r/roasting • • Jul 31 '14

Photos of roasts share very little meaningful information for diagnosing a roast.

233 Upvotes

Traffic here is low enough to accommodate any "hey, look at my first roast" photos, but if you are seeking feedback, be advised that we can't tell you very much based on a photo. Except for burned roasts, the lighting conditions have as much to do with the appearance of the beans as the degree of roast. We can tell you whether the roast is even or not, but you can see that for yourself. If you post closeups we can diagnose tipping, pitting or other damage. In general you are better off posting your observations with any photo.

Edit: as Idonteven_ points out, we can probably help you diagnose really burned and uneven roasts by most photos with any sort of decent lighting.


r/roasting • • 10h ago

I accidentally created one of my favorite coffees

Thumbnail
gallery
73 Upvotes

I purchased 2lb's of Guatemalan green beans from Sweet Maria's and I have been roasting small batches to get a better handle on roasting. I accidentally roasted to second crack (I thought it was first crack...thanks gene cafe for being loud!) and achieved a full city+ roast on accident.

I usually try to achieve a light-medium roast. I do enjoy dark roasts, but most roasters (i have personally tried) always over-roast, leading to a charcoal taste so I usually avoid them.

After three days of rest, my accidental dark roast has become one of my favorite coffees! It's not bitter at all and has a dark chocolate, almond taste and has a nice mouthfeel. It's quite pleasant! I'm definitely going to try and replicate it on the next roast!


r/roasting • • 4h ago

First batch with Skywalker V2 :)

Post image
12 Upvotes

and my first roast ever!


r/roasting • • 10h ago

First batch of Mago Maga Roma pro

Thumbnail
gallery
12 Upvotes

My first coffee bean roasting, love it!


r/roasting • • 4h ago

What setting to adjust in Artisan Scope 3.4.0?

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

My charts are coming out very choppy and not sure why. Some setting was originally checked after install, but since I've been messing around with it, I could've checked it myself perhaps. Either way, would appreciated if y'all can give me some advise on the setting so that it doesn't end up being choppy.

For the heat source, we have a Bosch gas stovetop, so I use the one that has the fire nearly matching the width of the drum. I've tried not adjusting the heat by turning it down vs. leaving it as is.. and both still end up being choppy. I want it to have enough energy in the beginning so it will carry through the roast, but i'm wondering if perhaps when i have the range hood on high, it may be disrupting it overall? I could try and put a cap or something over it, but not sure if that would help.

In any case, any insight would be helpful. I've attached a photo of the setup in the curves setting as that's the only thing i've adjusted. The sampling is set at 4 sec.

My roaster setup:

Kaldi Mini gas drum roaster, roasting over gas stove top in our kitchen with range hood on high for ventilation

70rpm drum speed, I can modify the speed of drum as needed

Using 1 probe for BT and measuring using Mastech MS6514 and a PC


r/roasting • • 15h ago

Any tips for roasting Nicaragua Pacamara?

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

I've recently been experimenting with roasting Nicaragua Moncho Díaz Pacamara Natural beans on ROEST and would love to hear about your experiences with this variety.

I'm still learning and trying to understand how to get the best out of these beans. First crack was almost silent.

A few questions:

  • Do you approach Pacamara differently because of its large bean size?
  • What kind of roast profile works best for you?

I'm mainly roasting for filter coffee, aiming for a light, fruity, and juicy cup.

100 g in, 86.3 g out

First crack 6:58 at 203.4°C

Drop 8:13 at 208.3°C

Dev time 1:15 (15.2%)


r/roasting • • 8h ago

Indian speciality Robusta From Koraput Odisha.

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Indian Specialty Robusta (From Koraput Odisha) — highly revered in many European countries, yet still misunderstood in its own homeland. This roast was an attempt to bring that potential to life.
Carefully selected, harvested, and cured. The roast profile was curated on the Nucleus LINK, keeping the delicacy of the beans in Mind.
In frame: Naturally processed Koraput Robusta, fruit-fermented for 72 hours.
The aim: To explore the full potential of this nano lot, bringing out its character and complexity.
Roasted with manual brewing in mind, then explored through a wet blend cold brew, and well know Bombón.
Not just a roast, but an exploration of what Indian Robusta can truly become. ☕
#IndianRobusta #SpecialtyCoffee #CoffeeRoasting #NucleusLINK #NanoLot #RobustaCoffee #CoffeeFermentation #ManualBrew #ColdBrew #CoffeeExploration


r/roasting • • 1d ago

Bellweather but better

8 Upvotes

We are a small coffee shop, thinking about dipping our toes into roasting. I got targeted ads for Bellweather the second I started to research and now their sales team calls me like 15x/day. I have been able to find some info on their equipment on reddit, and I'm scared. Is there anything like them, but better? We like the idea of a small toaster for our shop - it's a drive-thru only so it's small. Anything else out there that isn't "breaking down all the time"?


r/roasting • • 1d ago

Artisan 3E any good?

