Re: Zach&Dani's roaster (not working for me....)

First post here, first time roasting. I did a search and found a
> usenet post by a guy roasting for 3 years having lousey results. I > won't last that long. I promise! I've tried twice with Colombian > Supremo beans, and yuk! Sour!? I buy pre-roasted Millstone Colombian > Supremo beans from Sam's Club. 2 lbs. for just under $12. I like this > stuff. Then my wife buys me this Z&D roaster, it's my B-day. It came > with some green CS beans. My first roast was for 26 min (the outside, > medium roast time for this roaster). The taste was awful, sour papery. > I'm following all the rules. This morn I reduced the time to 23 min, > then instead of the cool down sequence, I immediately removed the > beans, placed them in a metal collander and left them over the central > AC vent for a few minutes (see Sweet Maria's website). I grind very > fine. Works well with the pre-roasted Millstone beans. The taste is > still sour. The dry taste on the tongue is good, but the wet taste is > sour? I like bitter. I hate sour! The beans look fine. The 26 mi beans > are dark brown, the 23 min beans are medium brown. I had my buddy try > the brew and he couldn't drink it. He agreed with my "sour" > description. He's a Millstone CS drinker as well? Any hints, clues, > flames, slights, criticisms, chuckles, offers to take this thing off > my hands? What to tell my wife?

Try using fewer beans; this should speed up roasting time, which might fix the sourness.

I've found that I have to stay very light (no more than 21 minutes) and I must let the beans air out for at least 24 hours. I tried brewing the first couple of batches as soon as I roasted them and they each ruined my stomach for a week. Then I tried a couple of batches at 23 to 25 minutes; I got burned muck that also made me sick for a week (both my sinuses and my stomach - my sinuses from the smoke).

But, when I use fresh beans, keep the roast very light (20 - 21 minutes) and let the beans air out for at least 24 hours, I get the smoothest, most flavorful cup of coffee that can be had anywhere. I can smell the difference between some varieties now (my wife likes Sumatran for its chocolate smell after roasting, but I like Costa Rican's caramel smell), and the acidity brings out flavor but doesn't destroy the cup. I can actually drink this coffee fully black, but I have found that I use about half the sweetener that I use in commercial coffee.

BTW, I found that burned beans only get worse with "air time", and once the roasting time goes over 23 minutes, trying to improve the roast by airing the beans out overnight doesn't help.

I also found that I didn't like the beans that Z & D sent, but the beans that Sweet Maria's included have provided very good coffee. I hope my next purchase of beans does as well.

Jeff Griffith