coffee for mags - a coffee roasting trip report (& free mag coffee)

[californiagrown]

Hell yeah!

Start simple, with a basic hand grinder and a French press or other easy brewing method. If that sticks, consider an espresso machine or something fancier. This is an amazing grinder to start with.

https://a.co/d/68ZoNdp

Get a cheap scale along with your French press. Measure everything.

Find a local roaster whose work you like, and follow a recipe religiously. I like this one for French press:

https://sevencoffeeroasters.com/blog...n-french-press

Good luck!

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My $0.02 being a cheapass, and lazy but also liking good coffee:

Buy a $75-$125 burr grinder. Buy a V60 or Chemex (along with associated paper filters. not metal mesh). These are cheap, and easy to master methods of brewing.


Buy exclusively light roast coffee ($15-$20 per bag). Use boiling water pulled right off the stove. Light roast coffee can take boiling water without overextracting. darker roasts need the water brought down a few degrees, or grind size adjusted. Light roast + boiling water is dead simple and light roast is the best match for pourover brewing methods.


Use a 1:14-16 ratio of bean to water. Measure weight, NOT volume. get a cheap shitty food scale from amazon and measure every single time. Youtube James Hoffman V60 method and generally follow his method for pouring water (bloom, pouring, swirling, etc).


you can really get into the weeds and dig deep into your wallet if you really want. But you can make really, really great brewed coffee with a pretty minimal setup too.

[neufox47]

^^absolutely, as long as your beans are good.


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[californiagrown]

^^absolutely, as long as your beans are good.


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IMO without a really good grinder and adjustable temp electric kettl, trying to brew medium to dark roast is just too much of a PITA.

Light roast is dead simple cause you can use a normal kettle and just keep the water boiling throughout the pour. And it's more forgiving (IMO) of an inconsistent grind size.

Also, light roast is the coffee connoisseur's choice so you can seem impressive, without actually being impressive with your equipment or knowledge haha.

[SB]

New to me, lot of adjustments during the first batch. Solid dark roast on Colombia supremo green beans. Used the roast log that came with it.

Down the rabbit hole from the old NESCO.

[SB]

Starting to get the new roaster down.

[tgapp]

Nice dude!! What'd you roast? How is it?

Cupping some new coffees that I roasted for a Canadian hut trip from Captain's today. Some initial thoughts - if you're a big fan of hyper fruited anaerobic naturals, their El Salvador rainbow bourbon is not to be missed. Full on laffy taffy coffee. It's out of stock right now (the guy just sent me a courtesy sample) but it'll be back soon. If rich chocolate coffees is your bag, their Peruvian Cajamarca is a great crowd pleaser, chocolate covered orange bomb. This one is my Dibs special I think.

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[neufox47]

Have you tried any of their Wush Wush coffees?


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[SB]

Its an organic Peruvian.

Giving it 24 hours to do the CO2 thing before i try it.

[tgapp]

Have you tried any of their Wush Wush coffees?


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No but I got their low oxygen Wush, the owner said it was pretty damn wild when I talked to him. I'll roast in a week or so and get back to you. Generally their coffee is pretty damn good.

That Peruvian looks nice. I love Roastmasters!

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[neufox47]

I ordered 20lbs of the low oxygen one and another one. Hope it’s good. Spent $400 on coffee today. Tgapp, I thought you said this hobby would SAVE me money. Lol.


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[SB]

Tried the Peruvian this morning and it is really good.

Getting the hang of using the roast log book and recording the parameters as it progresses.

[tgapp]

I ordered 20lbs of the low oxygen one and another one. Hope it’s good. Spent $400 on coffee today. Tgapp, I thought you said this hobby would SAVE me money. Lol.


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it's such a fucking trap dude

so far his coffee has been pretty damn exceptional. and wush wush is such a great coffee to give to friends, etc, since there are few experiences that will prepare you for it.

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[neufox47]

it's such a fucking trap dude

so far his coffee has been pretty damn exceptional. and wush wush is such a great coffee to give to friends, etc, since there are few experiences that will prepare you for it.

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At least with my old roaster I knew I couldn’t really get the most from the fancy beans. Now as I get the hang of the Bullet I see my cost per lb of green steadily increasing…

[jackattack]

Is the bullet worth the cheddar?

I burned out an element in the m3 roasting on the porch last month. I maxed amperage to keep the roast rolling. I’ll order a new element and keep it rolling but at the same time I’d like to scale up the batch size.

[neufox47]

Is the bullet worth the cheddar?

I burned out an element in the m3 roasting on the porch last month. I maxed amperage to keep the roast rolling. I’ll order a new element and keep it rolling but at the same time I’d like to scale up the batch size.

I’m not sure, I only have experience with the Gene and Bullet. The control and data logging has been great to me. I personally didn’t see too many other options that looked equivalent at the same price point.

It is interesting that the IBTS sensor ROR often deviates from the bean probe temp. I feel like I’d overreact if I was just going off the probe. Maybe other roasters have better probes though. I’ve found I’m typically looking at a blend of the two sensors ROR, trying to keep both trending down throughout the roast. It’s interesting how the probe ROR will go up when the IBTS is going down, especially when increasing fan speeds on the lower end (fan of 3 to 4 often causes the probe ROR to jump).

One thing I haven’t figured out yet is if my machine’s IBTS temperature needs calibration, but I think it does. I’m always getting first cracks and finished roasts at 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit over what others report.

[tgapp]

Is the bullet worth the cheddar?

I burned out an element in the m3 roasting on the porch last month. I maxed amperage to keep the roast rolling. I’ll order a new element and keep it rolling but at the same time I’d like to scale up the batch size.