2 Upvotes

Found a well priced Artisan 3E for sale, about $1,000, has a bunch of extras with it. Honestly seems like a good deal. I've been roasting on a Skywalker V1 with Artisan, and just started dabbling in Background Automation and PID Automation on it. I'm interested in starting a small scale roasting business (sell under cottage food laws until/if it gets big enough). I understand repeatability is important, but I'm not finding any way that the Artisan 3E can be controlled by Artisan software. (ironic). It does look possible to connect to Artisan for logging purposes, but I don't think I'd have heat or air info for manual background use.

Is this just a bad way to start out, and should I just keep looking for something that can be fully connected to Artisan software?

Not only do I want automation for consistency and quality sake, but also to keep variable expenses (my direct labor) down.


r/roasting • • 2d ago

Help with Kaliedo M1 Lite ESP32 mod.

Thumbnail
gallery
13 Upvotes

I am a new owner of a Kaleido M1 Lite. I wanted to be able to run hi bean with my iPad, so I got an ESP32 and successfully flashed it with the correct bin. I noticed the Kaleido board doesn’t have an upper usb port like it did in the pictures in the tutorial. It’s now a 4 pin JST connector. I purchased a JST to USB cable, and connected it all up. Upon powering up some smoke came off my ESP32. Fried. Any ideas? I think I may just seek out an android tablet, I should be able to connect via Bluetooth that way.


r/roasting • • 1d ago

Swiss Water Process

Post image
2 Upvotes

This is the first time I see a coffee treated with the Swiss Water Process (it is actually the first time I see a decaf at all). It looks already roasted! And it smells very different. I will roast it today.


r/roasting • • 2d ago

Having a tough time with filter roasts

5 Upvotes

Hi everyone
Recently got my bullet and started roasting,
The espresso roasts are going pretty well and I’ve managed to get to pretty good results with the coffee I bought.
The filter roasts though, make me lose my mind.
I feel a bit lost and I’d love for some help!
Currently trying to roast a natural Guji from Hambela
And a washed Yirgacheffe from Chelchele

The Hambela so far gives me cacao nibs despite roasting quite light
The Chelchele is sour and lemony but accompanied with an annoying bitterness.

Tried roasting both of them from 8 min total roast with 1:30 dev time all the way down to 6:30 with 0:50 dev time


r/roasting • • 3d ago

For those who sell at farmers markets, what water do you use?

4 Upvotes

​

I have the opportunity to sell at a farmers market next week and was wondering what my best options are for water so I can be selling cups of drip coffee with airpots at the market.

I have heard those large 5 gallons of water can make the coffee taste weird.

I'm just wondering what people use? Just using a low budget setup as it's my first time and i have a 1.8 liter coffee maker.

Should I buy the 5 gallon jugs and just fill them with tap water instead?

I can't really find any information on this at all so any help is appreciated thank you :)


r/roasting • • 3d ago

Plumbed-in Water for Espresso Tasting

0 Upvotes

We're setting up a tasting room for our roastery. We're going to have a plumbed-in espresso machine, and I'm looking at inline RO and remineralisation. I was wondering if anyone could comment on any of these systems that are working for them or if anyone has any tips for this kind of setup.


r/roasting • • 4d ago

Cottage Laws

9 Upvotes

Hello Everyone,

I’m a coffee roaster based out of Nashville with a bit of a loaded question:

I roast my coffee in my garage in Nashville and use a lot of sanitary precaution when packing, roasting, etc. Technically, I’m not supposed to sell across state lines. I have a website that sells only coffee beans to people all over the US, and I was wondering the severity of selling dry goods across state lines. Yes, I know I am confessing to a fault, but in my opinion my business is just nowhere near big enough to get a warehouse. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


r/roasting • • 4d ago

First roast on Sandbox R1. Thoughts?

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

I used the slow roast medium preset profile but there seems to be a variation in colour throughout the batch. 100g of Brazilian beans.


r/roasting • • 4d ago

how do you handle green sourcing in a small, import-heavy market? in Kuwait

2 Upvotes

I’ve been roasting at home and I’m planning a small commercial setup in Kuwait. The market is small and a lot of green seems to come through Dubai, so I want to get sourcing right before I scale.

For anyone roasting in a small or import-dependent market (GCC or anywhere similar):

  • Do you buy from a regional importer, order from US/EU green sellers, or go direct?
  • What MOQs and landed $/kg are realistic at around 20 to 100 kg a month?
  • Biggest headache: past-crop green, shipping, customs, or cash tied up in stock?
  • Has anyone worked directly with washing stations in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Colombia, Uganda, etc.? Is it worth it at small volume?

