Kona Roasting Madness

[dyj48]

Well, as a total noob to coffee roasting, I know it’s sacrilege to even think of roasting Kona coffee beans for your first coffee roast. But if it’s the only green beans you have, you don’t have much of a choice. My Mother lives in Kona, Hawaii (she moved there three years ago) for the weather, and the beauty of paradise. My sister lived there for 22 years among four acres of Kona Coffee Trees. So I’ve been drinking Kona for over twenty years. But never have I ever tried to roast coffee. So she came out for a visit last week and brought me a bag of green Kona beans.

Anyway, given all the support and information on this forum on coffee particularly by Dan, I gave it a try. Bought a popcorn popper (the Popcorn Pumper by Hamilton Beach) at a thrift store for $2.99. I brought it home, topped it off with a tin can and a little piece of metal from a sanding pad to cover the can.

I first roasted a batch until the end of the second crack. It was very dark and very oily. It smelled great!! It took about ten minutes to roast. We drank it the next day and it tasted similar to Starbucks but with a much better flavor, but it was too dark and slightly bitter. After reading Dan’s response, the next day, I then decided to get a timer and do a number of small batches at different times. I ended up making up five more batches roasted to different levels. I ended up with six batches which included the following: 1) end of the first crack; 2) 45 seconds past the first crack; 3) one minute, 30 seconds past the first crack; 4) beginning of the second crack; 5) middle of the second crack; and of course the 6) end of the second crack.

I did this on my deck and the ambient temperature was around 55 degrees. I roasted the fourth roast (middle of second crack) last and the wind had come up and it took almost 15 minutes to get to the middle of the second crack. I think it cooled the popper off and lowered the temperature so that it just took much, much longer to get to the center of the second crack. After reviewing all the coffee batches, I ended up combining batch 2 and 3 as there was clearly little difference between those two batches.

My wife and I began to taste the coffee after letting them sit for at least a day. We’ve not finish all of them yet, but clearly the coffee roasted (1) to the end of the first crack was too bland and mild even for Kona which is generally a mild and smooth coffee. Both the beginning of the second crack (3) and the middle of the second crack (4) is sensational. We really love both of those roasts. Opusxox also indicates that this is his favorite as well. We’ve not tried the coffee in between the first and second crack yet, and will do so tomorrow as we’ve combined those two (2 &3). We use a paper filtered Gevalia coffee maker.

Yesterday, I also bought another popcorn popper (West Bend Poppery II) at another thrift store for $5.00 and will roast more this weekend without having to wait for the popper to cool each time (Yay!).

Anyway, the pictures below shows my setup as well as the coffee roasted to various degrees of darkness. I do want to indicate that the batch at the end is NOT as dark as it shows, but more of a Viennese roast color.

Obviously, I going down another slippery slope, but my wife and I wanted to thank all of you for giving us all of this advice and information for something we both enjoy together.


Davis (dyj4

[Bigwaved]

Nice job! With a source of Kona like yours, you had to learn how to roast.

[Mister Moo]

[SIZE=3]Chapter VI: Triumph of the Borg - Kona Quadrant 7793836732-y[/SIZE]

1. The Assimilation of subject Davis (dyj4

Bwa hahaha. BWA HA HA HA HA HA. Suck it down Davis; not much else to do at this point. I bet on the in-between roast after 48-hr rest. (OpusXOX is a closet $tarbux char-burn drinker. He spends all his spare time working on the racer now, anyhow. He's outta touch.)

Use the WBII with the plastic lid until it finally melts down, then consider the can-sleevie thing. WBII works VERY well if you can tip it backwards about 10-15 degrees and keep it from tipping over during a roast. Load it while it's running, adding beans until they are just barely moving on their own, then stir with a chopstick for a minute or two until they spin on their own. That's the route to max the capacity.

Enjoy, subject Davis (dyj4. Please to report back on the best Kona roast, IYO.

Welcome to the family.

[CigarGal]

Sounds like you have been assimilated. welcome aboard! This coffee thing is a fun project with your mate. We are having a blast trying new coffees and new roasts.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by CigarGal

Sounds like you have been assimilated. welcome aboard! This coffee thing is a fun project with your mate. We are having a blast trying new coffees and new roasts.

IRoast update hijack?

[dyj48]

Originally Posted by Bigwaved

Nice job! With a source of Kona like yours, you had to learn how to roast.

Unfortunately, she SOLD the four acres several years ago, but my mom knows the folks at the mill....so maybe I can continue to get the green stuff.......

[Bigwaved]

Originally Posted by dyj48

Unfortunately, she SOLD the four acres several years ago, but my mom knows the folks at the mill....so maybe I can continue to get the green stuff.......

That is sad news about the sale, but hope with your mom. Good luck.

[dyj48]

Ok, ok,

Here it is so far, my wife, myself and my mother are the judges of the roasts.

Roast 1 is too light and bland, that's after crack1,

Roast 2 is nice, but still on the mild side and doesn't have the depth, that's the middle, inbetween crack one and two.

Roast 3 is just at the very beginning of crack 2, is great..with wonderful flavors and taste

Roast 4 is excellent and in the middle of crack 2 just as it's really rolling in the crack. We like this as much as roast 3.

Roast 5 is too dark and begins to have the starbucks burnt tastes....


So Dan can also try and test what I've sent him....I have a little left so Bigwave (Dave) and Cigargal (Marianne) pm me your addresses and I can send you maybe about half a pound and you can test it as well.....

Davis

[Bigwaved]

Mighty nice offer, Davis. Check your box.

Originally Posted by dyj48

Ok, ok,

Here it is so far, my wife, myself and my mother are the judges of the roasts.

