[beerguy0]

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What roaster do you use? I've been contemplating getting a Behmor. Also, is your roasting setup smoky at all? Do you have to vent to the outside? 
 
Home roasting really does seem to be the best way to control freshness. A funny aside story on that note (one which made me realize what a coffee snob I really am)-- I went to my favorite coffee shop to get the week's supply of espresso roast, and I noticed a roast date on the bin of 12/22. So I asked the counter worker if there happened to be any fresher espresso since the bin was two weeks old! He went downstairs to check, and came back up with a new large sealed bag, dated 12/29. Ah, somewhat better. But one wouldn't have to do that if one roasts their own! 

I use a Gene Cafe. I looked at the Behmor, but I do a lot of chaff-heavy, dry-processed, small bean coffees which are the Behmor's weakness. The GC roaster also lets you see the roast, so you have more visual feedback. The smoke isn't too bad if you stay with City to City+ roast levels. Once you approach second crack, you get more smoke. I roast in front of my fireplace, which vents the smoke pretty well. (Not that the smoke is that bad, especially with 1/2 pound batches.)
 
Home roasting is the way to go. You save money, and you always have fresh coffee. I've been roasting for over two years, and haven't had any coffee older than 10 days in that time. The only bad part of home roasting is you become accustomed to fresh coffee. Only then do you fully realize that the vast majority of coffee you get in restaurants is garbage. Coffee houses are usually better, but not always. I've bought totally stale roasted coffee from a local roaster. (No dates on bag = bad sign!)
 
My wife and I have become coffee snobs, to the point of bringing our coffee rig when we travel by car. (Even camping, I bring the grinder.)

 

[Greg_R]

I have a Capresso CoffeeTeam TS10 (465 version) and want to warn people away in case they were considering the unit.
 
Pros:
- conical burr grinder
- 10 cup brewer
- Brew cycle works well (good water temps when I tested it)
- Less counter space than a burr grinder + brewer
 
Cons:
- Next to impossible to inspect and/or clean the grinder
- Doser slowly becomes more inaccurate.  The dosing is done via a timer so either the timer is bad or the grinder is getting clogged.  I literally run the grind cycle twice to get the required amount of grounds (not what you want with an all-in-one!).
- Out of the box the machine will leak all over your counter.  From what I can tell, the valve that closes when you remove the carafe does not always open when you return the carafe and seat it properly.  I removed the valve to get around the issue so now I can't grab a quick cup in the middle of the brew cycle.
- Thermal carafe makes pouring the last cup or two next to impossible so brew what you want + 2 cups.
 
If you're looking at this price point (<$250) save yourself some trouble and go buy a Baratza Maestro grinder and a Bunn brewer.

 

[rroseperry]

X2 on Capresso not being a good choice. I bought one of their burr grinders ($45 range) and could never get the grind where I wanted it. And forget cleaning the thing.

I ended up going back to a basic Krups. They last forever and I'm not doing espresso.

 

[grokit]

Anybody tried a cup of coffee from a Clover machine? Even if you wanted to spend the $11k you can't buy one anymore as Starbucks bought the manufacturer.
 

http://www.chow.com/food-news/54246/you-cant-afford-this-coffee-maker/

 

[JadeEast]

There are a bunch of cafes around here that have them. I've had good and bad cups of coffee from the machines; unfortunately,  they aren't magic. In the hands of an uber-coffee geek they can rock, but I've had some weak, under-dosed, body-less coffees as well. They do win in the looking super cool department.

 

[nick n]

Quote:

I just roast my own, really lets you keep control of your stock and freshness

Ever tried growing a plant or two before they get roasted?

 

[grokit]

From what I have read there are some pretty detailed programming profiles that are different for every bean/roast. Getting these profiles wrong or mixed up would have bad consequences.

 

[nick n]

Intelligentsia's Analog Espresso Black Cat Project.

Post moved over to proper coffee-fi thread....

