Coffee, coffee, coffee!

[Greg A]

Kevin,
While I sit in admiration of ur process and would not turn down a cup of ur brew, I probably would be done with my two cups, pancakes, eggs and dreaming about lunch before you hit ur first cup.
How long from start to finish to get a cuppa Joe with ur setup?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Greg A

Kevin,
While I sit in admiration of ur process and would not turn down a cup of ur brew, I probably would be done with my two cups, pancakes, eggs and dreaming about lunch before you hit ur first cup.
How long from start to finish to get a cuppa Joe with ur setup?

I'm not Kevin, though always use an AeroPress, but did upgrade my grinder. I regularly make coffee for small groups in rapid fire fire succession. No problem.

It takes me 2-3 minutes to brew two cups.

Roasting gets done separately, as the beans do better with a couple days rest before extraction.

[kstock11]

Originally Posted by Greg A

Kevin,
While I sit in admiration of ur process and would not turn down a cup of ur brew, I probably would be done with my two cups, pancakes, eggs and dreaming about lunch before you hit ur first cup.
How long from start to finish to get a cuppa Joe with ur setup?

To me it wasn't about the time to roast as much as the challenge to drink fresh coffee. (Depending on who you ask, they say to drink within 7 to 14 days of roasting. My local roaster gets me the roasted coffee within 1 day, but to get free shipping, I need to order 3 pounds. With 3 pounds lasting me about 8 - 10 weeks, I was very rarely drinking "fresh coffee") As Jim says below, the grinding & brewing goes quickly. I'll probably roast once per week and spend an hour or so.

[Greg A]

So if I am following correctly, the roasting will be a totally separate process running about an hour a week. The roasting then once a week will provide you with enough for the week.
I get the grinding/brewing isn't that involved, I've done that, just no experience with doing the roasting process.

[kstock11]

That's the plan - to keep just enough roasted to always have freshly roasted. You need to wait a day or 2 after roasting for it to " off gas" before brewing. Since green beans stay fresh for a long time, I can have a lot of variety. Also, once the Roaster is heated, the roasting goes faster for batches.

[StarvingHyena]

Well Jim .... have I got a good idea for you! I have a 20 kg bag of peat moss. Maybe you could pass some through your roaster and spread it over your best Scotch .... kinda like a topping.

I'll cut you in when it goes viral!

Tom

[arniesea]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I am sipping on a wee glass of Writers Tears as I type, one of the best values out there for Irish Whiskey. There is better, but not at the prices of this stuff. *takes a sip......mmmmmm..... that is nice*

OMG! Writers Tears is a great Whiskey! I brought some back from Ireland but can't find it in Washington. I take it that it is available in Canada. I have been nursing my bottle since 2012 and would sure like to restock my bar.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by StarvingHyena

Well Jim .... have I got a good idea for you! I have a 20 kg bag of peat moss. Maybe you could pass some through your roaster and spread it over your best Scotch .... kinda like a topping.

I'll cut you in when it goes viral!

Tom

Some of my most favourite Scotch has had the malt roasted over party fires.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by arniesea

OMG! Writers Tears is a great Whiskey! I brought some back from Ireland but can't find it in Washington. I take it that it is available in Canada. I have been nursing my bottle since 2012 and would sure like to restock my bar.

Definitely available here in Alberta. A search would tell you if available in BC. I could bring some, I am going after a couple bottles of whiskey tomorrow.

[arniesea]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Definitely available here in Alberta. A search would tell you if available in BC. I could bring some, I am going after a couple bottles of whiskey tomorrow.

That would be excellent! I have some nice bourbon to share. In addition to the cost of the Irish of course!

[hughharden]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Definitely available here in Alberta. A search would tell you if available in BC. I could bring some, I am going after a couple bottles of whiskey tomorrow.

Jim where do you get green beans in Calgary? Shipping charges make it unrealistic to order online.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by arniesea

OMG! Writers Tears is a great Whiskey! I brought some back from Ireland but can't find it in Washington. I take it that it is available in Canada.

Walsh has re-branded this whiskey a bit, so according to their website now it's
Writers Tears Copper Pot,
Writers Tears Red Head, or
Writers Tears Cask Strength
The change - at least on the website - is recent: I bookmarked it as just Writer's Tears only a few weeks ago. I suspect that what I had was what is now branded as Copper Pot... but I'm not sure.

Certainly available here, but not in most stores... and if you're accustomed to buying the usual basic Jameson's or Bushmills, plan to spend more.

Liquor sales in British Columbia are through government stores, and they list only Writers Tears Pot Still - not even on the Walsh website, and CA$60. Here, the government controls everything at the wholesale level (so not everything is available) and I've only seen Copper Pot recently at Wine and Beyond, but apparently Liquor Depot / Liquor Barn has Pot Still. Otherwise, you could e-mail Walsh for availability information.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by hughharden

Jim where do you get green beans in Calgary? Shipping charges make it unrealistic to order online.

