Peru Cafe Succhia roasted two minutes past 1st Crack on the FreshRoast SR700. The best part about home roasting is I get exactly what I want when I want it!
Home Roast Peru
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Not an Espresso Fan?
I know, some people don’t like espresso? What’s up with that?! Well, what are you supposed to do if someone is visiting and want’s coffee but just wants “a cup of coffee”. I humbly suggest Guatemala Volcan at Full City roast.
I roasted this batch with my Fresh Roast SR700 at 2min past 1st Crack. This is one of, if not the best, “cup of coffee” I’ve ever had. I brewed it in an Aeropress at 185F. It was spectacular.
Home Roast Sumatra
Sumatra Iskandar won some awards this year. So I picked up a few pounds to home roast.
This batch was roasted 20 sec into a rolling second crack. It came out excellent. Brewed as a single origin espresso, it had all the body you would expect. It was thick and syrupy, with mild sweetness and a touch of acidic tang to wake up the mouth. I regularly use 25% Sumatra in my “go-to” espresso blend, and this bean again showed me why I do it.
As an Aeropress brew, this was also outstanding. The cup was exceptionally smooth and not bitter at all. The sweetness was perhaps more pronounced than in the espresso preparation and the aroma had chocolate notes to it. The thickness of the body noted in the espresso preparation was also very noticeable.
#starbuckssucks
Arabica and Robusta?
So, what is the difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee exactly? Everyone says Arabica tastes better, and it’s likely because of it’s lower caffeine content. Caffeine is actually bitter tasting, so more of it means a more bitter cup. But, there’s actually a bit more to it. This article makes it short a sweet.
10 differences Between Robusta & Arabica Coffee | The Roasters Pack
Of course, that’s not all on the subject of Arabica and Robusta. Just do a Google search, and you’ll see what I mean…of course you probably already know that because that’s how you probably got here.
Coffee Cupping – Who the Hell Actually Drinks Coffee Like That!
I get it. I really do. It’s part ritual, part science. Coffee cupping really does allow someone who really knows coffee to detect the nuances of a bean. But, what does the end consumer do? They usually take your meticulously crafted work, dump in two packs of sugar, maybe some cream, and chug it as they run out the door to work.
So, what’s the point of a snooty cupping session? Do people really smell bread and other silly words that are overheard when describing coffee? The same could be said for wine enthusiasts. As I said, I’m sure it has it’s place, but even most of the self proclaimed coffee snobs that drink it black couldn’t talk intelligently about what they are consuming. Shouldn’t you evaluate the product on the consumer level?
When I first started making coffee at home with the intent on “crafting” the result, I’m sure I made the mistake everyone makes. I grabbed a bag of beans that said “espresso” and started in like a rhino trying to help a baby bird back into a nest…pretty ugly picture. My main goal was to produce a product that was at least as good as Starbucks to save my family money ($3.50 a pop ads up). It wasn’t hard to do that. Starbucks really does suck. It took about a year, but I managed to quickly graduate to seeking out the artisan roasters in my area for the beans, and getting a nice espresso machine, and cranking out a product that people now anticipate when they come over. I did this all without coffee cupping.
So, why am I attempting to cup coffee now? I’m curious. Does it actually enhance my personal experience? Will it make my product better now that I’m also roasting my own beans? Really, what coffee cupping does is provide a standardized way for folks in the coffee business to evaluate and talk about coffee. But, does in benefit the consumer? If a cupping session reveals a Full City roasted Brazilian bean to have hints of bitter chocolate and black currant, does the person who will be dumping in two packs of Splenda before even tasting the beverage care? No, no they don’t. Do people like myself that actually ask for just a single shot of espresso benefit. Yes, yes I do. But, can you really educate the entire public on how to really evaluate coffee? Starbucks is proof that you can’t.
Why am I ranting? Because I can. That’s just my opinion. Of course, I could be wrong.
Ironsmith Coffee – Encinitas
One of the fun things about being bi-coastal is seeing what changes every time you jump coasts. In the several months I’d been in New York, a new place had opened up just South of Lofty Coffee in Encinitas. I hadn’t had the need to be in Encinitas until today, And, as luck would have it, Ironsmith Coffee is now the 3rd small batch roaster near my house.
