet Marias has this deal). It's a very easy machine to work and, for some, it may be limiting. At any rate, depending on how much you spend on coffee (outside of your own store) any kind of roaster will likely pay for itself in less than a year. Getting the best coffee every day is pretty awesome.

 

[namballe]

although the pot roasting can be a learning experience, once you get to a rotating drum assembly, you'll think, "what the hell was i doing". you cant beat a drum roaster for its even roasting capabilities. i did the pot roasting too, for about 3 months. you will not get much of a saleable product out of it, maybe to family and friends.

 

[Surfer]

You also have the Behmor home roaster which for the money is excellent. Nothing against a whirly pop or anything simple like starting out, but the Behmor is pry the best piece to use and learn on (unless you can afford some of the nicer more expensive setups).

 

[BuzzRoaster]

I agree, If you really want to learn roasting then you will need a roaster that gives you control over your roast. You want to be able to tweak those variables to learn why time, temperature and air flow are critical and how they can effect your end product.

Those set it and forget it roasters aren't going to teach you a whole lot. The Quest M3 is a great place to start.

 

[poison]

I'd definitely recommend a Hottop or BBQ roaster over an air roaster. The drum roasters a easier to slow down and develop flavors on. Air roasters tend to be quick, and harder to control.

 

[BuzzRoaster]

Agreed. Air roasters will produce an acceptable cup of coffee but again, you are not going to learn very much.

 

[expat]

Whoever's advice you take, and whatever you think you should do (sorry Nike), just do it. Don't look back 10 years from now and think 'would-a, could-a, should-a'. We jumped in with a 10kg roaster. Probably a 5kg would have been better to start with, since we had zero business to buy our roast, but now VERY glad we have the 10kg and now thinking about a 25 or 30kg.

Take the leap of faith. Invest in yourself, not Target or SB.

 

[cestrin]

I understand the point that Buzz is making, I just want to say that too many variables too quickly can get overwhelming. I like starting with the simplicity so I only have to deal with varying a few variables instead of many so a simple drum roaster has been great for me.

To this point, you know yourself. Are you good at working with a lot of variables at once and having a steeper learning curve?

 

[jaredgibson87]

thanks for all the replies. I might just go ahead and get a dedicated roaster. My thought process behind roasting on a stovetop was "If I don't like doing this, all I've bought was a 5 pound bag of beans" (Which I would have at least worked through before totally giving up). But now that I've thought about it and read the replies, I might as well go ahead and get a roaster. At the very least, I should be able to get a bit of my money back if I decide I don't really wanna take the time/energy to do this. But then, I can always sell and upgrade, too.

I did some searching for the Quest M3. It's being sold on a website Coffee Shrub, and they state “We require previous roasting experience and signed Terms of Use. Processing of orders may take additional business days until this verification is complete.” That pretty much excludes me since I've got no roasting experience, so that might be a good choice for an upgrade from something less expensive with less manual control. Unless there's some other website that sells them or if I can find one used (I couldnt find any on Ebay earlier this afternoon).

I'm thinking I might go for the HotTop Basic. Yeah, it might not be the Quest that's so popular, but Sweet Maria's doesnt require I have an roasting experience to buy it. And I think I should be able to figure out how to get good cups of coffee from it, or at least be able to outdo bags of Starbucks coffee that's been shipped across the country to North Alabama and
then spent time waiting on the shelf for me to buy it (Not saying Starbucks is bad. They are, IMO, a step up from Foldier's or Maxwell House).

To answer Cestrin's question about being able to work with variables, I feel like I'm technically capable of operating a dedicated roaster or roasting on the stove and dealing with the variables that come along with it. I've got an A.A. Degree in photography from a community college, where I spent most of my time working in a darkroom developing and printing from negatives. I wont get in to all the details, but to get good prints from film requires proper exposure and consistent development of the film, which includes constant chemical temperature throughout the process. I've also transferred to a university after graduating where I'm finishing an art history degree in the next couple of semesters and have taken more advanced film and digital classes along with my art history classes. I hope I dont come off as arrogant by claiming I know how to deal with variables and technical details granted I have time to study and learn the process, but I think I can figure out how to get a decent roaster to do what I want as long as I've got control over at least part of the process (I really am, or try to be, a pretty humble guy, even when I've mastered a process).

 

[jaredgibson87]

I might should state that I'll try not to have such rambling posts from now on. I'm horrible at typing out what I'm thinking, because my thoughts sometimes travel faster than I can process them. I hope I'm typing everything out understandably and not sounding like a rambling crazy guy:-D

 

[cestrin]

Best of luck on your endeavor! Keep us posted on your progress and be sure to browse the thread for roasting tips!