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Alpenröst bean experience

Most recent on top (measures based on 225g/8oz packages or 1 cup measure)

Date Bean Type Location Temp(C) Setting(sug/used) Comments 1st Crack Open/Reverse Stop
2001.Nov.27 a bit of  house mix  from The  Roastery, combined with  Santos - Varginha from Faema (1cup) Floor 20-moist 11/ Mixed shiny and light. Ummm, ummm, good. Manual stop. 14:40 18:00/  
2001.Oct.26 Bravada Balcony Floor 6-dry 10/ Had to double roast after bringing inside. The cold was too much.      
2001.Oct.18 a bit of  house mix  from The  Roastery, combined with Ethiopia Yirgacheffe & Santos - Varginha from Faema (1cup) Balcony Floor 10-cool & dry /13 Rich blend of smooth sweet goodness. The door opened to allow a not shiny but sweet blend. 15:43 19:43/22:40 24:35
2001.Oct.10 their house mix  from The   Roastery (1cup) Balcony Floor   /12 Good blend of mostly bitter and a bit of sweet. Mostly shiny but a few less than previous beans were on the light side. 14:45 18:28/ <23:19
2001.Oct.02 their house mix  from The   Roastery (1cup) Balcony Floor 26-dry /12 Excellent mix of bitter sweet. Mostly shiny but a few less than previous beans were on the light side. 12:27 16:50/19:50 21:51
2001.Sep.29 their house mix  from The   Roastery (1cup) Balcony Floor 12-dry /12 Excellent mix of bitter sweet. Mostly shiny but a few beans were on the light side. 16:06 19:20/19:36 21:35
2001.Sep.20 their house mix  from The   Roastery (1cup) Balcony Table 19-humid /12 Good, but a bit too bitter. Manually cooled at 16:30. SHould have pressed cool a bit earlier.   16:30/19:36 21:35
2001.Sep.11 their house mix  from The   Roastery (1cup) Balcony Table 16-normal dryness for summer /11 Excellant, and sweet. Not wet and oily. 14:00 /19:05++ 24:10
2001.Aug.22 Bravada Balcony Table 20-normal dryness for summer 10/11 Good, but too light. After the roast was finished, they were re-roasted at a setting of 11 and the cool button was manually pressed. 18:46 /22:04+  
2001.Aug.14 Bravada Balcony Table 20-normal dryness for summer 10/10 Good, but a little light. After the roast was finished, they were re-roasted at a setting of 10 and the cool button was manually pressed to finish the roasting at 12:44 to get a nice dark roast. 14:41 18:53/21:53  
2001.Aug.5 Bravada Balcony Table 26-normal dryness for summer 10/10 Good. Opened up a to few a few times. A mix of dark oily and a bit dryer beans was produced. 11 is definitely on the edge      
2001.Jul.29 Bravada Balcony Table 25-normal dryness for summer 10/11 Good. Opened up a to few a few times. A mix of dark oily and a bit dryer beans was produced. Could try a 12 next time and will likely need to press the cool shortly after the 19:20 area. 14:00 19:20/22: 24:05
2001.Jul.18 Europa Balcony Table 19-humid+ 10/11 Very good. Opened up to view a few times. It must have lowered the temp. As a result the beans came not quite as dark as I had liked. I was trying to keep the machine running longer and using view technique to get the beans to a dark and wet look. The result was half were dark and the rest a bit lighter. They were on the verge as the dark ones were not so oily. 15:00 19:35/22:35 24:10
2001.Jul.5 Natural Balcony Floor 17-dry 9/8 Good, not as dark and wet as the previous; fairly light. The humidity and temperature may have played a role. I re-roasted them on a setting of 1 but pressed cool when I noticed they were as dark to my preference.      
2001.Jun.26 Natural Balcony Floor 27- humid++ 9/8 Excellent, dark and wet looking beans, could try a bit lighter setting.      
2001.Jun.13 Decaf Balcony Table 20 8/8 Excellent, dark and wet looking beans, could try a bit lighter setting. 14:10 /21:18 23:23
2001.Jun.1 Europa Balcony Table 12 10/8 A bit on the light side. Don't go any less than 8. 15:00 /20:30 <25:00
2001.May.15 Natural Balcony Table 20 9/8 Excellent 13:56 /21:22 23:23
2001.May.2 Europa Balcony Floor 20 10/9   15:44 /21:34 23:21

Notes:

A great article written by Taras Grescoe "On Holy Grounds-A coffee-worshiper's pilgrimate to Rome" (SKY-February 2001) lists the best espresso shops in Rome, Italy. He writes "a good cup of espresso, Italian style, is 25 milliliters of liquid driven at 195 degrees Fahrenheit (88 degrees Celsius) through coffee that's been ground to a fine powder.

Great Espresso around Toronto

Where to get Green Beans for roasting around Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Bravada espresso blend is made from Guatamala (33%),Brazilian (33%), and Uganda (33%). The oven operates at 425 degrees F. An 8oz Setting of 10 for Bravada for example could be done 4 oz at about 4-5 setting. A setting of 1 is 16:25 seconds and 15 seconds additional for each setting.

Setting Roasting Time
1    16:25
2    16:40
3    16:55
4    17:10
5    17:25
6    17:40
7    17:55
8    18:10
9    18:25
10  18:40
11  18:55
12  19:10
13  19:25
14  19:40
15  19:55

After the roasting time has finished a cooling time of 4 minutes happens. You will hear the doors open when cooling starts. If you press cool you will begin the cooling cycle early and the doors will open.
During the last two minutes of roasting the drum reverses and the beans come out. If you want to put the unit outside, try the first 14 minutes inside and the rest outside. The first crack is at about 14 minutes. Of course don't disconnect the unit. Graham at Swissmar is the roasting guru.

http://www.alternativegrounds.com/tea.htm

Equipment

Hand Grinder for Espresso (Zassenhaus All Grain Mill)

Home Espresso Machine (Saeco Aroma, a great little work horse)

Grant Fitz, fitzgr@yahoo.com Copyright © 2000-2001 Grant Fitz. All rights reserved.
Website: http://www.oocities.org/fitzgr