All the coffee is roasted on premises guaranteeing the freshest possible product. The coffee is meticulously crafted and it shows. Now, I’ll admit that the flavor profile in their espresso blend isn’t exactly up my alley, but it was still a damn good shot. The blend has a pronounced spice note from the Costa Rican component. It’s extracted on a really beautiful custom painted 3 head Slayer machine. The owner keeps one of the heads as his test unit so he can play around with things while using the other 2 to keep up with the shop demand.
The shop is small, but good size, and full of natural light. They also offer a selection of teas and baked goods. The staff is super friendly. As I was talking with the owner, I mentioned that I had started roasting my own beans, and the owner promptly pulled out his really cool small drum sample roaster and talked me through how he worked his way up to the 10lb batch Diedrich roaster he uses to service the shop. Then he gave me about 1.5lbs of washed Guatemala green beans because he couldn’t roast that small a quantity.
In a few months the coffee arena will get more crowded in that neighborhood as Better Buzz moves in about 300 yards South of Ironsmith Coffee. But, consumers win. Quality will always win, and with so many varied tastes, Ironsmith Coffee will do just fine I think. If you are walking around 1st Street in Encinitas, stop in and give them a go.
Starbucks Has It’s Place
The coffee at Starbucks may suck balls, but as I sit here in a Starbucks killing time, I can’t help but be thankful for what Starbucks does offer. The yogurt parfait (the one with berries) is quite a nice little breakfast. The pastries are adequate for a snack. There’s free WiFi, and I always get perverse pleasure out of the sheer befuddlement of the cashier when I refuse to order a drink.
The “cafe culture” that Starbucks has created is actually a bit like the Cult of Apple. Both companies created (or rather perverted) a pre-existing product (or products). Apple at least makes cool gadgets (whether or not you can stomach their business practices is a different issue). Starbucks on the other hand, has completely wrecked the coffee they serve, but have convinced the people that it’s what they need (not want). They did this by providing a community around the product that people found attractive. In the computer age, free WiFi is a big deal. So, the ability to come in, sit down, type up a mud-slinging blog piece about the very establishment providing the WiFi is really cool. People meet for job interviews, tutoring sessions, short business meetings, blind dates, the list goes on. And, while your here, have a drink. Unless your me. In which case, you pre-fill the Starbucks branded travel cup someone got you as a joke with a home roasted, home brewed latte and sit down without buying anything.
So, Starbucks is good for something, just not coffee.
Home Roasting – Never Buying Roasted Beans Again
I’m now 2 weeks into my home roasting adventure, and I’m never buying pre-roasted beans again. Don’t get me wrong, there’s small batch roasters out there that are insanely good. But, for less than 1/2 the price, and still making mistakes, I’m producing product that I would happily stand up against some of the best cafes in town. The crema is thick and colorful. And, possibly most important, the shots taste almost exactly as they smell. The blend I’m working with is producing balanced caramel sweetness with bakers chocolate flavors, and it’s thick and luxurious.
The aroma of fresh roasted coffee is through the roof, the taste completely ridonculous (sic) – a religious experience. Home roasting coffee guarantees all this never is out of reach. Did I mention the cost savings? It costs me roughly 1/2 as much to be home roasting my own coffee. If you are a serious coffee drinker, you could probably pay for a vacation every year with the money you save.
If you saw the precious post, you saw that I’m using a FreshRoast SR700. The one consistent knock on the FreshRoast machines in reviews around the internet is batch size – too small. Yes, you can only roast 4oz at a time (final yield about 3.2oz per batch). But, the flip side is that each roast is about 10-14 minutes. So, you have almost a pound with an hour of home roasting. Let’s be honest here…is it really such a terrible thing to spend an hour home roasting coffee? You can geek out as much as you want on the science of it. Analyze each roast. Tweak recipes. Oh, and did I mention the cost savings (again)? Buy some exotic beans. Try some new coffees!
Now Roasting – Fresh Roast SR700
Well, I did it. I pulled the trigger on this baby, and will be taking the next step towards complete coffee snobbery. Of course the computer geek in me couldn’t be content with the SR-500. No, I had to get the Fresh Roast SR700 so I can control the thing with my laptop and save my roast profiles.
Now, I just have to wait for the beans I ordered from Sweet Maria’s to get here so I can start roasting and blending. I will be posting updates with my efforts, so stay tuned. The funny thing is I think this may actually make me buy more coffee…in the name of research of course. I have to have baseline samples with which to compare my output.
Bezzera BZ-10 Shot
Here’s a double shot of espresso with my Bezzera BZ-10. The beans are Revolution Roasters Smooth Operator blend.