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I am refreshing roasted already beans (when I buy them in the store, they are already old - remember a shelf life of 2-6 weeks at the most)
Roasting whole green beans is a different process.
Correct. I'm not sure about "two weeks", but the beans will release gasses for a day or a few, and it is standard recommendation to not seal them for a few days (that is why even when I do, I have a small breather hole in my container).
Seems like beans need to "set up" for a couple/few days, and they reach their peak flavor at some point. That is one of the things I was hoping to discuss. is it two weeks, 2 days, or what? What works for different people and why.
Elnina, are you saying that you "refresh" your already roasted beans, or that you are roasting "green" beans in just a couple minutes? I assume it is the first comment, but that contradicts the "setting up" time?
I guess that small quantities can air out in a short time. But I don't think that reheating them just before grinding is a good idea. In fact, the esters freed by grinding are essential for good aroma and I would worry that if they are heated more may be lost.
Correct. I'm not sure about "two weeks", but the beans will release gasses for a day or a few, and it is standard recommendation to not seal them for a few days (that is why even when I do, I have a small breather hole in my container).
Seems like beans need to "set up" for a couple/few days, and they reach their peak flavor at some point. That is one of the things I was hoping to discuss. is it two weeks, 2 days, or what? What works for different people and why.
I think you should seal your beans immediately after roasting. Yes, you need to "degas" them - that's why I mentioned the vacuum one-way valve bags - an excellent way to protect the roasted beans from some of its other primary enemies: water, oxygen, and light.
Well, if you have an impermeable container made of either glass or metal with a metal cap and tight seal, you can only slow the process down. Very freshly roasted beans in a gas-tight container could cause the container to burst, so some room for escape is needed.
Your coffee can quickly be degraded in the presence of water and/or oxygen by processes known as hydrolysis and oxidation. So, try to keep it dry (moisture will destroy the flavors that you are looking for in the cup) , in small, one serving containers. Keep in mind that every time the canister is opened, moisture and oxygen will enter and destroy the flavor.
Well, that my ways to make a great cup of coffee
BTW: did you noticed that the regular canned coffee like Folgers does not give out much aroma when brewed.
I guess that small quantities can air out in a short time. But I don't think that reheating them just before grinding is a good idea. In fact, the esters freed by grinding are essential for good aroma and I would worry that if they are heated more may be lost.
Well, Wilson... there are sure many different ways to brew coffee. You might want to try "my" method and see if you like it that way.
Elnina, I think you will find that letting the beans air out is pretty universal. My experience comes from working for a couple of years as a products research technician at the Folgers research facility in Cincinnati, but they didn't invent the idea. The esters the beans lose right after roasting are not good. They come from the high temperatures applied to the surface of the beans. I saw their profiles on gas chromatography equipment and they were more like lighter fluid than honeysuckle necter if you know what I mean. Glad to have them gone is the point.
As for the grind, I agree that coffee deteriorates immediately upon grinding. In a commercial operation there are only seconds between grinding and a nitrogen purge and then vacuum sealing.
Also, I confess. I buy the ground coffee and make it just like some schlub who has never been to the top of the mountain. But, I do have a lot of information on the subject.
This is actually really cool, I'd love to roast my own beans, but don't have the extra room to store the equipment for something I'd only do every once in awhile.
Do any of you grow your own coffee plants? I've seen websites that sell arabica or kona coffee plants, and always thought about getting one. They take 2 years before producing beans/fruit, plus I dont really have the climate for coffee, but I think it'd be a lot of fun.
I'm not quite sure I'm that hardcore of a coffee drinker yet, but I still enjoy learning about the process. I order my coffee straight from the Alto Grande hacienda in Puerto Rico, I love their coffee!
This is actually really cool, I'd love to roast my own beans, but don't have the extra room to store the equipment for something I'd only do every once in awhile.
Do any of you grow your own coffee plants? I've seen websites that sell arabica or kona coffee plants, and always thought about getting one. They take 2 years before producing beans/fruit, plus I dont really have the climate for coffee, but I think it'd be a lot of fun.
I'm not quite sure I'm that hardcore of a coffee drinker yet, but I still enjoy learning about the process. I order my coffee straight from the Alto Grande hacienda in Puerto Rico, I love their coffee!