Roast 1 is too light and bland, that's after crack1,

Roast 2 is nice, but still on the mild side and doesn't have the depth, that's the middle, inbetween crack one and two.

Roast 3 is just at the very beginning of crack 2, is great..with wonderful flavors and taste

Roast 4 is excellent and in the middle of crack 2 just as it's really rolling in the crack. We like this as much as roast 3.

Roast 5 is too dark and begins to have the starbucks burnt tastes....


So Dan can also try and test what I've sent him....I have a little left so Bigwave (Dave) and Cigargal (Marianne) pm me your addresses and I can send you maybe about half a pound and you can test it as well.....

Davis

[opus]

Originally Posted by Mister MaDuroo

[SIZE=3]Chapter VI: Triumph of the Borg - Kona Quadrant 7793836732-y[/SIZE]

1. The Assimilation of subject Davis (dyj4

Bwa hahaha. BWA HA HA HA HA HA. Suck it down Davis; not much else to do at this point. I bet on the in-between roast after 48-hr rest. (OpusXOX is a closet $tarbux char-burn drinker. He spends all his spare time working on the racer now, anyhow. He's outta touch.)

Use the WBII with the plastic lid until it finally melts down, then consider the can-sleevie thing. WBII works VERY well if you can tip it backwards about 10-15 degrees and keep it from tipping over during a roast. Load it while it's running, adding beans until they are just barely moving on their own, then stir with a chopstick for a minute or two until they spin on their own. That's the route to max the capacity.

Enjoy, subject Davis (dyj4. Please to report back on the best Kona roast, IYO.

Welcome to the family.

The racer is almost done now. Trying to drag me out of the closet eh?
It worked. I believe I stated (although at my advanced age I could be mistaken), that i roast Kona to just before second crack, or a few seconds into it. Too far into second crack and it is too late, still good, but past peak. Starbuck's char burn eh? Why I oughta....... What was I saying?

[opus]

Originally Posted by dyj48

Well, as a total noob to coffee roasting, I know it’s sacrilege to even think of roasting Kona coffee beans for your first coffee roast. But if it’s the only green beans you have, you don’t have much of a choice. My Mother lives in Kona, Hawaii (she moved there three years ago) for the weather, and the beauty of paradise. My sister lived there for 22 years among four acres of Kona Coffee Trees. So I’ve been drinking Kona for over twenty years. But never have I ever tried to roast coffee. So she came out for a visit last week and brought me a bag of green Kona beans.

Anyway, given all the support and information on this forum on coffee particularly by Dan, I gave it a try. Bought a popcorn popper (the Popcorn Pumper by Hamilton Beach) at a thrift store for $2.99. I brought it home, topped it off with a tin can and a little piece of metal from a sanding pad to cover the can.

I first roasted a batch until the end of the second crack. It was very dark and very oily. It smelled great!! It took about ten minutes to roast. We drank it the next day and it tasted similar to Starbucks but with a much better flavor, but it was too dark and slightly bitter. After reading Dan’s response, the next day, I then decided to get a timer and do a number of small batches at different times. I ended up making up five more batches roasted to different levels. I ended up with six batches which included the following: 1) end of the first crack; 2) 45 seconds past the first crack; 3) one minute, 30 seconds past the first crack; 4) beginning of the second crack; 5) middle of the second crack; and of course the 6) end of the second crack.

I did this on my deck and the ambient temperature was around 55 degrees. I roasted the fourth roast (middle of second crack) last and the wind had come up and it took almost 15 minutes to get to the middle of the second crack. I think it cooled the popper off and lowered the temperature so that it just took much, much longer to get to the center of the second crack. After reviewing all the coffee batches, I ended up combining batch 2 and 3 as there was clearly little difference between those two batches.

My wife and I began to taste the coffee after letting them sit for at least a day. We’ve not finish all of them yet, but clearly the coffee roasted (1) to the end of the first crack was too bland and mild even for Kona which is generally a mild and smooth coffee. Both the beginning of the second crack (3) and the middle of the second crack (4) is sensational. We really love both of those roasts. Opusxox also indicates that this is his favorite as well. We’ve not tried the coffee in between the first and second crack yet, and will do so tomorrow as we’ve combined those two (2 &3). We use a paper filtered Gevalia coffee maker.

Yesterday, I also bought another popcorn popper (West Bend Poppery II) at another thrift store for $5.00 and will roast more this weekend without having to wait for the popper to cool each time (Yay!).

Anyway, the pictures below shows my setup as well as the coffee roasted to various degrees of darkness. I do want to indicate that the batch at the end is NOT as dark as it shows, but more of a Viennese roast color.

Obviously, I going down another slippery slope, but my wife and I wanted to thank all of you for giving us all of this advice and information for something we both enjoy together.


Davis (dyj4

Sounds like you are well on your way down the path to true enlightenment Davis. Nice work.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by dyj48

...Roast 5 is too dark and begins to have the starbucks burnt tastes....

Davis

Send to OpusXOX. He'll think it's fine. Just look at his "borg family album" foto, above. "He's" still a rookie.

[opus]

Originally Posted by Mister MaDuroo

Send to OpusXOX. He'll think it's fine. Just look at his "borg family album" foto, above. "He's" still a rookie.

It seems I have some friends.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by opusxox

It seems I have some friends.

Sorry man. Someone said you were all about pilates now and weren't coming back. I figured I'd never have to answer for anything. Oh well - I jumped a little early.

Yo! Davis! So DON'T send him any coffee!

[opus]

Originally Posted by Mister MaDuroo

Sorry man. Someone said you were all about pilates now and weren't coming back. I figured I'd never have to answer for anything. Oh well - I jumped a little early.

Yo! Davis! So DON'T send him any coffee!

Don't make me come up there and open up a can of Folgers on your ancient A$$.