Uploads from mezzoblue, tagged roasting

Light Roast

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:24 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

Getting a little closer. If I stopped now, this would be a light roast, maybe leaning a little closer to a city roast.

Incidentally, there's more caffeine in the coffee at this stage; the longer you roast it, the more the caffeine caramelizes. So if you've been buying dark roasts for the extra caffiene hit, I've got bad news for you...

Green Beans

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:12 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

In the "roaster", ready to go.

The roaster in this case is an old hot air popcorn popper that I've appropriated for my coffee.

There are specialty small roasting machines available for purchase, and I'm strongly considering going that route. The hot air popper is a cheap and effective introduction to home roasting, but I find it's a little too hot, and therefore done a little too quickly. A slower, more controlled roast would undoubtedly result in better coffee. I might have to take that plunge soon.

French Press

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:44 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

The french press, or bodum, or cafetière, or whatever you want to call it is essential to proper coffee brewing. Just say no to drip machines. (mine's obviously getting a little old. Still makes a hell of a pot though.)

The trick is the water temperature, proportions, and timing. Heat a pot of clean water to boiling (distilled water if you're anal about it, which I'm not, yet). Turn off the heat and let it sit for ten or fifteen seconds or so. Somewhere between 95 and 98 degrees Celsius is the optimal temperature for brewing coffee, so you really need to let it cool a bit before you pour the water in.

The recommended proportion of coffee to water is two tablespoons grounds per 6oz of water. These days I usually go by timing the grind instead of exact measurements, but there's your starting point if you've never measured.

And finally, steeping. Too short, you get weak coffee. Too long, you get muddy coffee. The magic number is 4 minutes. If you have an exceptionally small or large press you may need to adjust, but mine is 32oz and 4 minutes is the perfect steep.

Cooldown

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:34 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

After you've finished roasting, the key is to cool the beans off quickly. I dump 'em in a pan, and then throw the pan in the fridge for a bit. Works like a charm.

Theoretically you're supposed to give them a few hours after roasting to stabilize, but I've never noticed a difference. I usually have a pot on minutes after I pull them out of the fridge.

Total time from start to finish: less than 15 minutes. And with a hot air popper, it can be done almost completely unattended. You simply flick the switch to get 'er going, and make sure to turn it off at the right time.

Roast On

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:18 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

A few minutes in. The beans have started losing water and cracking open. There are two distinct 'cracks' in the roasting process, where all the beans audibly crack open.

If you stop roasting after the first crack, you get a light roast. If you stop during or after the second crack, you get a dark roast. This picture is at the very beginning of the first crack.

Green Beans

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:05 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

This is what green coffee looks like. The best places to find it are independent coffee roasters that sell in bulk; in Vancouver, that's all of a half dozen or so.

My first choice: Yoka's, on W. Broadway (3100 block) (I never make it out there these days) My backup: JJ Bean on Granville Island, Commercial, or Powell. The latter location has the most choice, but is awfully inconvenient to get to from downtown.

The advantage to green beans is that they store for ages. Stick 'em in a cool, dark place with low humidity and you can keep them for a year or more without any degradation. I typically have 3 or 4 pounds on hand at any moment.

Oh, and it's cheap. Typically you pay about half price for green beans.

Dark Roast

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:28 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

Pretty much done here. When they get oily, it's time to stop. Unless you know exactly how long to go for a French roast, the burn potential increases greatly at this stage. (I've only ever ruined one single batch, so it's not hard to figure out.)

Check out the smoke. That's one of the biggest problems in roasting your own beans, you have to have good ventilation. I've set off my smoke detector on many occasions.

The other nasty surprise is the thin chaff that blows off as the beans crack; you need a spot for it to go. I set the popper's plastic hood to point into a sink, which makes clean up easy. But the first time I tried my hand at roasting, I had a bit of a mess to attend to afterward. You only need to learn that lesson once.

Grinder

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:39 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

Your typical blade grinder slightly burns the beans as it's grinding. For quality coffee, and definitely for espresso, you need to spend for a burr grinder. They start at a hundred bucks. (This is a Starbucks model, one of the cheaper ones.)

Grind only just when you need it. Coffee goes stale way more quickly when ground. Shelf life of whole beans after the roast: about a week. Shelf life of ground beans after the roast: two days at most.

Enjoy

nobody@flickr.com (mezzoblue) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:06:48 -0700

mezzoblue posted a photo:

After all that, a Starbucks mug? I realize the irony. I just liked the mug.

So how's the coffee? Fantastic. Unless you live by a roaster, it'll likely be the freshest you've ever had. I suspect with a proper home roaster it would be that much better, but for the price and for the convenience, I can't complain.