I think the best way to enjoy the best of the best is to buy green coffee from a really reliable source and roast it yourself. (I'll post up some stuff about green bean classification if anyone wants to know). You can blend your own beans from as many sources as you want. I like Ethiopian Djimmah. But I don't really roast or blend any more.
There is really no magic to coffee roasting, and you don't need any equipment. Just good technique. You do it entirely by color. Get a bag of something you like as roasted beans and put a handful in a little tray to compare with the beans as you roast them. When the colors match you are done. I have roasted coffee in a long handled skillet with holes in it made for chestnuts over a gas burner. You can quench with a little water when they are the right color. It should take at least 15 minutes of heating to be sure that the beans are being roasted all the way through.
From Burman:
After the built in cooling period, the coffee is done. It’s best to let it rest for at least 12-24 hours. Enjoy!
From Brew Organic:
[SIZE=3]Resting & Degassing: The 24 Hour Wait To Prime Time:[/SIZE]
Fresh roasted coffee reaches its peak flavor and aroma about 24 hours after resting. A 24 hour rest period is not necessary but is preferred by many coffee lovers to allow the beans to fully develop their flavor and aroma. The rest period allows excess CO2 to dissapate and permits the coffee bean chemistry to stabilize.
But mostly, I'm glad to hear different opinions, be it to use the beans immediately, or let them sit for two weeks, or whatnot. Thanks for the input. Hope that you both, or others will chime in with other experiences, challenges, questions or answers.
The reason I started the thread was because I'm always looking for new tips that will make a better product or an easier or more consistent process.
BTW GoHuskies:
My roaster is very small, about the same size as a coffee pot. It roasts enough for two pots of coffee at a time. Very small scale operation. It is true that you don't NEED special equipment, but the benefits are many, including that it is less messy because the roaster helps control the chaffe, and it is less smokey, which can be a real problem, and it is easier to manage a more consistent product with the use of a purpose built machine with preset roasting.
From Burman:
After the built in cooling period, the coffee is done. It’s best to let it rest for at least 12-24 hours. Enjoy!
From Brew Organic:
[SIZE=3]Resting & Degassing: The 24 Hour Wait To Prime Time:[/SIZE]
Fresh roasted coffee reaches its peak flavor and aroma about 24 hours after resting. A 24 hour rest period is not necessary but is preferred by many coffee lovers to allow the beans to fully develop their flavor and aroma. The rest period allows excess CO2 to dissapate and permits the coffee bean chemistry to stabilize.
But mostly, I'm glad to hear different opinions, be it to use the beans immediately, or let them sit for two weeks, or whatnot. Thanks for the input. Hope that you both, or others will chime in with other experiences, challenges, questions or answers.
The reason I started the thread was because I'm always looking for new tips that will make a better product or an easier or more consistent process.
BTW GoHuskies:
My roaster is very small, about the same size as a coffee pot. It roasts enough for two pots of coffee at a time. Very small scale operation. It is true that you don't NEED special equipment, but the benefits are many, including that it is less messy because the roaster helps control the chaffe, and it is less smokey, which can be a real problem, and it is easier to manage a more consistent product with the use of a purpose built machine with preset roasting.
Glad you have that little roaster. Is there a way to see the beans as they darken or do you have to do it on a trial and error method? I found when I was roasting beans in larger quantities that one pallet of bags of beans from the same farm in the same country would require different roasting times by some significant factor. Of course all factory roasting is done by color and not by time or temperature.
You have a thing called a trier which is really a long handled scoop that you stick in to the roaster and pull out some beans each couple of seconds at the end of the roasting and match the color sample which you hold in the other hand. Of course they will continue to darken a little even as the gas is turned off and the water applied. SO its really a lot of fun to try to hit the color exactly. And after a roast is done a sample is taken to a light metering device and the real exact color is known. So the roaster (and his boss) will know exactly how close he hits the color target. Its very competitive and a lot of fun to do.
The hopper is glass, so you can see it the whole time. It has a timer on it, but you can adjust as needed, and/or end the roasting and start the cooling on demand. It's a pretty slow roaster (25+ minutes for a darker roast), so one of the plusses to that it's pretty forgiving. I like to get them pretty dark though, well into the second crack.
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