I have ordered with free shipping from a couple Alberta suppliers, Rave Coffee and Pre-Umber. Their prices are not anywhere as cheap as suppliers in the US, even given exchange rate. I have ordered lots from Sweet Maria's in the past, and even now when you factor in exchange plus shipping, they can be on par with the Canadian suppliers cost wise, and have a much broader selection.

[hughharden]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I have ordered with free shipping from a couple Alberta suppliers, Rave Coffee and Pre-Umber. Their prices are not anywhere as cheap as suppliers in the US, even given exchange rate. I have ordered lots from Sweet Maria's in the past, and even now when you factor in exchange plus shipping, they can be on par with the Canadian suppliers cost wise, and have a much broader selection.

Thanks Jim will check those sites out.

[ReagentGrade]

Originally Posted by kstock11

That's the plan - to keep just enough roasted to always have freshly roasted. You need to wait a day or 2 after roasting for it to " off gas" before brewing. Since green beans stay fresh for a long time, I can have a lot of variety. Also, once the Roaster is heated, the roasting goes faster for batches.

Off gassing is the CO2 coming off the roasted coffee. This is why you need a container with a one way valve. I get mine from Sweet Maria's.

Although the coffee may be better after two days, IMO the amount of improvement is minor. The BIG difference is that the coffee is freshly roasted. Jim Bennett has a roaster that allows him to control the roasting temperature at different phases of the roast. This can improve the roast slightly.

To me, it's kind of like bottles of wine. You can buy a:
- $5 bottle of wine (store purchased coffee)
- $45 bottle (my home roast after a day)
- $50 bottle (my home roast after two days)
- $150 bottle (Jim's profile-roasted coffee after two days)

The difference between $5 and $45 is huge.

The difference between $45 and $50 is so slight, I can't personally taste the difference.

The difference between $50 and $150 is real, but minor. I might be able to taste the difference, but not define why it's better.

The beauty of home roasting coffee is that the beans tell you how far along they are in the roasting process. Coffee pops, much like popped corn and for the same reason. This is called first crack. Unlike popped corn, coffee beans also have a second crack, which is much quieter.

My wife likes her coffee roasted to the end of first crack, I like mine roasted until second crack is noticeable.

Because of the amount of noise my hot air popcorn popper makes, it took me a while before I could accurately hear second crack. Now it's pretty easy.

SweetMaria.com had lots of videos to teach you how to roast coffee. It's not hard. If you love coffee, to owe it to yourself to try your hand at roasting.

[hughharden]

Originally Posted by hughharden

Thanks Jim will check those sites out.

espressoplanet.com has free shipping for orders over $20 right now

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by hughharden

espressoplanet.com has free shipping for orders over $20 right now

That place looks good too, Hugh. At first I thought the prices quite high, then realized they were for 2 lbs, then they looked good.

The places I listed is free shipping too. There seems to have been more competition in the Canadian market in the last while, a good thing for consumers

[padlin]

Its been awhile, are folks still happy with the Aeropress? if so what do you do for beans when you're on the road?

[alanmalk]

Amazon sends me a 2 pound bag of Ethiopian, single origin, sustainable, medium-light roast beans every month to Big Bend.

Could be why the campers say I am full of beans when I read them the camping rules.

--
Alan

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by padlin

Its been awhile, are folks still happy with the Aeropress? if so what do you do for beans when you're on the road?

After primarily using the AeroPress for 10 plus years, I can say I am still very happy with it.

Good beans roasted as recently as possible, and ground with a good quality grinder immediately prior to extraction are key to the best results with any type of coffee brewing. When I don't roast my own, I prefer to buy from a local roaster, there are a few in town. I pay a bit more, but I am buying freshly roasted beans at a level I prefer them. When on the road I have found some really good locally roasted coffee too. We do buy some at grocerty stores, and when you do look for the ones that print the roast date on the bag, as that can tell how fresh they are.

And fresh grinding, I know I say it a lot, but this is about the best way to ensure a good cup 'o Joe. Preground coffee loses it's freshness quite quick. On a canoe trip a couple years ago I was pressing coffee for six, and decided to save myself a bit of time by grinding at home using my electric grinder. The coffee was one I roasted and quite good. There was some left over we started drinking at home 5 or 6 days later, and it just tasted a bit flat to me. I ground some more of the same bean and WOW, it was WAY better and the previous grounds went into the compost bin.

Camping I use an AreoPress that costs less than $35 USD and an Orphan Espresso Lido 3 grinder that costs $195 USD, and I would never go back to anything less. This grinder is easy to use and produces a consistent grind. There are a few other good ones out there, but some cost even more.