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Kenya AA Eegads Estate

September 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Kenya

OK, one of the coffees that I have promised a review of is Kenya AA Eegads Estate.  This coffee came, obviously from Kenya.  I roasted this coffee to what is called a "Full City+" roast.  This is a fairly dark roast, especially for me, as I tend to prefer a lighter roast on my coffee. When I roasted this, I started drinking after 24 hours rest.  At that time, I had a half cup for sampling.  I liked it.  It has a light fruit flavor.  I enjoy fruity tasting coffees, and this one had what I liked.  I took my second taste after 48 hours of rest post-roast.  This time I made a full cup.  Wow!  It was a fruit BOMB.  It was like this … [Read more...]

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Coffee Forums

August 20, 2011 By 4 Comments
Cup-Of-Coffee

For me, this coffee hobby that I have gotten into is a learning experience.  I suppose that on a hobby like this, no matter how long you are at it, you will always be still learning.  You will learn new roasting techniques.  You will try new coffee beans for the first time.  You will keep learning as long as you are willing to learn, no matter how much you already know. For me, though, I am just a baby in this hobby.  I mean, I've been doing this since around the beginning of March 2009, so that is only about 3 to 3 1/2 months at this time.  I basically know virtually nothing.  But, I enjoy it. So, how do you learn about it?  Well, … [Read more...]

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Rwanda Cup of Excellence

August 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Rwanda

OK, the other day, I promised to share my cupping impressions on the variety of coffees that I recently received.  So, I'll start doing that today. Let's start with... Rwanda Cup of Excellence #18 - Nkundiye Innocent - Bufcoffee Nyarusiza For the purposes of the article, from here on out, I will simply call this coffee Rwanda CoE for short.  I roasted these beans to the point where I was just hearing the start of the 2nd crack (an audible popping sound, almost like hearing popcorn pop).  This level of roast to people who know coffee is called Full City+.  Full City+ is about the darkest that I usually enjoy my coffee.  For fruitier … [Read more...]

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Jackpot!

August 9, 2011 By 2 Comments
Coffee cup

I hit the jackpot this week, coffee-wise.  Back in April I placed a "big" order for 15 pounds of various coffees all from the same source.  Those 15 pounds included 4 different varieties of coffee beans.  On Wednesday this week, the shipment arrived!  Oh, I was so happy! As I said, the shipment included 4 different coffees.  I immediatly roasted about a quarter pound of each bean, just enough for sampling, and testing out the roast.  I have now sampled each of the coffees. Here are my thoughts on each, my early thoughts that is: Rwanda Cup of Excellence #18 - Nkundiye Innocent - Bufcoffee Nyarusiza This is one of the winning beans in … [Read more...]

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Cupping the bounty

August 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
coffee_cup

As I told you in my last article, last week the mailman presented me with a wonderful bounty of four different varieties of coffee beans.  The beans arrived on Wednesday last week, and I roasted just after they arrived.  Now the work begins. Work?  Yes, work.  remember, I have to drink the stuff now!  I mean, a very dedicated coffee drinker like me can't just roast the beans and then forget, I have to put the scientific process into play and give the beans some taste testing.  Hey, it's a tough job, but somebody must do it, right? You see, when you roast coffee beans, you don't get to go brew a cup of joe right away.  I guess you can … [Read more...]

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How do you roast?

August 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Pan Roasting

How do you roast your green coffee beans?  I am not looking for the procedure.  I'm not looking for what machine you use.  What I mean is, like, how much do you roast at a time, and how many different varieties of coffee do you roast at a given time? For me, I usually roast about twice per week, sometimes only once per week.  I roast small quantities, usually 1/4 to 1/3 pound of any variety.  If it's a coffee that I have a large stash of, then I will do up to a half pound on a single roast. Why such small batches?  For a couple of reasons: I find it easier to control the roast process when I roast only a very small batch … [Read more...]

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Ugly, but hopefully delicious

July 25, 2011 By 3 Comments
Yirg Roast on March 31, 2009 - Ugly but delicious

Last month, I got my first Ethiopia Yirgacheffe green coffee beans.  Ethiopia is the place where coffee was "invented," so I was looking forward to enjoying some wonderfully delicious coffee. Well, as you know if you read this site, I am pretty new at coffee roasting, and specialty coffee beans in general.  When I roasted the yirg beans, I thought I did an OK job, given that it was only about my 3rd or 4th time to ever roast coffee.  I e-mailed a photo of my roast to my best coffee buddy, Bobby.  Here is a picture of my initial roast: Well, Bobby e-mailed me back and told me that the roast was "ugly."  As I scrutinized the picture, … [Read more...]

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Coffee Roasting 101

July 16, 2011 By 2 Comments
Greens

This morning I roasted some coffee beans.  You may be wondering what I am talking about.  You see, I purchased some green coffee beans, beans which have never been roasted before, and I roasted them in a pot on the stovetop. There are a lot of better ways to roast coffee beans, but I am a bit of a simpleton when it comes to coffee, and I enjoy pan roasting.  You can do a better job with commercial roasting equipment, but pan roasting is fine for me, for now anyway. If you like coffee, but have never roasted your own beans before, you probably don't know what coffee really tastes like.  The coffee you buy in the grocery store was … [Read more...]

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Roasting session this morning

July 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Roasting green coffee beans

Well, this morning I did some roasting of green beans.  I guess I usually roast about twice per week or so.  Today is Wednesday and I roasted two different varieties of green beans today. First, I roasted some Natural Yirgacheffe Worka beans that came from Ethiopia.  I got these beans from my Sangay, Bobby Timonera.  Bobby bought these through GCBC, but he didn't like them as much as some other varieties of beans, so I bought them from him.  These are some excellent beans that I really enjoy.  The roasted beans have a combination of a fruity and spicy flavor, which I really enjoy.  My first attempt at roasting the beans, I thought … [Read more...]

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Taste of Brazil

June 24, 2011 By 2 Comments
Coffee from Brazil

Last week, I received my first Brazilian Coffee Beans, and roasted them.  Today, I gave them my first tasting. Delicious! I can detect a smoothness to the flavor and a fruity taste as well.  I would classify this as a slight cherry flavor, with an aftertaste of nuttiness.  A definite winner in my book. Now I am debating if I should go back for another shipment of these beans.  I only bought 3 pounds for this sampling, and I like them.  Maybe I should get 15 pounds this time, since that is the next amount for a shipping price break.  I'll give it a few days thought before making a final decision. As of right now, I would … [Read more...]

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