Hang on lemme see if I can find a heating element for you

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[jackattack]

I’m not sure, I only have experience with the Gene and Bullet. The control and data logging has been great to me. I personally didn’t see too many other options that looked equivalent at the same price point.

It is interesting that the IBTS sensor ROR often deviates from the bean probe temp. I feel like I’d overreact if I was just going off the probe. Maybe other roasters have better probes though. I’ve found I’m typically looking at a blend of the two sensors ROR, trying to keep both trending down throughout the roast. It’s interesting how the probe ROR will go up when the IBTS is going down, especially when increasing fan speeds on the lower end (fan of 3 to 4 often causes the probe ROR to jump).

One thing I haven’t figured out yet is if my machine’s IBTS temperature needs calibration, but I think it does. I’m always getting first cracks and finished roasts at 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit over what others report.

The thermal capacity and conductivity of the probe are much different than that of the beans, the metal will react more quickly to the air temperature in the bean mass, so I would expect to see different RoR values from each probe. IBTS measuring the surface temperature of the bean should be the more precise BT measurement. I would be curious to roast a batch with the IBTS. I wonder if the IBTS measurement has any variability as bean color changes. As the roast progresses, the darkening bean should be capable of radiating more infrared than the green.

I would only question the calibration of the IBTS if you're comparing to other IBTS measurements.

Hang on lemme see if I can find a heating element for you

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thx

[neufox47]

I was also expecting different values but shocked by how the ROR graph will often be moving in opposite directions at times. I follow the IBTS measurements primarily when roasting.

Yes, I’m comparing temperature measurements to other Bullet profiles. For example Royal will hit first crack at 390 and finish at 405 and I’m hitting first crack on the same beam at 405 and 422.


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[californiagrown]

I prefer light roast coffee and i exclusively brew pour overs (v60 every morning for myself, and chemex on the weekends for the wife and i both). I get free lattes at the local joint accross the street through my company's account and quad tall latte is my go-to (quality varies with the barista per usual). I decided to branch out and buy some beans online just to try something new- even with the shipping cost, the price/bag works out to about what i pay for the beans i get around here.

I bought a bag of Ethiopian WushWush light roast, and a bag of El salvador rainbow bourbon medium roast from this place: https://cuckoocoffeeroastery.com/

Anyone have experience buying bean from this place? Ill go through a 12oz bag of beans every 10-14 days so im a little torn between opening one bag at a time, or both bags at once and just maybe noticing a slight decline in quality at the end of the month. My weed habit is super duper cheap (an 1/8th every 3 months) and i dont really drink alcohol anymore so i dont feel too bad about splurging a bit on coffee despite being on a budget.

[neufox47]

Anyone else roasted the Wush Wush from Captains? I did two batches and was pretty happy. Not as sweet or fruity as I’d like but my palate is also off right now with a bad cold. I also roasted their Guji and it was nice. Pretty fruity.


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[californiagrown]

I prefer light roast coffee and i exclusively brew pour overs (v60 every morning for myself, and chemex on the weekends for the wife and i both). I get free lattes at the local joint accross the street through my company's account and quad tall latte is my go-to (quality varies with the barista per usual). I decided to branch out and buy some beans online just to try something new- even with the shipping cost, the price/bag works out to about what i pay for the beans i get around here.

I bought a bag of Ethiopian WushWush light roast, and a bag of El salvador rainbow bourbon medium roast from this place: https://cuckoocoffeeroastery.com/

Anyone have experience buying bean from this place? Ill go through a 12oz bag of beans every 10-14 days so im a little torn between opening one bag at a time, or both bags at once and just maybe noticing a slight decline in quality at the end of the month. My weed habit is super duper cheap (an 1/8th every 3 months) and i dont really drink alcohol anymore so i dont feel too bad about splurging a bit on coffee despite being on a budget.

Fwiw, just had my first cup of the wush wush. V60 at 1/15, boiling water. SUUUUPER fruity and sweet. Only ever had this kind of flavor from a $35 bag before. The place above was $13. Might have to keep buying from them instead of the local shop. Really good.

[tgapp]

Fwiw, just had my first cup of the wush wush. V60 at 1/15, boiling water. SUUUUPER fruity and sweet. Only ever had this kind of flavor from a $35 bag before. The place above was $13. Might have to keep buying from them instead of the local shop. Really good.

Looking at their lineup, they are either sourcing from Captain's or sourcing from Captain's sources (Catalyst and Royal). Either way that is the same Wush that neufox and I are talking about. Really exceptional coffee with an astoundingly good price. Stupid good price.

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[californiagrown]

Looking at their lineup, they are either sourcing from Captain's or sourcing from Captain's sources (Catalyst and Royal). Either way that is the same Wush that neufox and I are talking about. Really exceptional coffee with an astoundingly good price. Stupid good price.

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Yeah reading the About section on the website it seems like its just a mail order service that some guy runs out of his garage. And googling the return address shows a house in a neighborhood. So, effectively zero overhead and done as a hobby which keeps prices nice and low. Seems like something you could do....

Glad i stumbled on this roastery and its even tgapp approved!

[jackattack]

Yeah reading the About section on the website it seems like its just a mail order service that some guy runs out of his garage.

Roasting on a Bullet

[californiagrown]

Looking at their lineup, they are either sourcing from Captain's

Funny, i just looked at one of their most recent instagram posts from last week. It was a post about how his attempt at marketing (i assume paying google to bump his website) flooded him with orders that he was swamped with and asking for people to be patient. The only comment on that post?... Captains.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXRgWru..._web_copy_link