Right? Dang man, all that work and that cup would be gone in under a minute and I'd have to do it all over again.
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The TSC Coffee Shop
- Thread starter BarberDave
- Start date
I've toyed with just grinding a bunch at home since that's the pain in the tookus part
I use a Gaggia MDF grinder which may no longer be available. These days I use a French press to brew the coffee. My Gaggia Classic espresso machine is too bulky to take in our RV. You can find a pretty wide selection of all these things at Whole Latte Love.
I tend to load up on beans when I visit Guatemala each year. This year, I bought Roberto Dalton Antigua (when I visited Finca Filadelphia near Antigua), some from the Lake Atitlan area, some Geisha, some Huehuetenago and a couple of others. Dalton is some of the best coffee I have ever tasted and I tend to grab some each time I go.
Oh man, that's 1000x cooler than telling people you roast your own beans.
I am actually a little envious of @Graybeard57.
We took a look at buying some coffee growing land in the Fraijanes area, one of the recognized coffee growing regions in Guatemala, a year or so ago. The problem is that you cannot do it remotely and keep any kind of control over what occurs. And I think it can turn out to be hard work--it is farming after all. We did have a great time visiting our friend's coffee farm but ultimately let it go as an investment. But consider, if you can afford land around Antigua, that would be like buying grape growing land in the Napa Valley. Now that would be cool.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Okay, so when I start roasting Glenn's gonna be my bean supplier
No need for jealously. I am a complete newbie to this. I've always enjoyed good coffee, but have been satisfied with Folgers and Maxwell House. We buy it on sale. I must say, roasting is very fun to me. I started a spreadsheet, but may not continue it. I'm beginning to appreciate the most important things to keep track of seem to be sight, sounds, and smell. There are so many variables which cannot be controlled in the garage: ambient temperature and humidity immediately come to mind. My first roast I set the gadget's temp at 240C, because that is what I wanted the beans' internal temp to be. The next three roasts I set the temp at its max, 260C. I have no way of knowing how accurate the numbers are. Regardless, if I keep my eyes, ears, and nose open and don't over-roast, the coffee tastes great, which is my goal. I can see that roasting is both a science and an art, and over time I likely will continue to refine my methods. I'm having fun with it, even in a cold garage. This weekend will be spent enjoying drinking coffee, not roasting. Don't want to overstock and risk the beans going stale.
Visiting coffee plantations must be fascinating. If ever I have the opportunity I'll do it. Getting beans from the source is way cool, IMO. Enjoy your coffee!
Psst...https://rdaltoncoffee.com/Okay, so when I start roasting Glenn's gonna be my bean supplier
I don't know about green beans but if you would like to order some pretty decent roasted coffee beans and have it delivered to your door this is your ticket. While you are on the website take a look at the pictures of Finca Filadelphia. I just love that place and have taken the tour several times. We like to go to the restaurant, sit on the veranda and have a meal, with some coffee of course.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Yeah, I've been to the site already
Poor Dave is going to be ripped apart from all these rabbit holes like spiraling into the center of a black hole.Yeah, I've been to the site already
That's not a bad price if it's great coffee
you would be in hog heaven. We have visited coffee plantations in various countries including Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia. We took a great tour of a small coffee farm not far from Medellin in Colombia (Pablo Escobar country). If you recall Juan Valdez, we met a real life version complete with donkey. This guy worked without shoes and said he did not feel comfortable with them on. This is hard physical work and he had done it for maybe 40 years in bare feet. Amazing. After the owner finished giving me the cook's tour, walking me up and down the steep, terraced mountainsides, she brought me down and prepared a cup using what I happen to think is one of the best method of making a cup --using a siphon, a Japanese method which produces a very pure tasting cup. She had examples of various coffee preparing methods including filters and asked me what method I thought produced the best tasting coffee. When I replied French Press, she agreed. This tour was a lot of fun and very much different than the seemingly more sophisticated Finca Filadelphia in Antigua Guatemala where they talk about the genetics of the various strains of coffee plants, grafting of the plants, shade trees, steps included in processing the bean and roasting temperatures etc. Both tours were well worth doing.
@Graybeard57 I use mason jars to store my roasted beans too but I have modified my lids so the gas can escape. I drilled large holes in the top then used hot glue to glue in one of those one way air valves. I had bought some foil lined bags with the valves to store the coffee but they were just too small for my weeks worth of coffee so I cut the valve out of the bag and glued it to the lid. ...works great and saves me the trouble of needing to vent the jar. It's amazing how much pressure builds up in those jars.
I think I'd better go vent mine. A couple of weeks ago I removed the lid of a mason jar of roasted beans I'd aired 2 days. The pressure in the jar caused the lid to fly out of my hand a few feet before clattering on the floor.
Mine arrived today from Amazon, along with 2 lbs of beans from Burman Coffee Traders. One is Kenya AA; the other a blend they call "Jumpstart". Jumpstart will be an interesting roast, as there are various sized beans mixed together, including peaberries. I now have 11 lbs of unroasted beans. That'll hold me for awhile.
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Just finished a cup of the Columbian roast in the French Press. Much more flavorful than the same drip-brewed. 
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Whaddya mean, I've got willpower whenever I want it........
They don’t look great but it works .
the jars also work great for cold brew (the ones I don’t turn into storage). I will fill them 1/4 - 1/3 with course ground coffee. fill with cold water and cap tightly, shake and put In the fridge for a couple days. I usually have a few brewing in my work fridge at a time. Then when ready the grounds will settle to the bottom so I carefully pour the coffee through a metal pour-over filter into a clean jar. Sometimes I put a paper filter In the pour over filter to keep the fine particles my STUPID grinder creates from clogging up the pour over cone. It’s pretty simple. Then I store the cold brew in clean jars until ready to go. Since I enjoy nitro-brew at work (it looks like Guinness) I can grab a cold jar at lunch, pour it in the cold whipped cream dispenser and dispense me a nitro brew using the modified nozzle. It’s a great way to consume copious amounts of coffee
I've been ingesting caffeine today with dripped grocery store coffee. Just finished two cups of French Press Costa Rican roast. Sweet and nutty.
I’m camping (trailer) this weekend and I roasted a blend of Sumatra & monsooned Malbar special for this trip. I am brewing it in a cheap Mainstays brand maker from Walmart that makes individual cups in either k-cup or grounds using a different adapter for each. I am blown away by the quality of brew I am getting. I need a better grinder to keep the fine grounds out of my cup but WOW I’m digging the brew. The only drawback is the time it takes.