 

[MS1605]

Great find Nick. I'm taking a ride up to intelligentsia in the morning!

 

[El_Doug]

we have a different thread for discussing coffee, fyi  

 

[nick n]

Quote:

we have a different thread for discussing coffee, fyi  

 
oh thanks! Didn't realize never searched hard enough! I moved it over.

 

[kwkarth]

 
Quote:

What roaster do you use? I've been contemplating getting a Behmor. Also, is your roasting setup smoky at all? Do you have to vent to the outside? 
 
Home roasting really does seem to be the best way to control freshness. A funny aside story on that note (one which made me realize what a coffee snob I really am)-- I went to my favorite coffee shop to get the week's supply of espresso roast, and I noticed a roast date on the bin of 12/22. So I asked the counter worker if there happened to be any fresher espresso since the bin was two weeks old! He went downstairs to check, and came back up with a new large sealed bag, dated 12/29. Ah, somewhat better. But one wouldn't have to do that if one roasts their own! 

 
I love my Behmor.  Been roasting since the mid '70's.  I've been using the Behmor for three or four years.  As already stated, it's a bit messy with heavy chaff coffees and does not do very dark roasts well of full pound loads.  If you roast smaller batches, say around 12-14oz. you can do pretty much anything.  For lighter roasts, it's fairly smoke free, but if you roast dark (beyond city+) some of the smoke will overwhelm the catalytic and smoke up the garage.  Warts and all, I love it. 

 

[cn11]

 
Quote:

 
 
I love my Behmor.  Been roasting since the mid '70's.  I've been using the Behmor for three or four years.  As already stated, it's a bit messy with heavy chaff coffees and does not do very dark roasts well of full pound loads.  If you roast smaller batches, say around 12-14oz. you can do pretty much anything.  For lighter roasts, it's fairly smoke free, but if you roast dark (beyond city+) some of the smoke will overwhelm the catalytic and smoke up the garage.  Warts and all, I love it. 

 
Hey, thanks for the info, very helpful. I'm growing more and more frustrated with the coffee shop I normally buy roasted beans from... they leave batches out for close to three weeks. That's when it's definitely on the downward swing! Last time they told me it takes a week for roasted beans to rest and off-gas, and that they're at their peak after that. Previously I've read that only takes 1-2 days. I think the employee was just feeding me info to cover their lack of fresh turn (and this is supposedly the finest coffee shop/roaster in the area). Anyway, this got me to thinking it's probably time I start my own roasting efforts. But I will continue to research some of the better roaster choices. The Behmor remains at the top I think (warts and all!)... 
 
Sites like Sweetmarias & Coffeegeek are quite helpful...

 

[grawk]

http://www.scanomat.com/coffee-brewers/topbrewer

 

[kwkarth]

 
Quote:

 
 
Hey, thanks for the info, very helpful. I'm growing more and more frustrated with the coffee shop I normally buy roasted beans from... they leave batches out for close to three weeks. That's when it's definitely on the downward swing! Last time they told me it takes a week for roasted beans to rest and off-gas, and that they're at their peak after that. Previously I've read that only takes 1-2 days. I think the employee was just feeding me info to cover their lack of fresh turn (and this is supposedly the finest coffee shop/roaster in the area). Anyway, this got me to thinking it's probably time I start my own roasting efforts. But I will continue to research some of the better roaster choices. The Behmor remains at the top I think (warts and all!)... 
 
Sites like Sweetmarias & Coffeegeek are quite helpful...

I suspect they were passing along information they had been told, but not observed themselves.  Yes, Sweetmarias is  great place for information, roasters, and green coffee.  I've purchased most of my roasters from them over the years.  
 
If you've been roasting coffee for any length of time, you know that it reaches peak flavor in 24 hours to a week after roasting, and then it starts going down hill.  At three weeks post roast, most beans bear little resemblance flavor wise to their freshly roasted counterpart.  I've found the rest time for most coffees I've roasted to be between 24 house and three days max.