Duplicating a roast

[brewer3401]

I love the Nicaraguan Estatt Santa Lucia from Dallis Coffee in NY.

I'm new to this, but want to know if I could closely duplicate this roast.

What kind of green beans and what would the roasting schedule be.

Thanks for your help.

 

[topher]

I dont understasnd the question. You know where the beans are from..so what do you mean by schedule? What kind of roaster are you using?

 

[brewer3401]

I get the coffee from Dallis Coffee in NY.

I thought there were different methods of roasting (full heat, step up heating).

I don't have roaster yet. I want to do a one time purchase, instead of having what I want after buying 2-3 cheaper models.

I do think I'm leaning towards a drum roaster though.

Again, new to this and trying to get a grasp on the basics.

Thanks

 

[John P]

Commercial Roaster or Home Roaster?

If commercial, I would recommend Diedrich or Ambex and then attend there roasting workshops and many of your questions will be answered.

If Home roasting, do a google search and you will find some other key sites that educate well on the subject.

It would be good to educate yourself on cupping-- at least the basics-- so you can learn to differentiate certain flavors and narrow down bean varietals and such. There are too many factors in play to have a simple answer. If you want their roast, buy their roast. If you want to roast your own, do something different, or something superior.

 

[brewer3401]

Can you recommend a core set of books to begin with. I've had no luck finding anything educational (hands on) in the New Orleans area.

thanks

 

[Alun_evans]

Probably best you follow JohnP's recommendation. There are very few, if any, books on roasting that are useful for someone looking at becoming a commercial roaster. Most of us in the business learnt fom someone- either working as an apprentice roaster, or as John has mentioned by, buying a roaster from Dedich, Ambex, Probat etc and being trained as part of the package of purchase.

IMHO if you are looking at a career in roasting you should perhaps try your hand at it first and see if you can link up with someone from the roasters guild list of roasters> http://www.roastersguild.org/docs/RG_Cu ... embers.pdf or just approach local roasters in your area. The problem is a local roaster is probably not going to show too much enthusiasm if he knows you plan one day to open up near him/her.

I think living as an apprentice roaster is important because you quickly get to see the less glamorous side of what it takes to roast. It is a physically demanding job that I am sure has taken a toll on the lower backs of nearly everyone involved!

 

[Alun_evans]

BTW I think you meant to say "roast profile" not schedule :grin:

 

[moonmonkey]

I would suggest reading "Home Coffee Roasting:Romance & Revival" by Kenneth Davids. Great for learning the basics whether you're working towards home or commercial.

 

[Carmine Domenaco]

Trying to replicate another roasters profile, even if you have the coffee from the same lot will be very hard.

If you took the same coffee and roasted it to the same agtron level on a diedrich, ambex, probat or gothot each cup would be slightly different.

Get all the back issues of roast magazine. This will keep you busy for a few weeks and you'll be able to pick up a lot of useful information.

An exceptional book is Espresso Coffee by Illy. This is a textbook for a roaster and should be in everyone's library. It covers everything from green coffee processing to roasting, cupping and extraction with extensive scientific detail. Dust off your chemistry notes and study up on you plant taxonomy before getting too far into this one.