Would really appreciate hearing what’s worked and what burned you.


r/roasting • • 5d ago

Just got the SR900 as my first roaster for my 40th birthday, thought I’d join you over here.

Thumbnail
gallery
104 Upvotes

I have dreamed for years of roasting my own beans and it finally happened! It always seemed to expensive. I was extremely surprised and spoiled to get this machine yesterday. I don’t know roasters but after day 1 I’m having a lot of fun.

I was trying to find more info on the sr800 / 900 and this community came up. Seemed like a great place to dive into my new hobby! I like coffee and video games. How about you?

I don’t really know anything about the machine or roasting other than the quick start guide that came with it. I’d love any beginner tips you can share! Good sources for green beans in Canada also appreciated.

And since apparently this roaster is pretty new and maybe not too common yet I’m also happy to answer any questions anyone has, although don’t expect expert answers lol.

Oh and I do drink it black just not after dinner. I hope I haven’t lost my coffee snob card before I even got it by adding the cream 😂


r/roasting • • 5d ago

Coffee Podcasts?

11 Upvotes

Not sure if this is an odd question, but do any of you guys have recs for some good coffee podcasts?

I’ve gotten tired of my current playlist and need something fresh to listen to.


r/roasting • • 5d ago

First batch with the SR800

Thumbnail
gallery
23 Upvotes

Hello there,

Did my first batch today. Total time was 13:05 min. I tried to follow a prompt from Chatgpt just to become more familiar with the process.

Drying Phase 0-2 min Fan 9 Heat at 3.
Maillard Phase 2-5 Fan 7 Heat at 5.

I heard first crack at 8:45. Kept Fan at 7 and Heat increased to 7. I tried to wait till the last crack but it was difficult lol so at 10:45 I decreased the Heat to 4 until 13:05 and then started the cooling phase.

Weight: 220g in and 185g out. So lost about 16%.

Any suggestions for the following batch? How long should I wait to make some espresso? (i know full rule is 7 days but since is the first batch, I am curious to try!)

Thanks!


r/roasting • • 5d ago

Roasting beginner

Post image
2 Upvotes

Its my second week on the bullet, learning a lot but still unable to maintain a steady curve.

I did an 800g Brazil Cerrado for this batch.

Any advice, tips or critiques are appreciated! Thanks ✌🏼


r/roasting • • 6d ago

Kaleido M2 lite roast (2nd Batch - 200 gms) ever. I’m new to roasting.

Thumbnail
gallery
13 Upvotes

Just got my M2 lite delivered yesterday and first batch was disaster (artisan learning curve; I had SV temp set right but the burner power was at 30%).

But the second batch turned out OK I think. What do you experts this?


r/roasting • • 6d ago

Home Roasting Machines.

2 Upvotes

Today I learned there was such a machine. My wife is the coffee hound but I make her coffee 99.9% of the time, (The Navy taught me how to make bad coffee taste good).

Just a general Duck Duck search and I came across the Fresh Roast SR 800 (with accessories).

Does anyone have experience with this machine?

Mahalo for your time and have a great Navy day.


r/roasting • • 6d ago

Skywalker V1 and HiBean very underpowered. (New user)

1 Upvotes

Hi roasters. I am a new Skywalker V1 with HiBean user. By new I mean I had today done my first HiBean roast and after 3 hours (ish of troubleshooting) I have an extremely slow roast (19 mins). I have no idea how it will be when I try it. But I have a somewhat fundamental problem with heating.

Preheat takes 10 minutes. My roast took 19 minutes.

I checked and saw the advice is "reduce fan" But for my slow preheat and roast I was already 100% heater and 0% fan. So I am roasting with max power and zero control.

This is not a hardware issue. Using the Skywalker control panel works fine. it appears to be some kind of HiBean Skywalker comms issue. HiBean telling me it is 100% but that just cannot be the case.

I am using HiBean in Celsius as I have seen that can also be an issue

Finally. I also noticed that I might need to disable PID: I have some automation rules for PID but nowhere in the interface to see if it is overriding anything.

Some other things that may or may not be normal. Before forcing preheat at 100% heater 0% fan. HiBean wants it to be lower power and with the fan. That was losing temperature.

Also just before charge temp it switches over to auto heat which is also reduced heater plus fan

Any ideas how to overcome this initial issue?


r/roasting • • 7d ago

Coming across roasting in the wild

Post image
15 Upvotes

In Ibarra Ecuador walking around a market when a lady gave me some of her natural process local coffee (seems very high elevation to me but I’m not the expert)

I asked how it was roasted and she grabbed me and took me behind the building and showed how they were doing. Pretty fun and pretty tasty. Definitely uneven and darker than I would go but not scorched and not bitter made in an old percolator.