Sumatra always takes longer for me than any others beans.
After Alan and others posted about Bodhi Leaf (BL) I gave then a try. Previously I had ordered only from Sweet Maria’s (SM) and Coffee Bean Corral (CBC). Having a grand total of not quite 6 months experience at this, I obviously do not claim to be expert, but the BL beans seem fine to me so far. In fact, their Bobolink Brown is currently in second place in my house for best coffee (the Timor Ermera from CBC holds the lead).
BL has good prices and they ship 5 lb. for something like $5.85, so you don’t risk much pain giving them a try. The last two orders from them have been for their email specials, with 5 lb of beans coming in the door at the princely total of $26 - 28.
One thing i like about BL is that they provide a decent amount of information about their beans, including suggested range of of roast levels (which I presume is based on their cupping tests). SM is the champion in this category, but CBC’s measly descriptions do not even qualify them as also-rans (is someone who buys only from CBC a “low-information roaster”?) CBC does have a nice selection of beans from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, though, so I will order again from them.
I get some of my green beans from Burman Coffee. I’ve been very happy with them. They don’t have the variety that SM does, but sometimes they have beans that SM doesn’t.
Thanks for the tip.
If you’re willing, can you rank (roughly) beans that take shortest → longest to roast in your experience?
I really don’t have much more that that Corey. When I started roasting, I roasted a lot of different stuff to figure out what I like and noticed then that Sumatra was always the longest roast. But after the first year or so, I found my preferences and now only roast Guatemala, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the occasional Sumatra or Java. I don’t notice a significant difference between any of the others except the Sumatra as noted. There may be but I don’t really notice as I am not using pre programmed roast profiles and it seems I stop them all at about the same time.
info in the Behmor 1600 pamphlet which comes with the machine indicates that high elevation beans, so-called HB or hard beans, roast quicker than low elevation beans. My guess is that the HB has less water and roasts quicker.
the smoking Behmor is now cooling on the back steps after a misstep. I was roasting 1/2 lb of a Brazil Bobolink Orange on P2 B at max 13:30 roast time and it was still too light. So I thought I would turn it off without cooling, then back on to start a new cycle and roast a few more minutes. Whoops. Circuitry won’t allow that. Started to smoke, wouldn’t turn on or cool. A bad roast is now sitting on the back steps. First time the max time on a roast wasn’t sufficient–next time w these beans, will set for a pound even though roasting a half and start cooling sooner like Corey suggested. It is a process.
Thanks you.
My favorite coffees tend to be from guatemala. Have a few in the queue to try out.
The Behmor’s preprogrammed times cut it really close (for safety). For a new coffee, I typically roast 3/8 lb (170g) on the 1/2 lb setting to get a feel for those beans. Obviously you have to listen for the cracks and be ready to stop quickly if it enters 2C. The Sweet Maria’s pages linked a few posts above (with the profile graph) have lots of tips for “finessing” the built-in quirks of the machine.
Another thing to bear in mind with the Behmor is that, being an electric roaster, it is at the mercy of your electricity supply to do its job. It is expecting 120V-15A to power the heating elements (and afterburner). In cooler weather I was getting a reliable 119-120V at the outlet every day, but this time of year the supply can be flaky with millions of ACs and the like running. I’ve roasted with only 117V, and there is a difference. Beans that usually take 12 or so minutes are barely finished at 13.5 minutes, for example.
This Kill-a-watt meter (link below) is useful for roasting*… if I see 117V at the wall, for example, I know that roasting will take longer than usual and can take measures to avoid running out of time. When the roast is ongoing, I switch the meter to read watts, and can see precisely when the heating elements turn on and off, when the afterburner kicks in, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
*Also good for seeing just how much juice that fridge in the garage, or electric wine cave, etc. uses…
Have to say, I am really enjoying roasting. The small batches and the easy variety of beans makes drinking espresso almost as much fun as wine.
Have 8 different greens to go through now
Just got 5 lbs of the geisha coffee from green coffee buyers club. The distributor tells me to roast it very light and slow. Going to roast 250 grams tomorrow and test it out.
This stuff is ridiculously expensive at 25.00 a lb green. Sure hope it lives up to its reputation.
wow, that is expensive green coffee. Let us know!
Couple tips I have learned on coffee forums to push the Behmor a bit–tip the machine back 1/4 inch so the beans fall closer to the heat if darker roast desired, also roasting smaller amount than a pound but on the pound setting so that you can take the roast a little farther. Preheating for two min before the roast also helps.
I’m very curious to hear what you think. I’ve spent big bucks on beans and have found very little correlation between bean price and bean quality.
Going to roast it tomorrow Problem is I go on a two week road trip where I don’t have any real coffee making equipment. I will score a grinder and try a batch in the company drip machine.
Drank some Bobolink Brown today. It was a really nice chocolate bomb on the finish with some other notes for complexity. This is much better with 7 days post-roast rest. I didn’t like it initially the day after roast.
Resting coffee can make a big difference.
That Bobolink Brown may be my next purchase. I roasted some Guatemalan today…letting it sit until tomorrow morning. 48 hours might be better, but I am usually ok trying beans after a 24 hour sit.
I finished the roast of my B/ Brown roughly 45 sec after the finish of first crack, about 435 degrees at the 10 min mark.
I find some beans to be amazing with 12-24 hrs rest, then kind of flatline. These are usually very fruity beans. They might have some sharper acidity but after a week some round out but lose those vivid flavors. Interesting stuff.
Bodhi Leaf just got in a bunch of new Brazilians and I ordered 2 lbs of each. I like both Bobolinks.
I am waiting 3-4 days minimum…roast on sat-sun…drink on we’d-Thursday …am I missing something on day 2?
Like Dan says above, I notice that with more rest time any fruit notes decrease while chocolate increases. This is for Guatemala and east Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia). Not sure if it holds for all coffees.