I have a new model. Maybe I don’t notice it. Not out there. Usually mine sits at 284-288 till I hit C and D then toggle between P5 and P4 to keep around 300 during first crack. Will check next roast and see!
Slight thread-drift, but I’ve decided to take the plunge into Epsresso and was looking at entry-machines. Any thoughts between the Rancilio Silvia, Breville Bambino Plus, or Gaggia Classic Pro? I’m attracted to the learning curve of the Rancilio but don’t know how steep it is.
My wife has been roasting using a Hottop for the past 10.5 years. It’s quite a workhorse handling over a pound a week during that time period. Thing even survived catching on fire! She’s had a bunch of issues with it tripping circuits lately. I could probably spend some time/money troubleshooting but was also thinking of treating her to a new roaster. Has anyone splurged on the Bullet Roaster? The thing looks like a small tank. I’m curious to hear experiences if anyone has one.
This thread brings back memories of my roasting days. I went from a popcorn popper to a MacGyver’ed bread machine/heat gun set up to a Behmor. Loved roasting my own beans and got fairly into sourcing beans directly from farms. Then I set my garage on fire roasting beans and have since stuck to buying roasted beans haha. Nobody was hurt and it makes for a great story. Since then I’ve moved to NYC and just don’t have the room or the desire anymore to roast.
I have followed it from inception but just haven’t pulled the trigger. I read good things. Check out sweet Maria. Probably the roaster I’d buy when I graduate from Behmor.
Sweet Maria’s is where I bought our Hottop. We buy almost all of our beans there.
look at Bodhi Leaf I buy from both.
Will do. We used to buy from Coffee Bean Corral. Not sure if they’re still around.
We visited a plantation in Costa Rica several years ago. Saw the whole process. It’s amazingly simple. I got to the gift shop and found someone who spoke English. I asked to buy green beans. No matter how hard I asked it was a no go. Apparently it would be illegal to take them home. Lots of rules and regulations around green beans I guess.
My son raking beans.
So I joined a Bullet Facebook group as I wanted to learn more about the machine. There are so many issues posted that now I’m super hesitant to buy one. Could be selection bias, could be user error, could be that the machine isn’t very reliable…
Last week, delivered to me was a Gaggia Classic Pro, to replace the 2009 Gaggia Classic, which replaced the 2004 Gaggia Classic. I was going to repair the latest Classic, but was counseled by my ITB friend that 11 years in, I was just looking at further repairs shortly.
After researching all of the current options in a semi-automatic, I could not find a better ratio of cost/performance/ease of use.
The quality and function of the new version are demonstrably higher than the prior versions. The machine is quieter. Every shot is effortlessly excellent, and the foam that I am creating is amazingly dense in a shorter time. I had read a lot of complaints re the steam nozzle and poor foam— I do not know what those people are doing. BTW, Rancilio Rocky Doserless is the grinder. Even the (bleh) decaf Illy ESE pods are more palatable.
oof. Keep me in the loop w more info as it arrives.
My update to this thread is that I bought a Behmor years ago, used it maybe twenty times, and it has proceeded to sit unused in the basement since. Ultimately found the time commitment of roasting was not worth it for me and just returned to buying beans from local shops. I did enjoy it and the results were very good, if not as good as the best local shops. It was purely a time issue for me.
I’ll take your Behmor off your hands Michael! Looking to upgrade my roast game in 2021.
Interesting article on anaerobic coffee:
New guy that browsed the coffee roasters forum. Man that sounds good to roast to a select bean @ home. But this dog is just to lazy to even get to step 2 of. Ok I got the beans…
For me ( or my wife’s morning Lattes) I do see that fresh roasted is great. That we like a med _ dark roast, that a good grinder is needed ect ect ect
My morning is mostly a fresh grind and drip coffee. Or lots of cheap. But good coffee.
The wife fully automatic Miele espresso maker and programmed to her desires…
But in Oakland I will say Mr espresso does roast for you exactly what you want…
You pick the bean
You pick the amount of roast
You can even pick the grind
Yes $14 to $20 a pound. But it is as easy as place in cart… pay… pick up next day
Jon - honesty $14/20 per lb is not bad if you get to dial in your spec. What attracted me to home roast was accessing beans from sources like sweetMaria that would otherwise be prohibitive (e.g., a Gesha), and the art of learning to dial in your own roast.
There are times where my effort wanes and I’m at the specialty store picking up a bag!
I picked up a Nesco roaster as I was too gunshy to dive into a Behmor.
So far a nice upgrade over the popcorn machine. Requires tweaking to dial in a desired profile, as most roasters do.
i use the gene cafe. i don’t pay more than 6ish a lb, ever. burman > sweet marias.
Same here. Altho, I think I’m paying around 7 pp… I’ve been buying the espresso blend from Burmans. 20 pounds stuffed into a USPS flat rate box. Pretty good overall.
Roasting beans on the other hand, definitely has a learning curve that after two years, I’m still figuring out. I would have never guessed a couple degrees, or a couple minutes of time could make such a difference in the roast.
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